Underwater Grasses
Is your pond green? Ponds and water gardens need submerged vegetation to have clear water. Submerged plants give off oxygen for your fish to breathe and are fertilized by fish waste. They act as a natural filter and your fish eat them. What a perfect plant/animal symbiosis.
Solve most pond water problems with submerged plants. A naturally balanced pond with goldfish, not koi, cannot flourish without submerged vegetation.
Now that summer is here, your submerged plants are multiplying so fast, your fish cannot keep up. Why not trade some with your local pond society members.
Underwater Plants
Oxygenators for your pond
The workhorses of the pond, giving off oxygen for the fish to breathe, providing food for the fish to eat, filtering the pond.
A common submerged plant. We use it almost primarily here in New Orleans.
A finer texture than anacharis and a slower grower, but still lovely in the pond...
This will grow anywhere. If anacharis is giving you a problem, try this.
Nice to look at, but does not have the filtering properties of the finer textur...
This has red roots and the red tops of the plants can grow past the top of the w...
Why Underwater Plants
Underwater plants are necessary for the ecological balance of the pond. If the pond has an appropriate number of goldfish, floating plants and underwater plants, maintenance will be an easy and quick task. The underwater plants serve so many purposes it is next to impossible to have a pond without them.
IF YOU HAVE KOI, NONE OF THIS APPLIES! Koi eat the submerged vegetation faster than it grows, so it becomes very expensive fish food.
Watch your submerged vegetation. It is the first indicator of pond problems. If it starts to turn yellow or it starts losing all its leaves, you will have foul water soon. Mushy or yellow submerged vegetation is a sign of chemicals in the pond. Check for run off from your yard or roof. Check to see if neighbors are scraping and sanding their house. Treat your submerged vegetation like the canary in the mine. At the first sign of trouble, check and treat your pond.
So in a goldfish pond, you need one bunch of underwater grass per square foot of pond surface. The underwater grass or submerged vegetation takes in carbon dioxide given off by fish respiration. It gives off oxygen for the fish to breathe. The fish eat it, but not as fast as it grows. The underwater grass serves as a filter to keep your water crystal clear.
The underwater or submerged vegetation may not be as pretty as the floating plants or the emergent plants, but the job it does is the very most important for the balanced pond.
Before you buy or find any submerged, oxygenating plants, check with your local extension service or aquatic nursery. Many of the submerged plants are illegal in some of our states. They can be invasive and upset an ecosystem to the point of destruction. If you do have invasive plants, keep them in your pond. Never throw them in a local waterway. Compost them immediately if you get too many.
IF YOU HAVE KOI, NONE OF THIS APPLIES! Koi eat the submerged vegetation faster than it grows, so it becomes very expensive fish food.
Watch your submerged vegetation. It is the first indicator of pond problems. If it starts to turn yellow or it starts losing all its leaves, you will have foul water soon. Mushy or yellow submerged vegetation is a sign of chemicals in the pond. Check for run off from your yard or roof. Check to see if neighbors are scraping and sanding their house. Treat your submerged vegetation like the canary in the mine. At the first sign of trouble, check and treat your pond.
So in a goldfish pond, you need one bunch of underwater grass per square foot of pond surface. The underwater grass or submerged vegetation takes in carbon dioxide given off by fish respiration. It gives off oxygen for the fish to breathe. The fish eat it, but not as fast as it grows. The underwater grass serves as a filter to keep your water crystal clear.
The underwater or submerged vegetation may not be as pretty as the floating plants or the emergent plants, but the job it does is the very most important for the balanced pond.
Before you buy or find any submerged, oxygenating plants, check with your local extension service or aquatic nursery. Many of the submerged plants are illegal in some of our states. They can be invasive and upset an ecosystem to the point of destruction. If you do have invasive plants, keep them in your pond. Never throw them in a local waterway. Compost them immediately if you get too many.
Building your own Backyard Pond
Step by step pond buiding instructions with photos
There are many kinds of garden ponds. When you are designing your pond, you must consider your lifestyle. Is it formal and therefore you'll want a formal pond. The formal pond usually holds a fountain or statuary.
Other ponds are informal with rocks or boulders placed around the pond. A roaring waterfall or trickling stream might be the moving water feature rather than a formal fountain.
There are many kinds of garden ponds. When you are designing your pond, you must consider your lifestyle. Is it formal and therefore you'll want a formal pond. The formal pond usually holds a fountain or statuary.
Other ponds are informal with rocks or boulders placed around the pond. A roaring waterfall or trickling stream might be the moving water feature rather than a formal fountain.
- How to Build a Pond
- How to build a backyard pond. Materials you need. Digging the hole. How to measure a liner. Installing pond rocks,
- Where to Buy Pond Supplies
- Find pond supplies here, from liners to pumps, filters, skimmers, lighting, water and fish care supplies, pond decor and live plants.
