Advice on plants in pond with sloping walls and smallish shelves

[anuenlil]

Dear all,
I am a newbie from Belgium whose weekend house in the Hautes Fagnes (outlier of the German Eifel range) came with an unkempt small pond (I walked over the roots first time I visited the garden) which I managed to clear out, reline with suitable foils, and have been trying to get up and running. I attach some recent pictures FYI. As you can notice, it has a small potential filter area which I lined with some soil and lava stones, and where I planted some Calamus my father-in-law donated. The water lillies and oxygenating plants I added also seem to be doing ok. My question, however, concerns the other edges. One shelf is suitable for plant baskets (right hand side), the other two are not (too small, water depth limited to c. 2 inches). I knew nothing of ponds when I relined it and am therefore not inclined to redesign the shelves. As an alternative solution, I bought three Oase Overgrowing Plant Bags in which I planted some ten plants each last week (trying to respect suitable depth/zone instructions for the plants), and which I draped over the edges.

My question is two-fold:
(1) I am a bit afraid that the plant bags are not good long-term solutions and that insufficient water circulation through the mesh will actually make the plant roots rot, especially if I overstuffed the bags with soil. How realistic is this fear?
(2) What would be a good alternative solution to get more plants around the edges of the pond? I have been thinking of making DIY plant socks but there too, I am afraid these wont' allow for the necessary water circulation around the roots?

Any advice you might give would be deeply appreciated. Much to my surprise, I find restoring and starting up a pond extremely satisfying but the learning curve is steep-ish.

Many thanks in advance,
Steven

 

[j.w]

@anuenlil
I don't use plant bags but some do here. I put plants in pots of 100% kitty litter w/no additives. You can set plants in the center area on upside down plastic containers to raise the pots up also. You can also grow plants along the outside edge of your pond that like to creep into your pond and over the side into the water.

Creeping Jenny w/little yellow blooms:

Sedge plants you can tuck between rocks w/roots in water or soil:

Sweet Flag in a pot sitting on the pond shelf or you could set it on the floor of your pond on top of an upside down pot or milk crate. It can get huge tho and if it gets too big you will have to drag it out and divide it or it will break the pot open:

There are also a lot of plants that can either just float around or be stuck in very shallow water in shallow planters that will sprawl across the top of the water:
Parrots Feather planted in a big deep pot, but can be planted in shallow pots or just thrown in the pond freely:
In a large deep pot:

Tucked in between rocks around edge w/root in water:

Water Hawthorne in a shallow pot, it blooms (small white blooms) when it's cool outside and stops when the hot weather comes:

Lots of underwater plants too that you can throw in or plant:
Hornwort, not my photo, taken of the internet:

Anacharis can just be thrown in the pond:

So many others too numerous to mention!
My pond:

Lots of plants to plant in the soil around your pond edge will grow over your rocks and spread around the outside edge also:
Creeping Thyme:

Even Daisies:

Blue Eyed Grass (tiny flowers:

Hen and Chicks:

Pansy's:

Rock Cress:

Sea Thrift:

Sedums:
So many different kinds to choose that are low growing:

Sedum above Creeping Thyme:

Yellow colored, not sure of correct name:

Sorry I went overboard on posting lots of plants!
What it comes down to is you can plant so many types of plants around the outer edge that will grow in sun, shade or whatever your temp zones will allow.

 

[anuenlil]

Dear J.W., Thank you for having gone overboard, this is very useful! I hadn't considered the possibility of using plants planted in the dry areas outside the pond, but hanging down so as to gradually reach the water surface, and have now drawn up a plan for just that involving creeping jennies, amongst other options. Many thanks!

 

[GBBUDD]

make the plant roots rot, especially if I overstuffed the bags with soil. How realistic is this fear?

It's not real but with plants that are ground based and are not marginals.
With the design today we use plants for a lot more than pretty flowers. Though we take full advantage of that as well. Marginal plants prefer the base of the plant be underwater or in a bog. But the main staulk be above the water. The trick today is NO SOIL there is enough nutrients in the water from decaying plants and leaves, fish waste ect. So what we have learned is to take advantage of plants and plant them in Gravel pea stone seams to work the best to to 3/4 inch river rounds. Using lava rock or jagged and chipped rock is not what your looking for the round rock blows water to pass through though slowly. This is where roots absorb the nutrients from the water not soil helping to make for a clear algae free pond.
As far as it being narrow shelves you could use something like a plastic window box put what ever plant you'd like in there and fill with the gravel.

 

[anuenlil]

First time I heard that 21st century ponds are done with no soil at all. Is that a general opinion?

 

[GBBUDD]

Not a general opinion it is how garden ponds are built today.

We also are building upflow wetland filters or what is commonly called a bog filter. This in short may contain a settling chamber at the bottom which then has 6 to 8 inch round river rocks for a layer toped with 3 to 4 inch river rock again for only 4 inch then a layer of 2 inch and finalized with a foot of 3/4 river rock some prefer peastone in my opinion 3/8 peastone is to fine for koi fish but not with shubunkins and gold fish.
The bog filter all plants are simply placed in the stone they get all they need from the water here is a couple shots of mine with ZERO soil just rock . Try planting in nothing but rock out of water and it better be a cactus or some other poor soil demanding plant. But when ot comes to aquatic plants of high demand of water plants of course there are exception but these do very well often to well.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to the forum!