When filling your garden pond with aquatics, submerged marginals should be planted in their specialized containers first, then installed in your water feature to their specified depth: shallow-depth marginals to 6 inches or less, deep-depth marginals 6-12 inches deep and deep-water submersibles more than 1 foot deep. To install your submerged marginals, just take the simple steps shown in the following pictures and described in their captions.
Planting Marginal Aquatics
Planting Marginal Aquatics - Step 1
Install plants on the marginal shelves of your water feature, at the recommended depth for the species. Make sure the container is secure and stable on the shelf.
Photo Credit: ©2001 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Planting Marginal Aquatics - Step 2
For shallow-depth marginals, place the container so that the rim is slightly showing. This will allow water to lap over the edge while avoiding constant soil saturation.
Photo Credit: ©2001 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Planting Marginal Aquatics - Step 3
Plant invasive marginal plants in containers as you would other aquatics, but then bury the containers inside separate liner pockets located at the edge of the feature to keep those plants from spreading. Provide a reliable source of water other than that from the water feature, such as with drip irrigation.
Photo Credit: ©2001 Dolezal Publishing/Reed Estabrook
Planting Marginal Aquatics - Step 4
Allow space for planting containers in quiet corners of a watercourse or stream by digging holes for them before you install the flexible liner. Finish the stream installation with coping stones along the edges. Anchor the containers within the depressions using rocks around their sides, filling the hole to stream-bottom depth and disguising the planters.
Photo Credit: ©2001 Dolezal Publishing/Reed Estabrook
Planting Marginal Aquatics - Step 5
If necessary (especially on hot days when the water may evaporate quickly), provide supplementary water to shoreline plants, as well as adequate drainage away from the water feature. If this becomes a recurring problem, add a layer of mulch around these plants to help retain moisture.
Photo Credit: ©2001 Dolezal Publishing/Reed Estabrook
