Consider This When Choosing Aquatic Plants
Aquatic Plants... They're Just for Looks, Right?
Not Exactly!
Nothing can improve your water feature's water quality, algae load, health or appearance more than adding aquatic plants. Aren't we trying to recreate a little piece of mother nature? What says mother nature more than plants?
When considering aquatic plants, imagine the hierarchy of the pond. The aquatic plants you choose to add to your water feature are at the very top. Each level of plant life effectively starves the level below by consuming the nutrients in the pond. (Nutrients are decaying organic material, fish waste, uneaten fish food, etc.)
At the bottom of our hierarchy is single celled algae. (It's not really the bottom level, but as far as what we can see happening in our pond...it's the bottom.) This is the algae that makes your pond water look green and opaque, like pea-soup. Next up on the ladder is string algae or filamentous algae. Most of the time if a pond has a lot of string algae, the water will be pretty clear. That's because the string algae starves the single-celled algae. So what combats or starves the string algae... that's where our aquatic plants come in.
Now all aquatic plants are not created equal. Water lilies are good for providing shade, but they aren't big nutrient eaters. Marginal plants, floating plants, and submerged plants are excellent for removing nutrients. Plants that grow quickly and/or bloom profusely will be your best bet for removing nutrients.
But, there's more to it than that... Think about what you're trying to accomplish with the plants in your water feature -- clear the water, provide shade, give your fish places to hide, add color and naturalization, etc. and then choose plants that you like that can help with what you are looking to do. Have fun with it... they add personality (yours) to your water feature.
We love plants... let us help you choose the perfect plants for your water feature!
written by Staci Wicker
Cool Ponds co-owner
Not Exactly!
Nothing can improve your water feature's water quality, algae load, health or appearance more than adding aquatic plants. Aren't we trying to recreate a little piece of mother nature? What says mother nature more than plants?
When considering aquatic plants, imagine the hierarchy of the pond. The aquatic plants you choose to add to your water feature are at the very top. Each level of plant life effectively starves the level below by consuming the nutrients in the pond. (Nutrients are decaying organic material, fish waste, uneaten fish food, etc.)
At the bottom of our hierarchy is single celled algae. (It's not really the bottom level, but as far as what we can see happening in our pond...it's the bottom.) This is the algae that makes your pond water look green and opaque, like pea-soup. Next up on the ladder is string algae or filamentous algae. Most of the time if a pond has a lot of string algae, the water will be pretty clear. That's because the string algae starves the single-celled algae. So what combats or starves the string algae... that's where our aquatic plants come in.
Now all aquatic plants are not created equal. Water lilies are good for providing shade, but they aren't big nutrient eaters. Marginal plants, floating plants, and submerged plants are excellent for removing nutrients. Plants that grow quickly and/or bloom profusely will be your best bet for removing nutrients.
But, there's more to it than that... Think about what you're trying to accomplish with the plants in your water feature -- clear the water, provide shade, give your fish places to hide, add color and naturalization, etc. and then choose plants that you like that can help with what you are looking to do. Have fun with it... they add personality (yours) to your water feature.
We love plants... let us help you choose the perfect plants for your water feature!
Cool Ponds co-owner
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