water lilies and some pond questions

We bought a house with a small manmade pond. It has a plastic liner. It has no pump or filter or any sort of running water. It's quite a ways from any electricity. We may eventually run some elec out there for a small fountain but that's not in the near future I don't think.

Anyway, I recently bought 4 water lilies at an auction. I have to go pick them up later in the spring. Will they come in a pot? Do I 'float' that in the pond or do I have to put something in the pond so that the plant is above water level? How does that work?

I have some plants I want to plant around the edge of the pond. Do I need to worry about roots extending into the liner of the pond and possibly perforating it?

I was hoping that our pond would have frogs as I love the noise they make in the spring and all summer. We had *one* frog. :( What can I do to encourage more frogs?

Thanks,
Gwendalou

Gwendalou;
I think you will find plenty of help shortly. We have a pond right off the side of our patio I started working on it 6 years ago made a few mistakes on the way and really don't have it done yet but I did finaly retire so now when spring gets here and it's pleasent to work outside maybe now I can get it more to my likeing.
ours is about 2500 to 3000 gallons with a rubber linner. I've got some of the rocks around it but not compleated I've put in a water fall a skimmer . then a second pond a little higher than the first so the water runs into the lower one. That has cut the flow to the falls some so I plan on a bigger pump and useing the current pump to supply a longer stream bed to help airate and help filter some too. then spill into the upper pond. we have Koi in our pond wich we love to watch especially at feeding time. I did manage to catch a bullfrog and turn loose in the pond and now we have (music) too.
Lilies should be planted in a mesh basket with a non soil medium (baked clay)
some use oil dry or just plain kitty litter without the sents or scoopable stuff in it. and weigh the medium down with small river rocks to keep Koi from rooting in the planter to get at the roots. set the lilies about a depth of 16 to 24 inches below the water surface as the stems will grow to that heigth to reach the surface as well at the flower stem. we have several varieties and colors. and early in the spring I like to get the water letuce and water hyacinth started to help keep the water clean. or I just cant see the fish swimming around the hyacinth and letuce are floaters but will take root between rocks. here in Iowa neither the letuce nor the Hyacinth will survive the winter, so that is a constant replacement item each year. I am not sure if I have been that much help, but I say enjoy the pond it takes a lot of pressure daily life. How big is the pond??? Russ and Barb.

Gwendalou,

I love frogs too and the toads make such a lovely noise in the spring here.

Mostly likely, your lilies will come "bare root" so you will have to pot them. Folks use MANY different kinds of pots for lilies and we all have our own receipes. I use regular plastic flower pots...I like the one gallon "azalea" ones that are kinda squat. I put some weed barrier fabric in the bottom of the pot...add regular garden soil...plant the lily and then top if off with pea gravel. A little osmocote for fertilizer buried in the soil towards the bottom of the pot.

There are many ways to do it...just do a web search for "potting hardy lilies"...I am assuming these are hardies. :)

charlotte

Gwendalou....
Just avoid soil that has perlite or vermiculite in it, as it floats out of the soil and makes a mess in your pond. Many times you can use normal "out of the garden" soil. Or plain cat litter, the cheapest on you can find, is the one with no scents, fillers, scoopablilties, etc. There are many assorted pots out there for water plants, some get expensive (why I do not know) but you can also use the plastic colanders from the dollar store. I line mine with a little black material I bought for a dollar at WalMart used to make like football jerseys ( it has the small holes in it)
Plant the plants, and the frogs will come. I relocate any frogs or toads I happen to see, and stick them in the plants. Eventually they stay, and the tadpoles keep you water very clean.
I use a lot of small solar spitters and fountains, so I don't have to run electricity. You can find them on Ebay.

Here is a link that will give you some info on different frogs and toads. I wouldn't encourage bullfrogs in a fish pond, they eat any of them they can catch. They have a huge mouth.
Koi will eat the stems and leaves of small water lilies. So I would get your lilies established before you get any fish. Making sure like the others sail to put gravel on top of the aquatic soil materials. Best of luck.
edited to say:
I forgot to say that if you have heard a frog, they will call others. Before long you will be unable to sleep for the croaking! LOL!

This message was edited Feb 18, 2006 7:17 PM