Plants for Pondless Waterfall

[fishin6]

Hi all!

I am currently constructing a small pondless waterfall. I would like to have a few plants inside the waterfall to add some color, but I'm not sure if it will be possible with my setup.

The stream portion will only have a water depth of about 3". Are there any plants that can be planted directly in rocks with that shallow of water? I would prefer to not have anything in pots. I am in zone 5b, but don't mind planting them in the spring and then removing them in the fall.

The entire waterfall is only about 6 feet, so I would need plants that will stay small/short so it doesn't overtake the waterfall.

Do you have any suggestions on what I can use? Thanks!

 

[EricV]

One thing that would work for you is water forget me not. You'll need to keep thinning it out, but it would probably even survive the winter if there are parts of your stream or basin that retain water or ice.

 

[j.w]

You know your pondless waterfall will prolly get algae and then you will be wanting to clear it up. Plants will help but you can use Hydrogen Peroxide in there to get rid of algae and it supposedly won't hurt plants or fish.
Creeping Jenny is a pretty plant: https://www.aquascapeinc.com/water-gardening/plants/creeping-jenny

Creeping Jenny in my pond:

Also I like Parrots Feather and it can be planted in between the rocks. In my pond:

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome! You didn't mention what zone you're in, but I have LOTS of plants in my pond less waterfall - here's a picture!

 

[Colleen_MI]

I hope nobody minds me resurrecting this thread. I've been searching the archives for planting ideas for my pondless waterfall. It was new last summer and I had a LOT of string algae. I don't mind some algae on the rocks, but the string algae was relentless. In fact, we've had a mild winter in Michigan, and I STILL have string algae. (Kept the pump going over the winter.) I'm hoping more plants will help.

@Lisak1 , your pondless is gorgeous!! Do you have a picture of it without the plants, so I can kind of see where the turns and drops are? And do you also have plants right in the basin?

Maybe someone can guide me regarding plants that do well in moving water? Mine has four drops, so there aren't many still areas. Are there plants that do better with a constant flow? Just to try it out last year, I used a couple of sun-tolerant hostas that did fairly well. The baby irises kept falling over though, even though I had rocks on them. Maybe they just need more plants around to support them.

Also, from reading other posts, it seems like some people just chuck the plants in, no pot required? Is that also true for a pondless? When I pulled the hostas out, there were a lot of roots grown into the rocks. That won't harm the liner?

I'm attaching a picture of mine. I've since done a lot of landscaping around it, which I hope will grow in some this year, but it's still going to be in mostly sun. I prefer plants that are native to the Great Lakes but I'm not strict about it.

 

[GBBUDD]

NICE JOB ON YOUR BUILD. looks great. one thing you can do is while driving around the area keep your eyes open for streams and falls along the side of the road. Moss is one Plant that looks great and grown well along the edges. I also have creeping jenny along a water fall and yellow sweet flag is also doing well at the base off to the side of a waterfall. Another plant that is growing in current is monkey fist. Hyacinth can also thrive in a lower flow area. pickerel rush/weed and forget me nots. Also had some papyrus so well off to the side of current

 

[Colleen_MI]

Thanks, @GBBUDD. I can't take credit for the build, but I love it.

I can't quite tell if your plants are in pots, or just tucked in bare root, maybe with rocks anchoring them? Will plants with aggressive roots harm the liner?

 

[Mgessert]

Perhaps you could focus on heavily planting beside the stream to start with, using mosses and ferns as Ggbudd does. It will be beautiful! I don’t know if much will actually grow in the fast moving water though. Could you add a little bog at the top to help control algae?

 

[GBBUDD]

Thanks, @GBBUDD. I can't take credit for the build, but I love it.

I can't quite tell if your plants are in pots, or just tucked in bare root, maybe with rocks anchoring them? Will plants with aggressive roots harm the liner?

No, the only plants I have in pots are water lilies. I have seen many a video from the pro pond builders saying tree roots/ cat tails / and some reeds have been found to have punctured liners

 

[diy Dave]

Hi all!

