To pot or to plant?

[bagsmom]

Hey everyone -- you may have seen my various questions elsewhere on here. I am planning a pond! I've been dreaming and planning for years, so we'll see if it actually happens. Right now all I have is a rope outline on the ground! But I've started prepping the area, so that's farther than I've been. Once I save enough money, I will start digging.

Question: Is it better to plant some of the plants in gravel in the pond if possible? I was thinking this might look more natural, especially with the marginals. I thought I would make the first shelf extra wide, so I could edge the shelf with rocks and create little "planters," which I could fill with gravel. I could plant iris and such right in it. I know many people do not recommend filling a whole pond with rock, since it really holds debris and gets very slippery. So for the fully submerged plants, I would probably do pots.

What are your thoughts on this?

Also, favorite plants for in and around your pond? I am in NW Central GA.

Thanks, everyone!

 

[Lisak1]

I definitely prefer "naturalized" plants growing directly in the pond. So much less work and it does look better I think. You don't really need a lot of gravel though - many plants will grow if you just anchor them between a couple of rocks long enough for the roots to develop.

Irises, grasses, reeds, sedges, arum arrow, Thalia, red dock - so many to choose from. You can experiment to see what grows best or visit some local ponds to see what's growing well.

As far as submerged plants, you're really talking water lilies and those you really want in pots. They can quickly take over if not contained.

 

[dpowell]

Hey everyone -- you may have seen my various questions elsewhere on here. I am planning a pond! I've been dreaming and planning for years, so we'll see if it actually happens. Right now all I have is a rope outline on the ground! But I've started prepping the area, so that's farther than I've been. Once I save enough money, I will start digging.

What are your thoughts on this?

Also, favorite plants for in and around your pond? I am in NW Central GA.

Thanks, everyone!

I'm still learning the ins and outs of this myself. But in terms of planning for your plantings there are 2 things I wish I had done a bit differently that you might want to consider. First, I dug shelves at 1 ft, 2 ft and deepest part of the pond is 3 feet. I wish that I had added a shallower ledge at about 6-8 inches as well. I have trouble getting the bog plants at a good level and not too deep even with bricks or stones. Second, I wish I had been more of a perfectionist in leveling the shelves. Because I used a flexible liner, it didn't seem that perfectly level shelves were critical, but the pots want to slide in spots.

I hope one day soon you just go for it! Of course planning is important - you don't want to make costly mistakes. But after watching videos, reading books, etc, I finally dived in and started digging. I'm finding that you learn as you go and I'm SOOO happy I didn't wait any more.