I have a medium size earthen pond where the water level fluctuates. It fluctuates because it has a leak on the dam side and we have tried to fix it to no avail. It use to be a farm pond. The level of water can vary by as much as 3 feet depending on how often we get rain...the depth of the pond at the deepest point is 15' when it is full.
I want to have hardy water lilies in my pond even though the water level varies. Can I plant the lilies in a nursery pot that has holes in the bottom and place the pot in a floating piece of styrofoam, where the top of the nursery pot is even with the top of the styrofoam. The bottom part of the nursery pot would be in the water all the time, and the entire plant would float on the water, therefore not needing to worry about the varying level of water in my earthern pond.
Would this crazy idea of mine work for my pond situation???? Or am I just out of luck.
Thanks for any advice you can give me.
Debbie
Hardy Water Lilies Question
Why not just stick it in the pond? I know your water levels change but they also change in naturally occurring lakes as well. I live on a natural lake (front of my home) and my pond is in the back. While I am not considered "ON the WATER" real estate and property tax wise I have the views of it and don't have to worry about my kids drowning in it. However there are homes on the water and there are some waterlillies growing in it. There is a huge white lily and some reds and pinks that were obviously plants by the homeowners. The lake depths change throughout the season with some years the water is very low and other years much higher. The plants seem to be fine each year.
Debbie your waterlilies will be much happier growing in your pond instead of a pot so you should try to place them so they will always be submerged in the water.
If you went 4' they might take alittle longer to reach the surface in the spring but say by June if your pond depth is down 1' or so, no biggie. That is if your pond depth lowers that early, otherwise you can try 3 1/2 feet or so.
Alot of hardy waterlilies will grow just fine at 3' and even 4' unless they are a miniature variety which normally thrives in shallower water.
Experiment.. just be sure that they don't dry out and if you have to move them to a deeper depth it will just set them back temporarily.
Good luck!
What a beautiful picture, Bonnie. I think I am going to do the same thing. Try to pull out all the lilies and just go ahead and plant them down in the clay bottom pond. I might have to find a way to keep the koi from trashing them tho! In the fall it takes forever to get them trimmed, replace the clay, put the fertilizer in, rethread the orange string and tie lots of knots in it, then swing the pots down into the deeper part of the pond, Whew, lots of work. I guess I might be able to weld some small top cages to keep the fish out of them? Anyone else have any suggestions about keeping the koi out of the pots? I keep on looking for any sign of baby Koi, but so far nothing :( I had baby minnows, sun fish,gold fish?, OH, and lets not forget about the 1000 darn bullhead babies :(
Thank you Tootsie, we just purchased this place last May and we have been cleaning up the pond. I've still got to dive in and thin out many unknown yellow and pink waterlilies that the previous owner grew.
My koi are still at our other house in the pond and luckily I have no problems with them other than tossing a few rocks out of the pots and a few nibbles now and then but I know of a lady who purchases the wire hanging baskets and turns them upside down over the rhizomes to keep the koi out so you might want to try something like that.
Here's a pix of our mudpond but as I said we still have things that we want to do with it. It had american pond weed but we pulled and sprayed and I think we have it under control now. * I normally do not like to use chemicals but was forced to in this situation*
I forgot to add... Tootsie your pond looks very nice!
Wow on the ponds. Makes me think my 2000 gallon is a mere puddle . . .
Okay...one more question.
Will grass carp eat hardy water lilies. We have two in our pond and now am wondering if they will eat water lilies.
Crazy questions....hope you can answer this one for me :)
Debbie it most likely depends on the size of your pond and if there is plenty of other things for them to feed on.
Also I'd doubt that no one can say for sure but from what I've read they normally will leave waterlilies alone.
Here's a link here that I had bookmarked:
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/PROGRAMS/WQ/plants/management/aqua024.html
"grass carp do not consume emergent wetland vegetation or water lilies even when the waterbody is heavily stocked or over stocked. A heavy stocking rate of triploid grass carp in Chambers Lake, Thurston County resulted in the loss of most submersed species, whereas the fragrant water lilies, bog bean, and spatterdock remained at pre-stocking levels. "
Did you ever try to use Sodium Bentonite around your pond dam?
Good luck!
Bonnie
Yes we tried the Sodium Bentonite and it didn't work for us. When we first moved to this acreage and built our home...we had the old cattle pond broke open and had it cleaned out and made deeper. The place where the pond was broke open just never sealed very well when all the clay and dirt was put back in place. So when it rains the ponds fill up nicely, but then goes down by at least 3 feet after a few weeks until it rains again and fills back up.
I just have to deal with it.
Thanks for your help and advice. I'm definitely open for any suggestions people might have.
Deb, just set the lilies in the pond, no pots. My koi decided they didn't like the pots and dumped the pots over and the liles went to the bottom, I have had the most beautiful blooms and the largest pplant ever since. And by the size of yours just toss them in and let them grow. Happy pondering
annabelle
I have a small pond and need to restock with plants and I'm getting tired of getting plants from Lowes and Home Depot. Half the time they never grow and they never come back next year. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Rose-I am local to you. I live near Lake Zurich/Barrington. What are you trying to grow and how deep is your pond? I am going away next week but dmail me and I will try to help you get your pond growing. Where are you in Chicago?
Linda
Mothermole, I am in the Jefferson park area. My pond is one of those preformed ones but deep enough for the fish to hibernate during the winter and survive. I usually get waterlilies from Home Depot or Lowes and I just drop them in the water. Sometimes they do really well but last year I did get very little blooms. Nothing ever survives the winter and I have to replace every year so I'm starting from scratch again and would like to do something different. Maybe even have something survive over the winter if possible. I appreciate any help. Thank you.
Rose: I used to work at the Jefferson Park District Swimming pool in the summers as a teen. I grew up in Portage Park and then Edgebrook (on either side of Jefferson). Small world! I was worried you would be a Southside ponder and that would be difficult to get together. Did you grow up there? Definitely ,when I get back next week I will help you out with your pond issues and the waterlillys. D-mail me directly with how you currently fertilize them and the brand name of the product you use. Also, if you have any pictures please post them so that we all can get an idea of what the situation is.
Linda
Linda,
What a small world. Lived in Lincoln park until I was 18 and moved in with DH in Andersonville. Then we moved into my brother's two flat in Albany Park and then had one baby and moved to Jefferson Park in 1985. Been here ever since. Now we have two adult babies.
I'll talk to you when you get back. Have a nice time.