Creating a water garden opens up a new and fascinating range of plants suited for aquatic and moisture-rich environments. Whether you use them to enhance the banks of a stream, attract and sustain wildlife or provide new textures and colors to reflect off your pool’s surface, growing water garden plants is a rewarding experience.
Iris versicolor is a shoreline or shallow-depth marginal hardy from zones 3-9. It can be grown in containers set into the water garden to control its spread.
Photo Credit: ©Dolezal Publishing/Charles Slay
Waterlilies are deep-depth submersibles with long, flexible stems. These popular aquatics feature floating, rounded to oval leaves with a cleft at the base.
Photo Credit: ©2001 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Fairy moss is a surface floater that spreads quickly, covering the water surface with pea-green leaves. In fall, the plant turns pink, bronze and red as it goes dormant. In warm zones, however, it can be very invasive.
Photo Credit: ©2001 Dolezal Publishing/Donna Krischan
Aquatic nurseries often display plants in settings similar to those you’d use in your home water feature. Check plant care tags carefully or check the
Learn2Grow Plant Database for species-specific information.
Photo Credit: ©2001 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
There are four basic categories of aquatics:
Shoreline
Also called bog plants or boggy marginals, shoreline plants grow in the soil outside the watertight liner that forms the water feature. Some require damp, well-drained soil. Others thrive in constantly moist conditions. In a natural environment, shoreline plants receive moisture from their pond. In water gardens, plant shoreline aquatics in the same manner as for most garden plants. Shorelines require regular watering to maintain adequate moisture.
Floaters
Plants living with roots that dangle in the water, unanchored in soil, are called floaters. Those that lay on the surface are called surface floaters, while those that primarily dwell underwater are called submerged oxygenators. Submerged oxygenators serve minor water-quality functions by helping to balance the oxygen levels of the water, mitigate algae growth and provide food for fish and plant life. In a natural environment, floaters sometimes root into the bottom of the pond. In water gardens, they remain unattached or are planted as deep-water submersibles.
Marginals
These aquatics add height along the perimeter of water features and soften the edges. There are two types of marginals; both grow in submerged soil within the liner. Shallow-depth marginals grow in water less than 6 inches deep, while deep-depth marginals grow in water 6-12 inches deep. Many of the shallow-depth marginals also grow in constantly moist shoreline soil. In a natural environment, marginals grow in soil at the bottom of ponds or streams. In water gardens, plant marginals in the soil of a weighted container, the soil covered with gravel, then submerged (container and all) to the required depth. Place the containers on shelves built into preformed liners or on risers at the bottom of a feature.
Deep-water submersibles
Plants rooted deeper than 12 inches underwater are considered deep-water submersibles. They include waterlilies and lotus plants. The platelike leaves of waterlilies aid water quality by blocking sunlight and providing shelter and shade to aquatic life. In a natural environment, they grow in soil at the bottom of a pond. In a water garden, plant submerged aquatics in containers and sink them to the required depth.
You’ll choose and use plants in your water garden for aesthetic and practical reasons. Just make sure that you pick healthy aquatics that will thrive in your area and USDA Hardiness zone with the level of sun, shade and wind found in your water garden.
