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PrintPond planting marginal shelves:
Planting depth measurements given in each plant description in our shop are from the top of the basket to the water surface level.
We have taken into account the depth of the basket we send each plant in to calculate how deep the plant will be in the water when placed on a particular depth shelf.
- Build your pond and create the right depth shelves into your construction
- Build shelf
at 5-6″, shelf 
at 6-9″, shelf 
at 10-17″ deep with a 
base of 2’6″. (or 0-13cm, 14-22cm and 23-44cm and a base of 75cm). - Most shelf area should be shelf 0 and shelf 1.
- 2/3rds of a wildlife pond should be shelved with 1/3rd of the area being at the base level.
- Fish ponds could have a larger and deeper base area – 1/2 deep water and 1/2 shelves.
- We recommend a minimum of 3 x 1 litre marginal aquatic baskets per metre length on a shelf, with more if the shelf is wider than 30cm(12″) or if a full look is required quickly.
Water depth is vital to marginal pond plants – too deep and one variety will not thrive, too shallow and some varieties will not receive the frost/ice protection over their crowns available in deeper water.
Shelf : Plants that sit with their crowns at/near water level on a 13-15cm(5-6″) depth shelf:
- Plants that are placed with their roots/baskets in water but with a little or no water over their crowns.
- Shelf pond plants can be divided into 2 types – horizontal spreaders across the water – rafting plants and vertically up and out of the water (emergent plants).
- Your pond should contain a mix of both to create different wildlife habitats.
- Container pond planting collections are mostly shelf 0 plants as the plant support grid sits in position with approximately 2cm(1″) of water over the top of an 11cm basket.
- A pond with no shelves in its construction – use floating planting islands that float the crown of the plants on/near the water surface with shelf plants. Or create a shelf system with bricks from below.
- Shelf 0 plants can also grow in wet mud in a muddy bog garden or on a wet, muddy stream edge with their crowns in waterlogged mud.
Shelf 
: Plants for a shallow 14 – 22cm(6-9″) depth shelf:
These shelf pond plants can also be divided into 2 types:
- Plants that are placed with up to 13cm(5″) of water over the top of the basket.
- rafting plants that spread horizontally across the water and emergent plants that grow vertically up and out of the water.
- If you have dug the shelf too deep for a particular plant species:
- replant into a taller basket so that the top of the basket is at the correct depth or
- raise it by using blue engineering bricks or another basket filled part way up with gravel.
Shelf 
: Plants for a deeper 23-44cm(10-17″) depth shelf:
- Robust plants that enjoy a deeper shelf that places the crown of the plant in water throughout the winter without risk of ice penetrating the pond to that depth.
The miniature and dwarf waterlilies can be placed onto a pond shelf or at the base of our patio container pond at shelf or shelf depth.
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