Floating plants for your Backyard Pond
While stocking your pond with plants, don't forget the floating plants. Usually a floating plant is not in pot, but even if it is, the plant floats on the surface of the water and only stems come from the pot.
- Floating Plants for your Backyard Pond
- Learn about floating plants, see pictures, pick out which ones you must have for your pond.
- Where can I buy Floating Plants
- All the floating give necessary shade to the pond. To keep goldfish cool in the summer and to give them a place to hide from predators like birds or raccoons, you need to have floating plants. Buy them here from March to October.
All plants shipped second day air to ensure freshness.
Ponds, plants and fish
See a pond with plants and fish.
The Pond Plant Girl & Water Babies!
The Pond Plant Girl's fish had babies! Gail talks about the right fish and the right plants for beginning ponds.
Runtime: 5:09 | 72 views | 1 Comments
Water Lilies for your Backyard Pond
The pictures above are all hardy water lilies. As opposed to tropical water lilies which are tender tropical plants that can succumb under 55 degrees F, hardy water lilies can grow most anywhere. I have seen lakes high in the Rocky Mountains covered with water lilies. If you live north of the tropics, put a hardy water lily in your pond. If the pond ices over, you will not lose the lily.
- Choosing Water Lilies
- If you have a pond, you want a water lily. Learn what kinds grow best where you live. What kinds work well in a smaller pond? What grows in colder climates?
- Where can I buy a Water Lily
- Find the right water lily for your climate. See pictures to coordinate colors.
All plants are shipped from May to October and second day air to ensure freshness.
Water lilies - the belle of the ball
If you have a pond, you simply must have water lilies
Lily pad
Water lily
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Adding the Louisiana Iris to your pond
The Louisiana Iris is the native wildflower of Louisiana and a beauty in the pond
- Louisiana Iris in Your Backyard Pond
- Louisiana iris' are a pond staple, adding beauty and texture to the water garden. They can grow in the water and out so you can use them in your pond and in the garden to continue the swath of color that takes your eye from the pond to the surrounding landscape.
- Where can I Buy the Louisiana Iris
- Find Louisiana iris here. See many other bog or marginal plants to choose from.
All plants are shipped from March to October and second day air to ensure freshness.
Bog/Marginal Plants for Your Backyard Pond
The bog plant, planted about an inch below the water line adds texture and interest to the pond. They give you dozens of choices to make your pond more beautiful.
- Bog and Marginal Plants
- Find just the right bog plants for your pond.
- Where can I Buy Bog Plants
- You can find hardy, tropical water lilies and the queen of the pond, the lotus here.
All plants are shipped from March to October and second day air to ensure freshness.
Build your own water feature
Jan Goldfield, the pondlady, writes regular pond articles for trade magazines and her customers. Find answers to pond questions or ask for a special article that will answer your questions
- How to Build a Waterfall
- To build a waterfall, read a few of my tips and tricks. You can build a professional looking waterfall in just a couple of hours.
- How to build a Pondless Waterfall
- Pondless waterfalls are another wonderful way to have a water feature in your yard or garden. You can have a waterfall with no pond, no fish, no green water to worry about. A pondless waterfall is also great for a small space.
- How to Build a Koi Pond
- Building a koi pond is different than building a goldfish pond or water garden. Let's talk about how to build a koi pond.
- How to Build a Natural Swimming Pond
- Natural swimming ponds are all the rage. Many people in Europe already do have natural swimming ponds and they are catching on quickly in America.
- How to Build a Bog Garden (Rain Garden)
- Building a bog garden, one of many forms of rain gardens is a great way to conserve water and add another element to your garden.
- How to Build an Indoor Pond
- You want to build an indoor pond, because you have no place to put it outside or just love the soothing sound of water bubbling in the house. You can have an indoor pond cheaply and easily.
- How to Build a Natural Swimming Pond - English Style
- How to build a swimming pond that uses no chlorine, no chemicals and looks like a natural pond in your landscape.
- Build a Rain Garden
- Build a rain garden and conserve water at the same time. Learn a few simple ways to make a rain garden.
- Build an Inexpensive Pond
- You can build an inexpensive pond easily and in a weekend. It can look as beautiful as any that a professional has done and you will not have spent a fortune.
- Self Contained Small Ponds
- Small ponds in limited spaces are very difficult to design and install. When confronted with building a small pond, we pond builders tend to call it a design challenge. See some of the ways to overcome the small pond challenge
- Ponds Under Trees
- Ponds under trees can offer planting opportunities for us that ponds in the sun cannot. Ponds under trees can demand a bit more maintenance but not enough to stop us from building our ponds under trees.
