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Bloom: The joy of water gardening
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Anonymous user Tue Sep 19, 2006 10:53:11 PDT
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0 responses 0 comments I have been an advocate of water gardening since I installed my first waterscape 10 years ago. It was a small effort, a pre-formed oval shell placed under an old camellia tree. It became a focal point of my garden, providing me with a quiet, meditative spot.
Emboldened by the success of keeping both goldfish and water lilies alive for several years, I, along with my staff, tried a more ambitious project: a PVC-lined, free-form pond. This time I made sure there was room for some bog plants. My design included a small stone waterfall made of Bouquet Canyon stone. Sunlight reflects the water’s movement on surrounding foliage and the splash of the recycling water obscures the omnipresent sounds of urban life.
Whether a prefab shell, a ceramic container or a 2,000-gallon pond, a water garden can provide hours of pleasure and inspiration. If you’re thinking of expanding your gardening horizons to water, advance planning should be your first step.
First decide why you want a water garden. Do you want a waterfall or fountain? Do you want a koi pond? I advise novice water gardeners to begin on a small scale. You can have a lovely water garden with an interesting ceramic container planter, a water lily and small water grass.  Possibly add a few goldfish for interest. For those who want to make a larger investment of money and time, I recommend starting with a pre-formed 4- by 6-foot pond that is easy to install. These will contain about 400 to 600 gallons of water, can support a balanced water garden that includes several water lilies, some fancy goldfish and a few aquatic plants, such as pennywort and water clover.
Many problems can be avoided by selecting the right site. If plants are to flourish, a water garden needs at least six hours of sunlight per day. It also requires a carefully formulated combination of plants, fish and snails. With the right components, the result is both a balanced ecosystem and an attractive landscape feature. Incorrectly planned or poorly maintained, it becomes a murky morass of algae, decaying vegetation, foul odors and sickly fish.
Whenever water and sunlight are combined, algae are present. There are hundreds of different kinds of algae ranging in size from the microscopic to giant (seaweed). Water gardens are subject to both the free-swimming algae that make the water look green and the filamentous algae that grows hair-like along the sides of ponds and plant containers.  A certain amount of algae is necessary, but the water becomes murky and the water garden becomes sick when there’s too much algae.
Aquatic plants consume nutrients in the water that would otherwise be consumed by algae. They also shade the pond with their foliage, depriving algae of needed sunlight. There should be at least 50 percent coverage of the pond surface by aquatic foliage.  Balancing a pond is both an art and a science. It sometimes involves trial-and-error because the pond changes as the fish and plants grow. For easy maintenance, most aquatic plants are grown in containers. The pots are then placed atop different-sized concrete blocks or bricks. Before planting, a layer of balanced fertilizer should be put in the bottom of each pot (or a fertilizer tablet can be inserted deep into the planting soil). Heavy garden topsoil is the recommended planting medium. A thin 1/2-inch top layer of fine sand and/or gravel will keep the soil from dispersing into the water.
Once your pond is flourishing, enthusiastic water gardeners shouldn’t stop there.  Bog plants also add interesting foliage, texture and, in some cases, more  flowers. Bog plants help break up the horizontal line of water and lily pads and carry the eye into the rest of the garden, blending the water garden with the overall landscape design. Bog plants grow in shallow water (1 foot or less) or very soggy soil, usually around the edge of a pond.
There’s maintenance in water gardening just as there is in dry-land gardening. Plants need trimming back and regular grooming in spring and summer when growth is most active. Water surfaces should be kept clean of such debris as fallen leaves. Too much debris leads to an excess production of nitrogen and contributes to rampant algae growth. I recommend twice-weekly maintenance when the temperatures are soaring. I also enjoy the attentions of my goldfish as they rise to the surface to beg for food.  A word of caution: Train your goldfish or koi to respond to the sound of your voice, rather than your shadow.  Predatory birds and animals will stand by the side of a pond to cast a shadow and, as fish rise, eat them.
I hope this gives you a little information to get you started. Drop by a nursery to see some water features and look for a list of recommended plants for water gardens. Fall is an excellent time to start your water garden and, as temperatures cool, it will provide an enjoyable weekend project.
— For more information, call 325-9928.

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