I am currently constructing a small pondless waterfall. I would like to have a few plants inside the waterfall to add some color, but I'm not sure if it will be possible with my setup.

The stream portion will only have a water depth of about 3". Are there any plants that can be planted directly in rocks with that shallow of water? I would prefer to not have anything in pots. I am in zone 5b, but don't mind planting them in the spring and then removing them in the fall.

The entire waterfall is only about 6 feet, so I would need plants that will stay small/short so it doesn't overtake the waterfall.

Do you have any suggestions on what I can use? Thanks!

watercress from streams works well and you can eat it in a salad

 

[Lisak1]

@Colleen_MI well that took me a minute or 20! I realize looking back that I didn't take many pictures of the "early days" of the pondless - more of the gardens around it. I have photos of the construction but those pre-date what I have on this computer.

Anyway, this one is a good view of the pondless pre-planted - it's pool at the top (about 8-10 inches deep) then it separates into a trickle stream on the left and a bigger waterfall on the right, which both fall into the big pool at the bottom which is about the same depth as the first pool, maybe a tad deeper.

All the plants I put in here are planted directly into the water. Some I have to prop up with rocks; others can handle the depth. You can see the tiny impatiens here - those will be 50x bigger by the end of their growing season. I usually toss a float hyacinth into the bottom pool - it's the one spot I will usually get blooms from them. That tiny plant in the bottom left corner is forget me not - that stuff is growing ALL OVER my yard now. It's pretty though, tiny blue blooms all season long, and it's easy to yank out, so it's a good problem to have!

 

[Lisak1]

I should add that my then 18 year old son built this for us - with some muscle help from his two big brothers - the year he graduated high school. It kills him now to look at it - too many small rocks. He would build it completely differently now. HOWEVER he built 90% of this with rocks that we had harvested for 20 years from our subdivision when it was being built. My kids knew I loved rocks so they were always on the look out for "good" ones and would bring them home for me when they were out exploring. I used them to line garden beds throughout the yard, unaware that one day they would become this! And to be honest, when you get it fully planted you only see a small percentage of the rocks anyway. The water becomes the focus.

Lots of sentimental value in this build! And he used what he learned from this project to build our pond the next summer. He could do this professionally if he wanted - he has a great eye.

 

[Colleen_MI]

Thanks everyone for the help and suggestions.

I would love to have a bog if I could figure out how to do it. The reason I ended up with a pondless was a little bit of concern with maintenance of a pond, but mostly because I couldn't find a pond builder here who would do a bog. Maybe they didn't know how either, although Aquascape has something similar but they call it a wetland filter. I do love the pondless, but I ended up with string algae anyway. Hopefully I'll get a handle on it with lots of plants this year.

@Lisak1, I love the story about your son building that for you. It looks like you have a bit more shade than I do. I know the sun is probably contributing to the algae as well. It's going to be a few years before my new landscaping grows in. Have to remind myself to be patient. I have branches I've added to mine, too, to try to help it look more natural. Maybe I can strategically place those to slow down the water in a couple places and support the plants.

 

[GBBUDD]

I should add that my then 18 year old son built this for us - with some muscle help from his two big brothers - the year he graduated high school. It kills him now to look at it - too many small rocks. He would build it completely differently now. HOWEVER he built 90% of this with rocks that we had harvested for 20 years from our subdivision when it was being built. My kids knew I loved rocks so they were always on the look out for "good" ones and would bring them home for me when they were out exploring. I used them to line garden beds throughout the yard, unaware that one day they would become this! And to be honest, when you get it fully planted you only see a small percentage of the rocks anyway. The water becomes the focus.

Lots of sentimental value in this build! And he used what he learned from this project to build our pond the next summer. He could do this professionally if he wanted - he has a great eye

Great story, Speaks Volumes for Mom....

 

[GBBUDD]

wetland filter

no difference from that to a bog filter. some might refer a bog/ wetland are without plants to be called a wetlands filter, and the bog to be with plants.....