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Types of Water Plants for Your Northern Virginia Pond

Water plants are not just a beautiful, eye-pleasing addition to your Northern Virginia pond or water feature — they’re also a welcome addition to your pond environment. Many water plants reduce algae growth and add oxygen to the water itself, as well as provide needed protection for any fish. Plants also help filter your water by converting fish waste into plant food.

Pond plants fall into four basic groups, which include oxygenators, floaters, deep water plants, and bog plants. Oxygenators, or submersed plants, grow totally submerged in water and are very efficient in oxygenating pond water, as bubbles of oxygen can even be observed coming from the leaves of such plants. Oxygenators can never exist out of water and either root in soil or float rootless under water. These plants include such examples as curly pond weed and water milfoil.

Next, floating water plants move freely within a pond, don’t need to be rooted, and can grow at a very rapid pace. Known for their ability to provide shade and cover for your pond, these plants will keep the water cool in the summer and help keep algae to a minimum. A general rule of thumb to follow is that floating plant foliage should cover about 60 percent of a pond’s surface. Floating plants include water hyacinths and water lettuce.

Deep water plants needed deeper water to flourish, as they root firmly in the soil and debris at the bottom of ponds. Deep water plants often add color and variety to your pond, as they include lotus and water lilies. Remember that water lilies do not fare well in moving water, but instead flourish in calm, still water.

Finally, bog plants, or marginal plants, grow in the shallow areas of your pond, and are often seen in the moist and boggy areas around the rim of a pond. Bog plants include cattails, grasses, and reeds. These plants flourish in wet, muddy areas.

For more aquatic plants and pond landscaping tips, contact Lost Creek Landscapes. Providing full landscape design services, Lost Creek Landscapes has served the Northern Virginia region since 1997 and is fully licensed insured in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC.

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