- How to Build an Above Ground Pond
- Occasionally ponds must be built above ground. Either the location is under trees and digging would injure the tree, the pond is to be on concrete, so digging is impossible or the pond builder is a tenant and wants to take the pond along when moving.
Pond equipment and supplies
How to choose the right pond equipment for your pond.
- Epoxy Pond Liners
- Epoxy pond liners are coming into their own. Now we have another choice when it comes to materials to line our ponds
- Backyard Pond Pumps
- Many backyard pond pumps to choose from: Which one is best for me?
- Faux Rocks -the real deal
- Faux rocks are a great substitute for expensive, heavy and unwieldy rocks for pond and waterfall building
- Pond Filters and Skimmers, Do I Need Them?
- Pond filters and skimmers have been sold to the public as necessary equipment for your pond, but are they always?
- Pond Filtration
- Figuring out pond filtration can be a chore. I have tried to explain what pond filtration means and some different ways to do it. And choices if you choose not to use pond filtration.
- Choosing a Backyard Pond Pump
- From initial cost to running cost, what pump is best for your pond? There are hundreds of pond pumps to choose from: Be sure you pick what is right for you.
Plants for your pond
What plants do I need? What plants can I have? Find out from the pondlady.
- Duckweed and Water Fern
- Duckweed and water fern are floating pond plants. They probably the most invasive and noxious of all of the floating plants.
- Umbrella and Pitcher
- Pond plant choices are many and varied. We want early bloomers, late bloomers, hardy or tropical. For every pond and bog there are plants that will thrive. Two are spotlighted here.
- Floating Pond Plants
- Floating pond plants are a necessity for the ecologically balanced pond. Like submerged vegetation, they are workhorses in your pond.
- Pond Plants
- Pond plants can be submerged, floating or emergent. The submerged plant, usually anacharis is the key to balancing the pond ecosystem. With enough, your pond will stay crystal clear.
- Water Lilies
- Water lilies are often the reason we have ponds. Water lilies lend an exotic look to the pond that we treasure, taking little care and offering much enjoyment.
Pond maintenance
Keep your pond clean, clear and healthy with some routine maintenance. Learn to deal with pond disasters.
- Routine Pond Maintenance
- Now that I have a backyard pond, what routine pond maintenance is needed? I have heard they are practically maintenance free. Find out how maintenance free a pond can be.
- Pond Troubleshooting - a Case Study
- Pond troubleshooting is much like any other troubleshooting. Eliminate the easy problems first and then start hunting.
- Pond Cleaning-Step by Steps Instructions for Cleaning the Garden Pond
- Pond cleaning is not for the faint of heart! Step by step instructions for cleaning your garden pond.
- My Pond is Leaking
- Learning how to repair your pond liner is the most difficult problem to solve in pond keeping. You must find holes and patch them and very often that is not an easy task.
- Spring Pond Care
- Spring pond care is essential and easy. Follow the the tips below to give your plants and fish an easy transition from winter torpor to spring awakening, so your pond, fish and plants can give you pleasure all summer long.
- Summertime Pond Care
- Summertime pond care is only a bit different than spring pond care. When summertime weather hits, we must take a few precautions to ensure fish health.
- Fall Pond Care
- Fall pond care involves a few different approaches to pond care.
- Winter Pond Care-fish and plants
- Winter pond care requires some special care, not much, but just a few things to watch. If you have not done all the nasty fall care, you must do it now. Trying to remove debris through the ice is impossible.
- Winter Pond Care-equipment
- Winter pond care means special care for pumps, filters, hoses and supplies as well as pond dwellers.
- Pond Disasters
- Pond disasters can happen to any pond or water garden. They are usually simple to find and easy to repair. Often a pond problem develops quickly when the ecosystem gets out of balance. How you can find your pond problems and solve them yourself with quick and easy solutions.
- Pond Algae: Green Pond Blues
- You don't have to suffer the pond algae and green pond blues. A green pond is normal and happens easily. Your pond has turned to pea soup overnight. What can you do now? Here are several ways to keep your pond clean and clear.
Pond inhabitants
Fish, frogs, toads, tadpoles, newts, snakes? What lives in my pond?
- Choosing Goldfish for Your Pond
- Choosing goldfish for your pond can be simple if you follow a few tips. When you are choosing goldfish, shop at a pet or fish store, limit your choices, don't buy too many and don't spend much money.
- Toads and Frogs in your Backyard Pond
- Frogs, toads and backyard ponds go together. We build wildlife resorts in our back yard complete with room service, 400 count sheets and chocolates on the pillows and wonder why we get nightly applause from our invited amphibious residents.
Pondlady's Picks
The pondlady's favorite pond and garden books
- The Complete Book of The Water Garden
- The Complete Book of the Water Garden, by Philip Swindells and David Mason is arguably the finest, most comprehensive water gardening book ever written.
