How to choose the best plants for your pond?
Knowing which pond plants you like the look of is easy. Choosing the best combination of pond plants for seasonal interest and for the wildlife in your size pond is more tricky.
Our selection of the best pond plants and our reasons for including them in your wildlife pond:
Deep water plant choices:
Ceratophyllum demersum (Hornwort) Is the best all year round British Native oxygenating plant. Drop loose pieces into deep water area to keep the water fresh.
Myriophyllum spicatum (Spiked Milfoil) another good British Native oxygenating plant that likes less deep water than Hornwort above and has a shorter season of availability. Drop into deep water area as weighted bunch.
Nymphaea (Waterlilies) Surface cover over the pond for shade and wildlife protection. Miniature, Dwarf or Pond sized waterlilies - one will suit your pond size. Flowers in June - September. Place mesh basket in deep water area according to ticket on that waterlily plant.
Aponogeton distachyos (Water Hawthorn) Surface cover and flowers in March - May before the waterliliy leaves reach the surface. Goes dormant in hot weather. Good for shady ponds. Place mesh basket in deep water area.
Best plants for the shelf areas of the pond:
Myosotis scorpioides (Forget me not) For me the best plants for ponds with newts looking to lay eggs in shallow water. A reliable rafting British Native shelf pond plant. Place basket on shallow pond shelf for frogs as support during mating.
Rorippa nasturtium aquaticum (Water Cress) A shallow rafting shelf pond plant for newts to lay eggs in. Place basket on shallow pond shelf for frogs as support during mating.
Caltha palustris (Marsh Marigold) First marginal shelf pond plant to flower in Spring. Place basket on 15cm/ 6" pond shelf for frogs as support during mating and the flowers attract butterflies and bees.
Iris versicolor May flowering short Iris with flower colour for early pollinating insects & leaves useful for dragonfly emergence. Place basket on shallow pond shelf.
Anemopsis californica (Yerba mensa) Chosen because its flower is an unusual shape and has a fragrance of honey. Place basket on 15cm/ 6" shallow pond shelf for frogs as support during mating.
Lythrum salicaria (Loosestrife) Chosen for reliable flowers for pollinators in July and stems for dragonfly emergence. Place basket on medium depth 20cm/8" pond shelf.
Mentha cervina alba (Water Spearmint) Flowers in July/August after most British Native plants have flowered. Good for insect pollinators - butterflies and bees. Place basket on 15cm/ 6" shallow pond shelf.
Pontederia cordata (Pickerel Weed) Flowers late in August/September - beloved by Bumble Bees. Place mesh basket in deeper water on a shelf.
To get help to choose the best pond plants for you -
- Try one of our Pond Planting Schemes for more help in choosing the best pond plants for your size of pond
- You just need to know the surface area size of your pond. We choose a combination of pond plants best suited to your pond.
- We choose a range of pond plants so that you get a balanced selection for various wildlife.
- You can choose your Pond Planting Scheme as either a selection of 'Only British Native plants’, ‘Mainly British Native' plants or ‘Any' plants available on the website.
- A scheme provides you with:
- oxygenating plants
- decorative marginal plants for the different depth shelf areas of both upright and rafting shelf plants for a range of wildlife
- waterlily for the deeper water section (in scheme sizes 2-5)
We plan the schemes to encourage many types of wildlife to visit the pond.