Try some of these planting partners that will work in any size pool
Hurrah – it’s prime pond planting time! Visit your local garden centre and you should find the pond section is currently well stocked, or search online for specialist nurseries. Here, we’ve selected some fabulous planting combinations: from bog gardens to container ponds or larger watery wildlife creations, there’s a plant for all depths and sizes.
Bog plants
These plants are very happy with wet feet, planted in permanently shallow water or wet mud up to 5cm deep.
CAREX PENDULA
This evergreen native sedge sits attractively beside a pond, with tough, grassy-green foliage and drooping catkin-like flower stems, like fishing rods. Can spread a bit vigorously when happy, but good for populating a pondside quickly.
MYOSOTIS SCORPIOIDES
Water forget-me-nots are one of the prettiest bog or pond plants, with classic little blue flowers in summer. It’s a British native, and one of its most admirable qualities is that newts use its leaves for laying eggs.
CALTHA PALUSTRIS
Marsh marigolds are such easy plants to grow, softening the edges of a pond with low-growing, shiny round leaves and gorgeous buttercup-yellow blooms in spring. It’s a really good plant for pollinators, which relish its early pollen and nectar.
Shallow pond marginals
These plants look best on shallower shelves, sitting in standing water 5-15cm deep.
Agorgeous flowering rush, with strappy green leaves and late-summer umbels of pink flowers like an allium or agapanthus. It’s versatile and can be planted a little deeper or simply in boggy soil. Wonderful for wildlife.
Japanese water irises like neutral to slightly acidic soil in shallow, watery soil or shallow pond margins, growing to about 60cm tall. Lovely purple-blue flowers appear in summer. The variety ‘Variegata’ has striking stripy green and white leaves.
Something really unusual, which has nice clumps of surface leaves that are good landing pads and shelter for animals and insects. Its pièce de résistance is spiky pokers of bright yellow-topped flowers. Acurious slow-grower that can be planted deeper.
Deeper marginals and aquatics
These plants thrive in slightly deeper water, planted on shelves 15-30cm deep.
This beautiful dwarf waterlily flowers in hot pink from late spring through summer, with only a 30cm spread, so is perfect for small ponds or half barrels. Waterlilies like to be in still water away from fountains. Give them a feed in spring.
This is a fantastic tall, stately plant, with lovely blue-green leaves, which are its main feature, though it does flower in summer in little purple
