Water Garden | Home Grown

Adding Koi to Your Water Garden

Thinking of a adding a flashy garnish to your backyard water garden?

Consider adding a companion that will make your backyard the talk of the neighborhood. Adding Koi to your pond provides a flashy and interesting addition to water gardens with the added bonus of giving your pond a low maintenance pet. Koi are a variety of carp that were originally found in Asia. The fish are know for their color and distinctive markings.

Koi are distinguished by their color, patterns and scales. While traditional Koi varieties have been around for centuries breeders are coming up with new hybrids every year. Koi have been developed for centuries to become more visually appealing. The ghost variety of Koi became popular in the 1980s.

Image via Wikipedia

Despite all of the cross breeding meant to produce a more picturesque fish, the species remains durable. Koi are sturdy cold weather fish that adapt well to shifts in temperate. Even though Koi are tough it take properly constructed ponds to keep the fish alive through harsh winters. Koi almost entirely shut down during winter and eat next to nothing.

Ponds need to be deep enough for fish to retreat to in the winter. Covering the pond and providing the fish with a heat source also help. With a certain amount of care Koi will be companions for a long time. Koi can live for centuries. One famous Koi lived for more than 200 years.

Low maintenance, longevity and their nature beauty make Koi an ideal addition to a backyard water garden. Just keep them in your yard, Koi revert back to carp and are considered invasive if released into the wild.

Filed Under: Environment, Gardening Tagged With: Koi, Pond, Water garden

A Basic Water Garden Maintenance Checklist

Numerous problems can come as a direct result of having a water garden. Water garden owners can face the possibility of increased algae and scum, and stained rocks and garden lining. Luckily, by conducting regular maintenance on your water garden you can prevent these types of problems from happening.

Basic water garden maintenance takes just a few minutes. Here is a look at what you should be doing and checking for during that time.

Pond Scum

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Pond scum is the most common problem water garden owners face. Check for any type of scum that might be building up near leaves or other plant life. If you catch pond scum early enough you can prevent it from spreading to the whole pond.

Stained Landscaping

Water garden owners face the problem of having the water and rock deposits staining after a period of time. During your regular water garden maintenance check you should pick up rocks and stones and check for any type of staining that might have happened to these rocks. Stained stones can be harmful to the lining of the pond as well as any animals you may have in the pond.

Animal Behavior

Many water gardens have fish or other animals in the pond. If this is the case you should occasionally monitor your animals behavior to ensure they are getting the proper oxygen they need. Watch for signs that the animal is acting out of character or appearing sluggish as these are signs that there is a lack of oxygen.

By conducting a regular water garden maintenance check you can catch and fix problems before they become extremely problematic.

Filed Under: Gardening, General Tagged With: Pond Scum, Water garden

Floating Plants for Your Backyard Pond: Floating Heart

Choosing the right pond plants is essential in creating the ideal ecosystem for your backyard water garden. Your plants must all be capable of working together in order to create an ideal environment, especially if you are hosting fish or amphibians in your pond, because they will have specific requirements in order to thrive. There are a wide variety of different plants that you can install in your outdoor pond or water garden, but some are more advantageous than others when you consider the benefits and the features that they provide your ecosystem with.

Floating Hearts

This is a floating plant that is also commonly referred to as Plafflheart, which is more of a scientific name for this type of plant than anything else. The term “floating hearts” is much more fitting for this plant, however, which is why it is the name that people use when referring to it. These are a floating plant that are especially suitable for backyard pounds because they are capable of spreading quite rapidly to create a lot of shade for fish and other plants. They can live very well in full sun or in partial shade, and so in general they are considered to be a very versatile little plant.

The floating heart plant has a waxy leaf that is shaped similarly to a heart, and the leaves float quite readily on the surface of the water, featuring boldly colored yellow flowers during the blooming season.

Filed Under: Gardening, Home Improvement Tagged With: Garden, Pond, Water garden

Floating Plants for Your Backyard Pond: Floating Water Lettuce

There are an endless variety of different plants that you can install in an outdoor water feature like a pond or water garden. It is important for you to consider, however, that not every plant is going to get along with every ecosystem, nor is every plant going to get along with every other plant. As such, it is of vital importance that you put some time and thought into the plants that you choose, ensuring that you choose the right plants for your specific pond and the other flora and fauna that already exist there. One of the options that is available to you is a hardy floating plant called the floating water lettuce.

Floating Water Lettuce

This is a floating plant that is especially beneficial for use in outdoor ponds and similar water features because it is capable of naturally filtering the water in your pond for you. What this means is that it will free the water of your pond from any impurities that might otherwise be capable of harming the plants or the fish that you keep there. This floating plant happens to be relatively small in size, but it is a prolific grower that can take over a pond when improperly maintained. Although this is a popular plant for many pond keepers all over the United States, some states do not allow this plant to be purchased because of law restrictions from the department of fish and wildlife, so make sure that you check prior to purchasing it for your backyard pond.

