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Water Gardening in Containers Navigation: Main page » Water Gardening Author: The Gardening Circle Do you lack a large, spacious backyard with room to dig your own pond? Have you read articles on building water gardens, koi ponds, and backyard fountains and sighed with envy? Well, here is a simple fact - all it takes to create a water garden is a sunny spot that's big enough for a pot of water. It's no more difficult to grow a water garden in a container than it is to grow any other container gardens. If you have a sunny spot - at the very least 6 hours of full sun daily throughout the summer - you can create a water garden. Your water garden can be as simple as a large tub with a few submerged plants, or as elaborate as several arranged container gardens with rocks and a fountain powered by a circulating pump. If you'd like to try your hand at creating a simple container water garden, you'll find everything you need at a local home supply store like Home Depot. Planning a Container Water Garden Location is the single most important factor in planning your water garden. Your space can be as small as a single square yard, but it MUST receive plenty of sun throughout the day. Think twice about locating a water garden of any sort beneath an overhanging tree. The leaves that fall will decay in the water and can foul it. If you're building an actual pond, or using a large container like a swimming pool, check local ordinances regarding safety. The plants that you choose should be suited to the container that you're using. Choose plants that are hardy for your planting zone. There are four basic kinds of water plants: Floating water plants - like water hyacinth and cabomba - require no planting at all. They float on the surface of the water with their roots trailing to absorb nutrients. Surface Plants - like water lilies, lotus and floating yellow heart rooted in the pond's bottom (or in this case, in a submerged pot), and put out leaves on long stems to float on the surface of the water. Submerged plants - grow completely underwater, and seldom show their leaves above the surface. They help maintain the balance of nitrogen and other nutrients, and will require thinning to keep them in check. Marginal or Bog plants - grow at the edges of ponds in the wild. They like to keep their feet wet, so to speak - with their roots and lower parts of their stems underwater. Dwarf cattails, black taro and sweet flag are examples of marginal plants. When choosing plants for your container water garden, keep in mind the size of your container. Don't overcrowd your garden - the rule of thumb is that your plants should cover no more than 2/3 of the surface of the water. Building a Container Water Garden Once you've chosen a spot for your container water garden - remember, 6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day, no overhanging trees, and a nearby water source (and power source if you'll be using a circulating pump for a waterfall) - you get to the fun part. Most home and garden supply store chains carry all the materials you need to create small ponds, including plastic liners - but you're only limited by your imagination and a few basic rules in choosing a container for your water garden. It must be easy to drain. It must be non-porous. It must be deep enough to support the plants you want to grow. I've seen water gardens that use everything from old bathtubs to an assortment of terracotta pots (with plastic liners) to large baskets (also with plastic liners). For a container water garden, you won't actually be planting the plants in the bottom of the 'pond'. Instead, each plant will be planted in its own separate pot and submerged in the water. Assemble your equipment You'll need your containers, plants, bricks or terracotta pots, gravel, heavy soil, aquatic plant fertilizer tablets and a garden hose. Pot your plants If they're not already in suitable pots, you'll need to pot your plants. Do not use potting soil, vermiculite or peat moss - all of which will wash out of the pots and foul the water. Instead, you want a very heavy, mud-clay like soil. Fill the pot 2/3 full with soil. Push a fertilizer tablet into the soil, then carefully spread the roots of the plant over the surface of the dirt. Add a few inches of dirt and lightly tamp it down, then cover with an inch or so of pea gravel. Repeat until all of your plants are potted. Arrange your plants in the container This is where the bricks come in. The tops of the plant pots should be no more than a few inches below the surface of the water. Stack bricks, upended terracotta pots or construction blocks in the container and place pots on top of them to vary the heights of the plants. Add pump for fountain or waterfall if using one. If you're adding a fountain or a waterfall, situate the pump per the manufacturer's directions. Fill with water. Using the garden hose, fill your container with water until the plant pots are submerged under a few inches of water. If you 'fill from the bottom' by dropping the hose into the bottom of the container and letting the water level rise, you'll reduce the chance of disturbing the soil and gravel in your plants. Enjoy. Don't forget that the point of the exercise was to have a lovely, cool water garden to enjoy. Make sure that you place a bench or comfortable sitting rock nearby where you can enjoy the beauty of your own miniature pond every day.
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