Planting media

[Huckleberry12]

i am at the point of adding plants to my new pond/bog/stream. So far, I have planted Louisiana iris, a white marsh marigold, and a forget-me-not bareroot in a few inches of gravel on a shallow ledge; a sweet flag is there also but at this point still in the mesh pot it came in, as is a society garlic. Watercress in the stream is too. Plants in bog are bareroot. The water Hawthorne in the pond is in the mesh pot it came in, as is the water lily, both awaiting a decision on my part as to what to plant them in. Soil? Special "pond" soil? Kitty litter?

What about fertilizer? Do bareroot plants get enough nutrients? Thanks in advance.

 

[addy1]

All of the ones you mention above are in my pond in the bog except the lily. I do not have hawthorne or garlic. They are all bare rooted into the pea gravel.

My lilies are in kitty litter, the only thing I fertilize are the lilies.

Just a heads up the sweet flag grows via tubers and spreads, nice thick tubers, nice dense roots, once it gets rooted in it is hard to move. It gets around 3 feet tall sure looks nice.

 

[Huckleberry12]

I appreciate the heads up, Addy. I've noticed that many aquatics can be invasive. Is there a way to grow the sweet flag that minimizes its invasive tendencies? I gather that keeping it contained in a pot in the way one might with a regular garden plants is not effective?

 

[addy1]

Laughing nope it grows very nicely right over and out of the pot. To keep it contained just keep cutting the tubers off.

In the past 5 years of this pond, I would basically say ALL aquatic plants are invasive to a certain extent. Some invade slower than others. Most you can easily remove, the sweet flag, rushes, iris are the toughest to move/remove. They anchor themselves nicely.

 

[Huckleberry12]

I think I'll keep the iris, sweet flag, and rushes in places where they are relatively accessible. So do those who plant in soil rather than bare root do so for the sake of nutrients in the soil, or some other reason?