Filed Under: Home Improvement, Tulip Tagged With: Pond, Water, Water garden

Floating Plants for Your Backyard Pond: Azolla

If you are looking for plants that would make excellent additions to your water garden, then you are going to want to consider the following floating plant. Floating plants do not have to be rooted in the ground, they simply float atop your pond water instead. The Azolla is a type of floating plant that is going to combine form with function, because not only is it a visually appealing plant that will float gracefully at the top of your pond, but it is also a functional plant that is going to improve the water chemistry of your pond while providing a food source and a source of shelter for the fish that you keep in your water garden.

Azolla

If you are looking for a floating backyard pond plant that is going to serve more than a single purpose, then the Azolla is a plant that is well worth considering. Not only is this floating plant going to provide shelter for the fish that are living in your backyard pond, but this particular floating plant is also going to be able to provide certain species of fish with an additional food source. It is also important for you to consider that these floating plants can help to keep your backyard pond or water feature water clean and pure. This means that this particular plant really is an excellent choice for your backyard pond, water garden or water feature, especially if you have other plants or fish living in your pond that you want to provide the healthiest water possible for. The Azolla plant looks a lot like a fern, but instead of being rooted in the ground, it floats just gently right on top of the pond water.

Filed Under: Gardening, Landscaping Tagged With: Pond, Water, Water garden

Floating Plants for Your Backyard Pond: Red Ludwegia

If you are looking for plants that would make excellent additions to your water garden, then you are going to want to consider the following floating plant. Floating plants do not have to be rooted in the ground, they simply float atop your pond water instead. The Red Ludwegia is one of those plants that can look beautiful while performing essential functions for your water garden, allowing you to create one of the best, healthiest and most thriving ecosystems in your backyard. This is a beautiful and functional plant, meaning that it can serve numerous benefits for your outdoor environment while looking beautiful at the same time. Add a splash of color to your outdoor water garden with the red ludwegia plant.

Red Ludwegia

The Red Ludwegia is a type of floating plant that is generally perceived to be perfect for anyone with a backyard pond that plays home to baby fish or small fish that may need help from hiding places in order to facilitate their survival. Floating plants are excellent for this purpose, because they provide spaces for small fish to hide, where larger fish would not be able to reach them easily. This is a very beautiful and very vibrantly colored floating plant that features gorgeous red leaves. This is also a relatively easy plant for you to grow as well as care for, especially in backyard ponds and other outdoor water features. What this means is that if you do not have a ton of time to devote to planting and tending to your outdoor floating plants, then this is going to be a good plant for you because it is hardy, easy to care for and very beautiful in all types of ponds and water features.

Filed Under: Gardening, Tulip Tagged With: Pond, Water, Water garden

Floating Plants for Your Backyard Pond: Floating Water Hyacinth

Image by la fattina via Flickr

Floating Plants for Your Backyard Pond: Floating Water Hyacinth

Some plants have a tendency to perform better than others when you decide to grow them in a backyard pond. Floating plants are particularly beneficial for a pond because they provide shade and shelter for fish and other aquatic creations, and they can add oxygen to the water for better water chemistry. Some floating plants are well worth considering adding to your pond, but there are always important considerations that you are going to want to make when doing so. Ensure that you know how to care for and maintain the plant properly, and guarantee that it will not interfere with your water chemistry or current plant and pond life before adding any new plant to your ecosystem.

Floating Water Hyacinth

This is a beautiful plant that is especially suitable for installation in a variety of different types of backyard ponds. It grows natively in lower US states including Alabama, California, Texas, Georgia and Florida. This plant typically has very large purple or blue flowers with yellow internal markings. They are the type of floating plant that you will commonly see in southern ponds and lakes because they grow natively in these areas. It is important for you to consider that even though these are very beautiful floating plants for backyard pond use, you must absolutely take care of them properly in order to prevent them from becoming a nuisance over time. If you do not keep them trimmed back properly, they can grow out of control quite easily in your pond, and it will allow them to suffocate other plants in the pond. Make sure that you know how to care for this plant completely before adding it to your pond.

