Adding plants around the edges of your pond can provide numerous benefits The right vegetation helps control algae, prevents erosion, improves water quality, and enhances the natural beauty of your pond. With so many options to choose from, it can be tricky to select the best plants for your pond’s edges This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know about choosing and caring for pond edge plants.
Why Add Plants to Pond Edges?
Vegetation along the perimeter of a pond serves several important functions:
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Prevents erosion – Plant roots secure the soil in place preventing washouts and collapsing banks. This is especially helpful on slopes or areas with moving water.
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Improves water quality – Plants absorb nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus from runoff that would otherwise feed algae growth Their roots also filter silt and debris
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Provides wildlife habitat – Marginal plants offer food, shelter, and nesting spots for frogs, turtles, birds, and insects.
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Enhances aesthetics – The right plants lend natural beauty and create an oasis for people to enjoy.
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Shades water – Plants help regulate water temperature, preventing overheating that can harm fish and trigger algae blooms.
Best Plant Species for Pond Edges
Choosing plants adapted to the water’s edge will give you the best results. Here are top recommended species:
Pickerelweed
With purple flower spikes in summer, pickerelweed thrives in moist soil up to 6 inches deep. It spreads by rhizomes and is excellent for erosion control. Pickerelweed favors full sun.
Blueflag Iris
Offering elegance with blue or purple blooms, blueflag iris grows well in mucky soil up to 4 inches deep. It can handle partial shade to full sun. This perennial plant spreads steadily.
Cardinal Flower
Growing up to 4 feet tall, cardinal flower displays vibrant red blooms in summer. It grows best in consistently moist soil in full sun to part shade. Hummingbirds love cardinal flower.
Native Sedges and Rushes
These grassy plants include species like tussock sedge, lake sedge, and soft rush. They thrive in wet mud or standing water up to 12 inches deep, providing excellent erosion protection. Full sun to part shade.
Arrowhead
Also called duck potato, arrowhead produces white flowers above arrow-shaped leaves. It grows along muddy shorelines in up to 6 inches of water. Arrowhead favors full sun and spreads vigorously by tubers.
Swamp Milkweed
With pink or white flowers in summer, swamp milkweed thrives in moist soil up to 6 inches deep. It spreads steadily by rhizomes and attracts butterflies. Partial shade is ideal, but it tolerates full sun.
Planting Tips
Follow these guidelines for successfully establishing pond edge vegetation:
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Select plants suited to the sun exposure, soil moisture, and water depth of the planting area. Match the plant to the site.
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Space plants 1 to 3 feet apart depending on their mature spread. Allow enough room between plants.
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Dig holes at least twice the width of each plant’s root ball. Carefully place plants at the same level they were growing in pots.
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Fill holes with water while adding soil to eliminate air pockets. Create a water reservoir.
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Water thoroughly after planting and as needed until plants establish.
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Mulch around plants with 2 to 3 inches of organic matter like shredded bark to conserve moisture.
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fertilize monthly with a balanced aquatic plant fertilizer during the first year.
Caring for Pond Edge Plants
A little routine care will keep your pond edge plants looking their best:
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Water plants during periods of drought, especially the first year. Prioritize moisture-loving plants.
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Weed around plants as needed to prevent competition, especially when newly established.
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In fall, leave plants intact until they die back naturally. Trim dead growth in spring as new growth appears.
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Divide overcrowded plants in early spring or fall and replant divisions.
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Fertilize established plantings monthly through summer with aquatic plant fertilizer.
Design Tips for Planting Pond Edges
The layout of your vegetation can greatly enhance your pond. Here are some landscaping best practices:
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Place taller plants like cattails and bulrushes at the rear of gradually sloping banks. Use lower growers at the water’s edge.
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Intersperse clusters of the same plant with other species to create variety and natural appeal.
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Plant in drifts or sweeps of color for greater visual impact.
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Use grasses and sedges closest to the water for sturdy erosion control. Reserve showy flowers for dry banks.
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Accent the pond with native shrubs and trees like elderberry, red twig dogwood, and willow.
With the right plant choices suited to your site and proper care, pond edge plantings will thrive, control erosion, enhance water quality, and create a vibrant landscape to enjoy for years.
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A lot of the time, my clients ask me to suggest plants that they might want to put in the beds around their pond. “Your pond will look great once you have plants growing around it that crawl and fall over the rocks,” is the short answer. People usually think of the right thing after hearing this answer, but I thought it might be time to give a little more information.
Think about the design
Stand back and look at your pond. It is rare to have a pond that is balanced looking. Actually, unless you have a formal garden in your back yard, it’s very rare for a landscape to look really balanced. When you decide what to plant and where to plant it, use common sense and an eye for balance. Which part of the yard looks and feels heavier when you stand back and squint? Which part seems to have parts that don’t quite fit together and flow into each other? Usually, both of these parts are present. A heavy waterfall, rock, steps, or even a bigger tree, as well as the corner of your house, the roof, or a garden shed, are common things that can cause this. Making your landscaping flow together is important. If you have a big waterfall on one side of the yard and grass on the other, for example, you might want to balance things out by putting a shrub on the other side of the pond from the waterfall. Maybe you’ve got a big rock as an accent piece. If it’s just lying in the grass, it might look a little out of place. But if you build a bed around it and fill it with different grasses, shrubs, and perennial flowers, it might look great with the rest of the yard. But you don’t want to hide or block these things; you just want to connect them. As a general rule, it looks nicer to plant in odd-numbered groups. A group of three or five will always look better than a group of two or four. I don’t know why. It is also good to layer your plants and stagger the plantings. Don’t create straight lines and don’t put tall plants in front of the short plants. Just about every area has a primary viewing point. Plant the shorter plants near the front, the medium-sized plants near the middle, and the taller plants in the back.
10 Favorite Plants for Around Ponds
FAQ
What to put around the edge of a pond?
What plant to put around a pond?
How do you edge a pond naturally?
What plants grow on a pond edge?
Species you may want to consider for your pond edges include burro’s tail ( Sedum morganianum) and jelly beans ( Sedum rubrotinctum). These produce gracefully trailing stems that will naturally spill out of the rims of pots. If the stems grow too long, the trailing edges can be trimmed, divided, and propagated as cuttings.
What are pond edge plants?
Apart from these benefits, pond edge plants can aid in the maintenance of optimal water conditions, reduce shoreline erosion rates, open niches for a range of small animals and microbes to occupy, and hide unsightly materials like pond liners, mesh, and plastic piping. The best ones to grow are, of course, those that are native to your area.
How do you choose plants for the edge of a pond?
When choosing plants for the edge of a pond, consider their soil and moisture preferences, their tolerance for having wet feet, their depth preference, and their need for sun exposure. Plants along the edge can provide refuge in the form of cool shade.
Are water plants good for a pond?
If you have a pond or another water source or feature in your garden, or indoors, water plants are very useful. To start with, they are beautiful and they make your water feature look natural. But there are other advantages of growing water plants: Some, pond plants like submerged plants, oxygenate the water.