Lilly Pad Recessed Pot Layout?

[ATP]

Going to dig some recessed areas in the newly excavated pond today to accept medium sized dishpans for lillys. I feel like these may be easier in the future, in case the fish start rooting and need to cover them with some kind of mesh. Plus they are a little deeper than the oil drain pans I was orignally planning on using.

Does this look like a good layout for the holes (green circles)? I didnt want one right under the general area where I think I want the the spillway bowl, so staggered the holes or maybe one lilly will be sufficient in this area? On the other side of the deep section I added 3, is this too many?

 

[combatwombat]

Remind me how deep your shelves are?

Locations look good, I think. I would keep them out of the primary flow path and, like you said, away from turbulent water in spillways.

Can’t remember if you have plans for jets to push water from still side of pond towards intake. If not, lillies might trap some debris in your dead zones. What direction is prevailing wind?

 

[ATP]

Remind me how deep your shelves are?

Locations look good, I think. I would keep them out of the primary flow path and, like you said, away from turbulent water in spillways.

Can’t remember if you have plans for jets to push water from still side of pond towards intake. If not, lillies might trap some debris in your dead zones. What direction is prevailing wind?

The shelves I have the lillies are 22"-24". Prevailing winds come from the right to the left of the picture. Aquascape makes a low voltage power head I may add to push water toward the intake if I feel like i need more flow. The spillway bowl is pretty large (32" diam) and can take up to a 1-1/2 hose, so it should help the water movement in that area.

I wasnt sure if that many lillies would be overkill or a good amount. Especially, to othe left of the deep section I am wondering if just one would be enough more centered?

 

[addy1]

lol I have 7 in a 1000 gallon pond 9ft dia they do well. a bit of leaf coverage competition. I have around 15 in my main pond, deepest 3ish feet

 

[TheFishGuy]

I think you have a good amount to fill those areas, over time you may find yourself not needing that many as each plant grows larger, but you can always take them out and sell to a pond store or other hobbyists. Depending on what types of lillies you are getting, the areas do seem a bit deep though. I keep my lillies at 12", but I am aware there are deeper water varieties.

 

[Lisak1]

The built in planter idea intrigued me at first, but with time I've learned that I move my lilies around all.the.time. Sometimes because of size, water flow, just because... so for me, the idea would have been wasted. I know the pros do it all the time, but I've never seen anyone rave about how happy they are with their built in planters.

Also - you mentioned "deeper" - remember lilies grow their roots horizontally across the pot. They don't need or make use of a deeper pot.

Just a thought!

 

[addy1]

Mine always get moved around. The oil pans move real easy.

 

[ATP]

The built in planter idea intrigued me at first, but with time I've learned that I move my lilies around all.the.time. Sometimes because of size, water flow, just because... so for me, the idea would have been wasted. I know the pros do it all the time, but I've never seen anyone rave about how happy they are with their built in planters.

Also - you mentioned "deeper" - remember lilies grow their roots horizontally across the pot. They don't need or make use of a deeper pot.

Just a thought!

Funny you mention that, that is what i was thinking as I was digging them. If I end up using them great, if not no big deal. This is the only chance I have to add them so I did. I also ended up just going with an oil pan as the template, so not very deep. I did deal a hole in one of the shelves big enough to accept one of those Laguna lilly pots that I plan on using for a Lotus. Again, figure do it now before the liner goes in.

 

[mrsclem]

Make sure you use a round pot for your lotus and the bigger , the better.

 

[Jhn]

Instead of digging spots for pots, I just put depressions in the pond and filled in with gravel. To make a planting bed, have pickerel rush in one and some lilies in another, but my pond I large enough to let the lilies go were they want in there areas. Actually only have a few plants in pots in my ponds most are planted bare root.

 

[Lisak1]

My plants are all bare root, except for my lilies. Those babies scare me!

 

[addy1]

My plants are all bare root, except for my lilies. Those babies scare me!

I looked at the running free ones in the 1000 gallon pond. Huge tubers, leaves and buds hitting the surface already. I would still not turn loose in the big pond.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

My plants are all bare root, except for my lilies. Those babies scare me!

Same here - all plants directly in the gravel except for the lilies, which are in containers, but for an entirely different reason. My fish were destroying the lilies - I had to pot them & put welded wire over the tops of the dishpans to keep those crazy fishies from uprooting (ie - killing) them!