- The Curious Gardener's Almanac, a Review
- The Curious Gardener's Almanac, centuries of practical garden wisdom, by Niall Edworthy, published by The Penguin Group in New York is not a book about ponds. In fact, it is not a book about gardens either. This book has no pigeon hole in which to be pushed.
- Miracle-Gro Water Gardens, a Review
- MIracle-Gro has produced one fine pond help book. The very best part of it is that it is spiral bound, so it will lie flat, and waterproof so you can take it outside with you, put it on the ground for reference and clean it up later.
- All about the Pond, Book Review-Evan-Moor publishers.
- A great book for teachers of small children with many resources in one great book.
- The Pond Owner's Problem Solver, a Review
- The Pond Problem Solver by John Dawes, Book review, how to build a pond, where to put a pond, fish, fish diseases, pond maintenance, pond plants
- The Creative Herbal Home
- The Creative Herbal Home is certainly not a book you would expect to see in at pondlady.com. So why is it here?
Miscellaneous pond information
Things I have learned along the way
- Decorate Your Pond for the Holidays
- Decorate your pond when you decorate your house for the holidays
- Attracting Winter Wildlife to Your Backyard Pond
- In the winter our ponds lie dormant, or do they? We can keep a water supply open and give our winter garden creatures a drink and something to eat.
- Starting a Pond and Water Garden Society?
- Pond and water garden societies can be a great educational tool for pond keepers. If you don't have one near you, here's how to start a pond and water garden society.
- The Pondkeepers' Glossary
- Pondkeepers use words that most do it yourself pond builders have never heard before. What are pond builders talking about when they say GPH or dechlor? What is a spitter? What is a UV light and do I need one?
- Water Conservation and Your Backyard Pond
- Our water crisis is worsening, but ponds can be a way of water conservation, not waste. Find ways to conserve water by using efficient pumps, statuary and solar power.
- Ponds across the Curriculum
- Over the years, I have been involved with several schools with ponds and several schools wanting the students to build a pond.
From the Pondlady's Pad
Pond Tips and discoveries by the Pondlady
The pondlady's blog covers everything from how to build a pond to troubleshooting, maintenance and even takes your specific questions. You will receive a personal answer from the pondlady.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byAsk The Pondlady
If you have questions or comments, here's the spot. i will try to answer any questions you have. Ask away.
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Evelyn_Saenz
What a great lens! Posted March 22, 2008 |
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pondlady
It has been my experience that submerged vegetation or any pond plants will not survive indoors except when dormant in the winter. Many people have tried to keep anacharis or cabomba or hornwort alive using artificial light and have not succeeded. If anyone has, please let me know how you did it. Posted September 08, 2007 |
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K.Samuel-Stevens
After raeding your lenses I was wondering if some of the plants you have discussed will work in my fresh water aquarium. Great information. another 5 stars Posted September 08, 2007 |
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Karendelac
I have learned so mcuh from your pond lenses, thank you and here's 5 stars! Please visit me soon. Posted July 09, 2007 |
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MeganCasey
wonderful lens. thanks! Posted June 28, 2007 |
The Pondlady's Favorite places
- The Pondlady's Shop
- We carry the products you need to create you own water garden or to enhance your existing pond environment. From statuary to adorn your water garden to the hardware you need to keep that fountain running year after year, we carry it all!
- The Pondlady's Water Gardens
- Enjoy the serenity of rushing water in your backyard with a garden pond. Watch your fish playing in your waterfall. Get complete instructions with photos free. All materials available.
- From the Pondlady's Pad
- Time to time musings about backyard garden pond building, keeping, troubleshooting. Tips on the latest pond supplies and equipment.
- Gardeners Gumbo
- Visit our special Gardeners' gumbo, a gardening forum with members from all over the world. We exchange ideas, photos, recipes, plants, problems and lots of laughs. C'mon and browse around.
Underwater vegetation in the water garden
Learn why we need submerged vegetation and why it makes the pond balanced. And why that is a good thing.
Water Gardening in Containers: Small Ponds, Indoors & Out
Amazon Price: (as of 07/26/2008)
The Master Book of the Water Garden: The Ultimate Guide to the Design and Maintenance of the Water Garden
Amazon Price: (as of 07/26/2008)
All About Building Waterfalls, Ponds, and Streams (Ortho's All About Gardening)
Amazon Price: $11.21 (as of 07/26/2008)
Encyclopedia of Water Garden Plants
Amazon Price: $32.97 (as of 07/26/2008)
Landscaping Earth Ponds: The Complete Guide
Amazon Price: $19.80 (as of 07/26/2008)
Submerged Plants on Ebay
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More pond places
See more ponds and plants and get ideas for yours.