Filed Under: Gardening, Tulip Tagged With: Pond, Water garden

Marginal Bog Plants for Aquatic Gardens

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Marginal Bog Plants for Aquatic Gardens

Marginal plants and bog plants are hardy and tend to work well in a wide variety of different water gardens, outdoor ponds and water features. Most are bare root and easy to install into your pond, and they only need to have their “feet” wet in order to thrive in an outdoor environment, meaning they can be half in the water and half out, completely submerged, or they can be planted in the mud and they will still thrive quite well. If you are looking for a variety of hardy plants that you can install in and around your outdoor water feature, then consider the following list:

- Aquatic Mint
- Arrowhead
- Arrowhead, Double Flowering
- Arrow Arum
- Aztec Arrowhead
- Bamboo, Dwarf
- Black Gamecock Iris
- Blue Flag Iris
- Canna, Hardy water
- Cardinal Flower, Red
- Cattail, Common
- Cattail, Dwarf
- Cattail, Narrow-leaf
- Frog Bit, American
- Flowering Rush
- Four Leaf Clover
- Golden Club
- Horsetail
- Lizard Tail
- Marsh Marigold
- Parrot’s Feather
- Pennywort
- Pickerel Weed
- Snowflake
- Spiderwort
- Sweetflag
- Red Copper Iris
- Variegated Sweetflag
- Yellow Flag Iris
- Zebra Rush

These are just a small sampling of the plants that are available for you to add to your pond or outdoor water feature. If you want to add a wide variety of different plants to your outdoor water garden so that you can create a lush and natural environment, then the aforementioned list is an excellent starting point, and then you can build your water garden from here depending on which plants you are most interested in. Keep in mind that bog plants like these are not your only option, and choose oxygenated, fully submerged and floating plants or water lilies as well in order to create a natural and diverse water garden that suits your needs.

Filed Under: Gardening, Home Improvement Tagged With: Water, Water feature, Water garden

Plant Considerations for an Outdoor Water Feature

Here are two plants that could make excellent additions to your water garden, water feature or outdoor pond. Make sure that your pond is the right environment for a specific pond species before you begin your planting. If you plant the wrong aquatic plant in your pond, it may die, interfere with other plants, or may overwhelm your pond by growing beyond the size and space available to you.

Plant Name: Dwarf Cattail
Scientific Name: Typha minima
Description: Whether you have a small garden pond or a large one, the dwarf cattail is a perfect addition. It can also handle small container water gardens and water features as well. As its max height this plant is less than two feet tall, meaning that it is particularly well suited for small garden ponds, container gardens and similar water features. This plant features distinctive brown seed heads that are rounded rather than long, and the foliage is blue-green in hue. This plant is also beneficial for low-temperature water gardening as it is a hearty plant that can survive serious temperatures.

Plant Name: King Tut Papyrus
Scientific Name: Cyperus papyrus
Description: This plant is known as the King Tut and is an ideal marginal plant or bog plant for a water garden. This is an outstanding plant for you to choose to use when you are putting together a garden pond. The King Tut Papyrus has also been known as being the umbrella plant since it has eye-catching bracts in green that bend over similar to an umbrella. It is going to grow well not only in a full sun environment but also in a partial shade environment as well. You can plant this aquatic plant directly into the water or you can plant it in a rich and moist bog soil. The plant can be hardy all the way down to twenty five degrees Fahrenheit. You can also take it indoors in the winter months.

Filed Under: Gardening, Home Improvement Tagged With: Plant, Pond, Water garden

Types and Descriptions of Aquatic Plants

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Types and Descriptions of Aquatic Plants

There are many different pond plants that you can plant in a small or large backyard pond, but some will thrive better than others. Choosing the right types of aquatic plants is essential to the success of your water garden.

Water Lilies – Water lilies are the queen of all aquatic plants and they are also known as Nymphaea or Lotus flowers. There are a wide variety of different sizes, shapes, colors and types. Some are fragrant, and some only bloom at night. These are deep water aquatic plants rooting strongly at the bottom of the pond with leaves floating along the surface. Many are hearty while others are tropical only.

Oxygenators – These are typically submersed or submerged plants that cannot exist outside of the water. They float under the water or they are rooted, and they work to add oxygen to the water, improving water chemistry and boosting the life of fish and other pond wildlife.

Floating Plants – These are plants that float completely on the surface of the water. They are generally going to be small to medium in size, and they will move freely around the pond.

Partly Emerging Plants – These are pond plants that can root into the mud and then show strong growth with flowers projecting out of the water so that they are partly submerged and partially emerged.

Marginals – These are ideal for planting in approximately 3 inches to 6 inches of water. Many marginals offer beautiful flowers that stick out of the water. Marginals make up the largest group of all aquatic plants. They generally prefer to be completely submerged and do not like to dry out.

Bog Plants – These plants like to have their feet wet. They only need wet mud in order to do well in a water feature, but they can also survive completely submerged in the water as well. As long as their roots are wet and firmly planted they are generally going to thrive quite well.

Filed Under: Gardening, Home Improvement Tagged With: Aquatic plant, Plant, Water garden

Adding Koi to Your Water Garden