article: Aquatic Plants

Aquatic Plants

The balanced water garden is going to implement the use of aquatic plants to continually clean the water. The environment in the water garden is a balancing act that is not difficult to achieve once you understand the need that fish have of plants, and that plants rely on the fish.

A few of the most common aquatic plants I am going to discuss here are not the only plants. I will be going through more of the most common aquatic plants in the next few articles so you can learn about the different choices available for all types of water gardens.

Water Hawthorn is a deep water aquatic plant that you can grow in water up to thirty inches deep. The plants produce long stems that are thin to hold the leaves of this plant. The green of this plant will last through the summer months, and will produce white flower in both the spring and the fall months of the year. The Water Hawthorn has an evergreen appearance but is not an evergreen plant.

Azolla Carolinana is an aquatic plant that can be troublesome because it does reproduce so quickly. In just a short amount of time this plant can take over the surface area of the pond. The leaves are a just a shade of red, but turn a darker red in the fall months. While the plant takes over the entire pond, only a few of the roots will remain to regrow after the cold winter months.

Ceratophyllum Demersum is a floating plant, that lives just beneath the surface of the water. This plant has dark green leaves with very thin stem that seem to be fragile. You can take just a piece of this plant and put it in a new water garden and it will take off, growing in a new area. You don’t have to have lots of light for this plant to grow so it is great for the shaded water garden.

Eichhornia Carssipes grows fast, and can take over streams, creeks, rivers, and your water garden. This spongy type plant can be thinned out a few times a year, and it will give you a balanced water garden as it absorbs so much fish waste over the summer months. This plant does need a good amount of light to grow and thrive. If you have a cold spring, this plant doesn’t appear until the water is over sixty degrees.

Elodea Canadensis is a plant that is often found imitated in aquariums. This long fern like plant is a rich oxygenator that will give your fish what they need to survive. While this plant is producing oxygen it is also cleaning the water. The stems of this plant create a branching effect pushing the small thin leaves through the water in a bush like fashion.