Taking suggestions for waterfall plants

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Hey and hope that everyone has survived this rough winter we have been having. Now that I have had some warmer weather, it has got me thinking about what to plant in the waterfall this spring. I redone my waterfall last fall, and in it there is a small pool about 3-8" deep and 2'X3' in size. Does anyone have any suggestions for what would be good aquatic/above surface plants to place in this area? All that I have been able to come up with is Water Clover which would be nice, but looking for more ideas for plants under 6" so as to not block the waterfall viewing. I have room for more plants and would hate to find out later that I missed out on some ideas.
 

JBtheExplorer

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There's something called Baby Tears that I keep hearing about that. From what I've seen, it can grow out of water or completely submerged. I don't know really anything about it or if its appropriate for your situation, but it may be something to look into.I'm not sure if its a 'pond plant' but I know some people have grown it in and around their ponds with success.
 
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We grow watercress in our waterfall - we have a small pool that sounds very similar to yours. We buy it from the produce department of our grocery store with the roots still on, stick it in the pool and around the waterfall edges ,securing it between the rocks or with a few rocks, just to hold it for a few days. Because that's all it takes for it to start rooting. And spreading. You will be pulling it out before too long and if you're not careful, it will divert your water flow. But it's easy to pull out, and you can eat it! (Watercress rates a 1000 on the ANDI scale, if you're familiar with that.) The fish love it too - we throw handfuls to them when it starts to get out of hand.

Now, I will caution you that it will look like it's giving up when the weather turns hot, but when the hottest part of summer passes, it will pick right up where it left off. We've grown it in floating planters, too. The fish keep it trimmed when it spills over the edges. From one small bunch in May I bet we had a bushel of it by mid-summer. Best 99 cents we ever spent!
 
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Thanks for the ideas JB and Lisak. I like the idea of watercress since of the location there is a lot of afternoon shade. And if it gets out of hand, like most of my plants did last year, I get something to eat :) .

Any other ideas for plants, edible or not?
 

addy1

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impatiens look great, esp if you have some shade. Mine where under the apple tree, morning sun, in the top of a tank, they bloomed all summer.

Creeping jenny, a lot of ground covers work.

DSC06466.JPG
 

taherrmann4

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I have put elephant ears in my creeks and they grow very fast! I will caution you though that their roots grow quite extensively and when you go to pull out in the fall can be quite challenging.

addy you had impatiens growing in water in the top of the tank?
 

addy1

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I have put elephant ears in my creeks and they grow very fast! I will caution you though that their roots grow quite extensively and when you go to pull out in the fall can be quite challenging.

addy you had impatiens growing in water in the top of the tank?

Yes and they grew great, just bare rooted and plopped in the water, I did put a piece of window screen so they would not sink real deep but did not try to keep the crown dry etc, just stuck them in.


This was mid summer or so. I can tell by the chicken wire, got rid of it once I got some anti heron netting for that pond. You can just see the lip of the blue 55 gallon barrel, the water is pumped to the bottom and flows up through a minimal amount of filter material, something I need to work on this spring. Just add a little more stuff

DSC06471.JPG
 
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Awesome way to hide the filter box. I am definitely going to try and do this with my filter that we made last summer. And I remember talking to you about the impatients as well. Gonna try that too!

Is that a turtle I see in the middle of the picture?
 
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love the idea of the watercress as well

might have to give that a try and then if it does well I can feed the excess to the critters

editing to add: I just googled watercress and saw some photos that had small white flowers. Did your watercress flower?
 

addy1

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Awesome way to hide the filter box. I am definitely going to try and do this with my filter that we made last summer. And I remember talking to you about the impatients as well. Gonna try that too!

Is that a turtle I see in the middle of the picture?

It is the shell of one, the poor thing fell into our shubbie tank and died. I now have short fencing around it to keep them out of the tank.
 

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