help getting plants ready for winter season

[bettasngoldfish]

This will be my first winter trying to keep these particular plants in my pond. I bought them all in the spring and I believe they are all hardy to my area.

I'm hoping that I won't have to re-purchase new ones next spring but I'm not exactly sure how to prepare or keep them to give them their best shot at survival.

I have a large gray sedge, corkscrew rush, variegated water celery (which looks like it is already starting to die back a bit, possibly from the cooler temps?) These are all potted in what ever media they planted in from the pond shop with some aquarium gravel on top. They are sitting on a self in the pond about 16-18 inches deep (I'm not exactly sure but I can measure tomorrow if it makes a difference) I also have a small sweet flag plant potted in aquatic media with gravel on top as well (this particular plant didn't grow as much as the others I listed.

The water hyacinth and water lettuce I'm planning to pull tomorrow as I know that will die over the winter. The parrots feather I'm pretty sure will be fine left floating in the water. And the watercress I'm not too worried about having to replace but wonder if I should pull it or leave it be? It's attached itself (and growing well) in a small waterfall basin and it will not have water running through it during the winter.

The last plant that I'm not sure if is hardy to my area or not is the forget me not. It's potted in a floating fabric pot in the pond. Obviously I know I can't leave it in the floating planter. Should I just toss it or is there a way to save it?

Here are a few photos I took tonight. The pond is way over grown with plants.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

 

[Tula]

You sure had good luck with your pond plants! My forget me nots grow in rocks on the side of my pond and come back each spring. I'm leaving my parrots feather and water celery in similar crevices, but this was my first year for them, so I'll be curious to see how they do.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

thanks Tula, I even pulled water lettuce and hyacinth out of the pond several times over the summer. The stuff multiples like crazy. This is the first year I had the shelf with potted plants and I really like the way it changed the look of the pond. Made it feel more like a real pond somehow.

I had a little bit of parrots feather that was in the pond last winter and it survived but it was completely under water.

Are you getting falling leaves yet? I'm going to need to get the tighter wove net out soon as the leaves are going to really start dropping soon.

Interesting about the forget me nots, they seem to be a little more on the fragile side for me.

 

[Lisak1]

Here's my general rule - if the plant is hardy to my zone, I leave it in the pond. If it's in a pot, I drop it lower than where it normally sits. The lilies get cut back completely and all moved to the very bottom of the pond. The marginals that are planted in the gravel on the shelves stay put. I cut everything back and hope for the best. We've got some potted corkscrew rush that we're going to try to overwinter in the garage - we'll see how that goes.

We learned the hard way that keeping the water at the usual level is important for the plants that are planted directly in the pond - the part of the plant that grows under water wants to stay under the water (or ice, in this case). When we shut our waterfall off for the winter our water level drops 8-10 inches, leaving all the plants exposed and they all died. Now we keep the falls running which keeps the water level up and our plants do great - even in last year's worst winter ever!

I bring some of my tropicals inside - I have a few papyruses and a taro that survived indoors last winter. I don't have great indoor light, so the plants I brought in lived, but they definitely didn't thrive. They took a few weeks to perk up once I finally got them outside. A few more days indoors and they would have been done for. I'm not an indoor plant person to begin with, so it was almost more work that I was interested in doing to keep them alive.

Hope that helps!

 

[Lisaebetten]

Wow you've got the MEGA WH!!!! I'm glad you started this thread, it is DITTO for me so I will be reading all of it.
I like your leaf screen and will make one just like to Saturday. Thanks again!

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Look at all those leaves on the netting. I wish I could put a net over my pond too but I'm too worried about the frogs getting tangled. I'm going to be doing A LOT of leaf netting soon.

 

[Tula]

I've netter my pond and ma using a new net with 1/8 mesh openings. I have a cedar tree overhead that drops fine debris, so am liking this new net.

I think my frogs still manage to come and go, as it's not tight around the edges.

 

[Lisaebetten]

View attachment 76022 View attachment 76020 View attachment 76021

I just put zip ties on my Menards list! Did you glue your part together or not so break it down?

 

[addy1]

Interesting about the forget me nots, they seem to be a little more on the fragile side for me.

forgetmenot will come back, I have it in the bog, along the edging of the pond, in the stream it just grows. When I turn off the Bog it stays full of water and freezes all of the plants come back. Any pond plants I just let them stay where they are except the red stem parrots feather. It is in a pot and it gets sank.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

I just put zip ties on my Menards list! Did you glue your part together or not so break it down?

We were going to glue it together but then decided against it. It's easier to undo a connection to remove it from the pond or add to it if need be if it's not glued. So far it has stayed together really good. I do have a rock resting on top of two sides of it just so the whole thing doesn't accidentally end up getting lifted and moved somehow.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

forgetmenot will come back, I have it in the bog, along the edging of the pond, in the stream it just grows. When I turn off the Bog it stays full of water and freezes all of the plants come back. Any pond plants I just let them stay where they are except the red stem parrots feather. It is in a pot and it gets sank.

addy, So do you think the forget me not will be okay if I leave it in the floating planter? The roots are not bare, I have them planted in an aquatic media.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Look at all those leaves on the netting. I wish I could put a net over my pond too but I'm too worried about the frogs getting tangled. I'm going to be doing A LOT of leaf netting soon.

That's just the beginning of the leaves. I actually have a much tighter wove net that goes over the pond during the heavy leaf dropping. When I had a net over the pond that had a lot of excess material I did end up having a frog get stuck and die because of it. I felt really bad.... The way I have it now it's much safer for them.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Wow you've got the MEGA WH!!!! I'm glad you started this thread, it is DITTO for me so I will be reading all of it.
I like your leaf screen and will make one just like to Saturday. Thanks again!

thank you! The screen makes it much easier for me to cover the pond without the help of my hubby.

The water hyacinth and water lettuce didn't multiply as much for me as in previous years but the plants themselves did get much bigger than I have had in the past. Not sure why.

 

[oneofakindcritter]

I have celery and it stays put in the pond , it does invade everything growing within a foot from it...on the shelf. ie ; iris and corkscrew. my taro I remove cut tops off dry and pack in wood shavings then place in cool dark area of basement..

My ? is what to do with the chameleon plants that I have in floating planters. I brought them in and put them under grow lights last year, and even though the tops died off they did come back as the roots stayed alive...Can I pack them in shaving and leave them outside ? Zone 4 wisconsin