Waterlilies & surface plants

Lowering a deep water plant into the pond:

• If the Waterlily or Water Hawthorn you receive has leaf growth that has reached the surface of our pond in the Nursery (ie the leaf is no longer furled but lying flat) then place it so that the flat leaf is on the water surface in your pond.
• If necessary, stand the basket on another basket filled with gravel.
• Submerging the top surface of the leaf below water level by more than a couple of inches at once will cause the leaf to rot away as it cannot 'breathe'.
• If the leaf is furled (rolled up) it can be placed at any depth as it is still traveling.
• The plant can be lowered deeper under the water in later years. Do not rush to take the plant all the way to its specified depth in the first year.
• Wait until Autumn and lower the basket then if the Waterlily or Water Hawthorn grew strongly that year.

Water lilies provide much needed shade to the deeper water areas:

• Waterlilies keep pond temperature constant and algae growth low whilst providing colourful waterlily flowers on the pond surface.
• Each water lily bloom will last for a few days and should be removed if possible before it rots and releases exess nutrients into the pond. 
• You should cover 70% of the water surface area with waterlily leaf growth in the height of summer.

A waterlily can be propagated and repotted any time it is actively growing.  See How to repot a waterlily in our Tips and Advice pages.

Other deep water surface plants - Aponogeton distachyos (Water Hawthorn) also for shelf  .This sends leaf stalks up to the water surface in February to give leaf cover and flower across the pond surface from February until May.