Marginal Aquatics For Your Fishpond.

This will be my 3rd piece of writing on what plants to grow in the pond. I have written a short description about a variety of marginals, but here I am going to write about some of my favourites. This is purely my own preferences and they suit my pond or how I would like my fishpond to look. You may not like my choices because we all have our own favourites, but here we go with my favourites.

Houttuynia (Houttuynia)

This one is a simple to grow carpeter for planting between the taller specimens, but you will require to grow it in a container to keep its invasive nature in check. The stems are red and the bluish-green leaves are distinctly heart shaped. It grows 6 inches to 1 foot high and in early summer the cone-shaped flowers appear, each one surrounded by 4 white bracts. Houttuynia cordata bears single flowers. The double flowered variety 'Plena' is the preferred one. 'Variegata' has the most colourful foliage, reddish green splashed with yellow and cream but with very few flowers. The recommended planting depth is 2-4 inches, it will grow quite happily on the surface or merely in damp soil, but the roots are damaged in winter if they are subjected to frost or ice.

Hypericum (Marsh St John's Wart)

There is just one species - Hypericum elodes. This lowly relative of the well known Rose of Sharon which grows in shrub borders everywhere thrives happly in mud or an inch of water. Its stems and mass of small rounded and wooly leaves make it a useful carpeter for growing between taller plants such as Iris or for disguising the edges of your rigid pond. It spreads about 18 inches and in July to August, small yellow bowl shaped flowers are borne on the tips of the stems. It grows about 9 inches to 1 foot in height and the recommended planting depth is 0 - 2 inches.

Mentha (Water Mint)

Water Mint (Mentha Aquatica) is a useful creeping plant which can be used to cover the edge of your fishpond. It is simple to grow and spreads rapidly, which can be an issue if you have small choice specimens growing nearby. The rule is to grow it in a basket and trim back stems which have become invasive.The rounded leaves are hairy and sometimes take on a purplish tinge. As you would expect, the foliage is aromatic when crushed. In mid and late summer it becomes a beautiful flowering plant. The small lavender flowers are grouped together in miniature powder puffs which are borne in whorls along the stems. These flowers are especially attractive to bees. Water Mint grows 12 - 18 inches high and the recommended planting depth is 0 - 3 inches.

I have said often before, not all Marginals have much use in the pond. In actual fact I would certainly go so far as to say that a great many of them don't have any use at all, but if you are careful with your selection they could help to make a plain, boring fishpond suddenly come to life. There are many more Marginal plants to write about, but I wanted to these a mention as some of my very own personal favourites.

An unbelievable quantity of my time is spent in my garden, but as I am getting older and things are getting harder to do. I have decided to make use of a company called Landscape Gardener. Up to now they have given me all the help and advice that I have asked for. I still do a bit of pottering around my own garden.