Water Gardens

“It’s a whole different world,” says Liz Kimmel, who had been growing aquatic plants in a commandeered corner of Joe Sperling’s nursery in Calabasas. And, indeed it is.

With aquatic plants, you encourage the snails, shun potting soil for the yuckiest clay you can find, and you never have to worry about under- or over-watering. It’s about as different from growing ordinary plants in containers as you can get.

You must weed, fertilize and prune aquatic plants, but even these ho-hum jobs are more interesting when the plant is growing in water. In summer, you could even call these chores refreshing.

I know because last winter I took the plunge and put in two good-sized ponds in my smallish city back yard.

For the semi-jaded gardener like me, it is a whole new world, with unheard-of plants to try (and new catalogues to pour through), different techniques to learn and fresh surprises every time something blooms. And the fish, necessary to prevent mosquitoes, make a water garden a lively garden.

Though water lilies are the prettiest aquatic, there is life beyond lilies and the other kinds of water plants can turn a lily pond into a water garden, filled with flowers, grasses, ferns, tropicals, natives, even edibles (water chestnuts for one).

You’ll even find that a few familiar garden plants do even better in still, standing water--cannas and perennial lobelia, for instance.

Sperling is one of the few nurseries that have an aquatic plant section and Kimmel has rounded up quite a selection (they have over 30 different kinds, not counting the lilies). I hope more nurseries also get the water bug, but in the meantime, there are plenty of mail-order sources, especially for lilies.

One of the largest is right here in Southern California, Van Ness Water Gardens in Upland. Bill Uber prints a colorful catalogue of lilies (and other aquatics), both the hardy and the tropical, and he wrote one of the best books on the subject, “Water Gardening Basics.”

Of course, before you begin, you need some water to garden in. In the last few years this has become much easier, thanks to the ready availability of special butyl and PVC pond liners, pre-formed ponds of fiberglass or polyethylene, and all the large ceramic or plastic containers that have come on the market. Many nurseries now carry a line of tough European pond liners made by Tetra. You can use them to line a hole in the ground, or a raised pool like the one at Sperling, made of railroad ties.

Uber sells almost indestructible polyethylene ponds that are the easiest of all to install--you just dig a hole and drop one in.

Most water gardeners get their start in containers. Half oak barrels were the traditional choice, but large and sturdy decorative pots are easier to keep watertight. Some ceramic and plastic pots only require that you plug the drain hole. Until I got my new ponds, all my water gardening went on in containers.

There are many books on building ponds and pools, large and small. Some are listed below.

Ponds for koi don’t count as a place to grow aquatics. The two are not compatible. Koi fanciers blame the plants: “Aquatic plants take oxygen from the water at night and can kill the fish,” says one.

Plant lovers blame the koi: “They eat everything,” said Kimmel, “though maybe water iris are safe.”

But fish are important to a pond and its plantings. They control mosquitoes and to a lesser extent, eat some of the algae and add fertilizer to the water, which the plants can use.

In my ponds, mosquito fish patrol the smaller one, while plain old “feeder” goldfish (sold as snake food at pet shops) patrol the other. Kimmel keeps Chinese rice fish in her ponds.

Pond snails are the important algae eaters. They do not eat the plants, just the algae or decaying parts of plants, and they will not leave their watery home to pillage in your garden.

Algae is a necessary part of a pond’s ecology--too much nutrient, from decaying plants or fertilizer, causes a “bloom” of algae, turning the water pea-soup green and nearly as thick. But the algae is simply doing its job, absorbing excess nutrients that could harm plants and fish.

Usually, algae is minimal, except for a short period in spring. To keep it so, use only fertilizers sold for ponds, and make sure that about 60% of the pond’s surface is covered with plant life, says Kimmel. Too much sun in the water causes excess algae.

Hair algae is the most annoying kind but it can simply be pulled out of the water. Think of it as aquatic weeding.

