Top Tip: Allow 2 portions of oxygenating plants per square metre of surface area of a pond.
Oxygenator planting:
- Drop most oxygenating plants into the pond.
- Keep the weight in place if it arrives to you as bunched.
- A plant floats totally submerged below the water surface under water.
- They will hang limply and wilt very quickly out of water - keep all stem and leaf surfaces damp or wet.
- Oxygenator leaves are highly divided to absorb water, nutrients and dissolved gases.
- Do not plant in a basket as they float freely in the water, moving up and down according to the water temperature.
- Each variety can be out of stock at times due to the seasons.
- We send some oxygenating plants potted in baskets to place on a pond shelf.
- They will send stems out into the water across the surface.
- These plants also have finely divided leaves to absorb nutrients and gases below water but send leaf growth above water level too.
Why use oxygenating plants in a pond?
- Oxygenating plants help clean the pond water by limiting algae growth.
- They use nutrients and minerals from the water.
- And compete with the algae for these nutrients.
- They help keep pond water healthy and clear long term.
- Photosynthesize in the day by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen for underwater dwelling wildlife.
- Provide shelter, protection and spawning habitat for some pond wildlife.
Always use some submerged oxygenating plants with leaf below the water surface. They are the most effective.
Available in their season as submerged oxygenators are Callitriche stagnalis, Ceratophyllum demersum Myriophyllum spicatum, Potamogeton crispus and Ranunculus aquatilis.
- All are British Native oxygenators.
- Callitriche stagnalis has pale green star-shaped leaf leaf & fine stems that grow up & spread out to cover water surface
- A good oxygenator for foliage cover & wildlife protection.
- Ceratophyllum demersum lives in deeper water and remains below water level.
- Ranunculus aquatilis has 2 types of foliage. Early season - long foliage submerged below water surface. Later foliage is a flat leaf on the water surface and a white flower.
- It likes growing in moving water and does well in a stream.
- Featured in Wild Isles on BBC as breeding material for dragonflies.
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- Callitriche stagnalis – Water Starwort
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- Ranunculus aquatilis – Water Crowfoot
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- Ranunculus aquatilis leaf & flower
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Supplement with British Native upright Isolepis cernua and Rorippa nasturtium aquaticum and Non Native Myriophyllum rubricaule Red Stem that has fronds that grow up and spread across the water surface. All these are potted in 9cm baskets.