Oxygenating pond plants and floating pond plants are vital to the freshness and clarity of the water.
We send some oxygenating pond plants and floating pond plants bareroot. These can be dropped into the pond and will find their own depth. Those submerged oxygenators that require weighting down will be supplied bunched with a weight. Dependant on their availability/time of season some oxygenating plants will come ready potted in aquatic compost and so can be placed down on a shelf in the pond.
Submerged oxygenators use dissolved nitrates/mineral salts from the water thus in time helping to control algae growth through competition for mineral salts and some varieties will give shade to the water hence blocking sunlight from the algae cells. They need to be maintained on a regular basis so that they do not fill more than 30% of the volume of the pond or container pond. See long gloves on Pond products.
Floating pond plants give shade and fast growth in their season and are supplied bareroot to drop onto the ponds surface. Many are not frost hardy(Water Hyacinth, Water Lettuce or Salvinia natans) so give one season of dramatic surface cover and then need to be removed prior to winter. These floating plants also use up large amounts of nutrient as they grow. These are not available before the risk of frost is gone - usually mid May. Allow one plant or portion per square metre of free surface area.
Other floating plants - generally our Native varieties avoid the winter cold by dropping down below the surface of the water to overwinter as dormant buds in deeper, less cold water. These floating plants will then reappear in Spring as the water temperature warms up.
Some floating plants are invasive and not recommended as once added to your pond are very hard to get rid of. These plants, such as, duckweed and fairy moss grow quickly and can completely block out light to the depths of the pond and are best avoided. We do not sell these.