Typically the water is very clear in winter, but if there is a down side to water gardening, it is that so many of the plants are dormant in winter. But this can be viewed as a pleasant change from the overabundance of summer.

Uber’s favorite aquatics, other than the lilies, are those that stay green in winter. Water iris top his list, looking good all of the time even though they only flower briefly in spring.

Parrot’s feather, horsetails and pennywort are others on his list of evergreens. And, there are a number of reeds and rushes. The nicest in my pond is the blue rush, with its stiff blue-gray leaves, and the dwarf papyrus.

Liz Kimmel likes some of the more tropical-looking aquatics, including two she sold me on, a stunning plant called water canna Thalia with deep red stems and brilliant purple flowers, and a lily-like plant called yellow snowflake, with brown and green floating leaves and frilly yellow flowers.

Aquatic plants fall into four groups. I have a few of each kind in my ponds and find that the most intriguing and natural-looking setup.

There are those that live under water, usually grown to provide oxygen for the fish and called “oxygenating” plants.

Then there are the floating aquatics, such as water hyacinth with its pretty purple flowers, or the fascinating light green water lettuce. The most prolific plant in my ponds in a true fern that floats, named Azolla . I remove about a bucket full every two weeks.

Other aquatics simply have leaves that float on the surface, acting like snorkels for the plants down below. Water lilies and the winter blooming water hawthorne with its fragrant white flowers fall into this group. Another class of water plants are more properly “bog” or “marginal” plants but they grow fine in pools and ponds if not submerged too deeply. Mine are in pots propped up on concrete blocks with just an inch or so of water over their roots.

That’s the important thing to know about water plants--how deep to plant them or how much water they need over their roots. Bog plants like only a little water over their roots, while lilies need 6-24 inches of water above them, depending on type.

Most water plants like full, blazing-hot sun, but there are those that will take some shade, such as parrot’s feather, water poppy or the lobelia.

All water plants are planted in ordinary clay soil; do not use potting mixes. They are best planted in individual plastic pots so you can adjust the depth and so they can be serviced. Usually a handful of special aquatic fertilizer goes in each pot.

Some spread so fast, you need to prune and trim on a regular basis and a few need repotting every winter. You can plant aquatics any time during warm weather, though repotting is usually done in March. They grow quickly in spring and early summer and I find myself doing a lot of thinning and tidying up about now. I’ve had to feed the lilies twice already (with special pellets for pond plants) and I’ve moved a couple of plants around because they grew bigger than I expected (as usual), but that’s all part of the adventure, and how I am spending my summer in the garden.

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Southland Sources for Water Plants and Supplies

Marina Water Gardens, 12871 Culver Blvd., Marina del Rey; (310) 398-5086.

Sassafras Nursery, 275 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga; (310) 455-1933.

Sperling Nursery, 24460 Calabasas Road, Calabasas; (818) 591-9111.

Sylmar Water Gardens, Sylmar. Call for appointment (818) 367-3175.

Tropic World, 26437 N. Center City Parkway, Escondido; (619) 746-6108.

Van Ness Water Gardens (retail and mail order), 2460 N. Euclid Ave., Upland, Calif. 91786-1199; (714) 982-2425.

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Mail Order Sources

Lilypons Water Gardens, 6800 Lilypons Road, P.O. Box 10, Buckeystown, Md. 21717-0010. Catalogue costs $5.

Van Ness Water Gardens (see above). Catalogue costs $4.

Wicklein’s Water Gardens, 1820 Cromwell Bridge Road, Baltimore, Md. 21234. Catalogue costs $2.

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Books on Ponds, Pond Building

“Water Gardening Basics,” by William C. Uber (Dragonflier Press: $23.95)

“Water Gardens,” by Peter Stadelmann (Barron’s: $13.95)

“Garden Pools, Fountains & Waterfalls” (Sunset Publishing: $7.95)

“Garden Pools & Fountains” (Ortho Books: $7.95)