Some of the Amazing Wetlands Flowers You Could Plant in Your Wetlands Container Garden

Small container water gardens are ideal for small spaces. A container water garden is easy and fun to build and will add visual interest to your patio or porch.

If you do not have room to plant a large container water garden plant a few smaller pots with aquatic plants. These plants placed in container water gardens are more mysterious than traditional potted plants. A big plus to aquatic gardens is that they are very low maintenance. No more having to rely on your neighbors to water your gardens when you leave on vacation or a business trip. For the kids, add a sprouting ornament to really delight them.

Container water gardens are inexpensive to build, and easy too. For the small container water garden you will need a plastic container that is that is 18 to 20 inches wide and at least 7 to 8 inches deep. Other needed supplies are a small submersible pump, plants, clean kitty litter, small pebbles or pea gravel, some clear plastic tubing, a spouting ornament and a nylon stocking for covering the pump. Covering the pump is essential so that the kitty litter or other debris does not get sucked into it. All of these items are easy to find at your nursery center or even online.

To add depth to your small container water garden you will want to plant in two tiers. This allows you to plant aquatic lilies on the deep side of the container while those that like shallower water can be planted on the other side. You will need to place a partition between the two sides of the container which can be anything from a board to bricks.

A Novel Idea for a Small Waterfall to Use on Your Wetlands Container Garden

First, if you are using a sprouting ornament drill a hole in the rim of the container and place the ornament. Next place the soil from the lilies or other deep water aquatic plant on the bottom of the pot. Then pour in the kitty litter making a floor for the plants.

To keep the garden pretty and keeping the soil on the bottom of the container pour pea gravel over the kitty litter. Be sure to rinse off the pea gravel before adding it to your garden.

Next you will need to place the pump into the container. As mentioned before, it is crucial that you cover the pump with a nylon stocking so that kitty litter and pebbles cannot be sucked into it. Check the pressure of the pump beforehand and adjust as needed.

Allow the water you are going to use to sit out for a couple days. This allows the chlorine to burn off and the temperature to become comfortable for your aquatic plants.

Now you will need two things, a bright sunny spot and an electrical outlet for the pump. Place your small container water garden in your chosen spot. Congratulations, you have just finished your first small container water garden.

As mentioned above, maintenance of your container water garden is easy. Occasionally you will need to skim off some algae or a dead leaf or two. The root system of the plants will absorb most decaying matter but if the water starts to look murky, take the plants our and clean and rinse the container.

If your water garden is outside and not in a screened area you will want to buy what is called a “Mosquito Dunk”. It is very inexpensive and will kill mosquito larvae during the summer months. It poses no harm to pets, people or plants.

Small container water gardens are not large enough to accommodate fish but you could consider a few guppies or a couple of snails to help keep the container clean.

There you have it. Small container water gardening is an easy and fun project. Do your research, gather your materials, plant you container water garden and enjoy.

Happy Gardening!

Copyright © Mary Hanna, All Rights Reserved.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mary Hanna is an aspiring herbalist who lives in Central Florida. This allows her to grow gardens inside and outside year round. She has published other articles on Cruising, Gardening and Cooking. Visit her websites at Gardening Landscaping Tips, Gardening Outside, and Herb Gardening.

Don’t forget that Lorenz’s OK Seeds, LLC carries a variety of wetlands seeds to help you get started with you container water garden. Just give Freddie a call on our TOLL FREE number 1 800 826 3655.

Water Garden Waterfall

One of the latest trends in gardening is the water garden. The thing is though that water gardens have been around for a long time. The ancient Egyptians had them and so did the Romans. So it’s a little bit hard to say exactly what this style of gardening is considered new.

It could be the fact that today we have ready access to preformed ponds, and all manner of pumps, filter and lighting effect. Regardless of how old or new water gardens are there can be no doubt that their popularity is growing dramatically.

In this day and age there aren’t too many of us who are able to enjoy the simple pleasures of  life near a small stream. Things like:

• the soothing sound of water gurgling and bubbling over rocks,
• fish plopping out of the water,
• watching the birds, dragonflies, butterflies, frogs that are attracted to these areas
• observing the sometimes exotic looking plants that grow in and along the margins of streams

An Unusual Water Garden Setting

Regardless of the type of water garden you’re planning whether it be a simple container or pond or something more elaborate with waterfalls etc. there are a few things you need to consider before you get started.

1. Location - this is probably the most important aspect of your planning and includes:
   • Sunlight – most aquatic plants require 5 to 8  hours of sunlight a day. If you choose a place that gets lets that this you are limiting you choice of plants.
   • Existing Trees – if you plant to put your garden in an area that has overhanging trees be prepared for problems. Falling leaves and small branches will clog pumps and filters and if left in the water they will decay thus greatly increasing the chance of disease in your fish and plants. Likewise, pond construction could damage the tree’s roots.
   • Soils and Drainage – Let’s face it you don’t want to go to all the trouble and expense of building a water garden only to have linings tear or break or your pond pop out of the ground because the location you selected has poorly draining soils. You should also avoid low lying areas which collect water from their surrounds.
2. 

   Goldfish in a Water Garden

   Budget - Your budget is just as important as your location. Like many things, building a water garden can get very expensive very quickly, therefore you need a budget to place limits on your visions of what might be. Needless to say the bigger the garden the more expensive it will be. When you’re planning your budget don’t forget to include:

   • fish (if you’re going to keep them),
   • plants and/or seed, and
   • any electrical, including lighting, and plumbing work you may require etc.

   And remember there’s nothing wrong with starting small and expanding your gardens size later on.

3. Size - The basic rule of thumb when it comes to the size of your garden is that you don’t want to overwhelm your yard. In other words, the smaller the yard the smaller the water garden. Your budget should also put some brakes on the size of your garden. Also keep in mind that the size of your garden will determine how much time you will need to spend on maintenance.
4. Maintenance - One often overlooked aspect of water gardens is maintenance. As with any garden you need to take care of it.
   • If you have fish they need to be kept in good health and part of that comes from keeping the water they live in clean from debris particularly in the fall.
   • Your plants also need to be taken care of as well as do any filters and pumps you install.
   • You’ll need to winterize your pond as winter draws close.
   • Algae can be a problem and usually results from an overdose of nutrients from fertilizer and/or fish food. So be careful not to overfeed your plants or fish. While chemicals may be employed to control algae use them carefully as they may kill your plants and fish. Likewise, you can add more plants or install a filter if you don’t have one.
   • Just like an aquarium you’ll need to keep a close watch on your water’s quality and level. More often than not town water will contain chlorine and this should not be added directly to your pond or pool as it will create problems for your plants and fish. Before adding town water you should let it stand in an open container for about 24 hours.

There’s a wide variety of aquatic plants you can choose from for your water garden including

• Free floating Plants – these float on top of the water and grow quickly and will require thinning. They also shade the water and thus help keep algae at bay by reducing light levels.
• Marginal Plants - sometimes refered to as bog plants, have their roots in shallow water or the wet soil at a pools margins. Help keep algae at bay by competing for nitrogen.
• Surface  Plants - such as lilies, have their roots in soil while their leaves float on top of the water. As with free floating plants these also help control algae by reducing light levels.
• Submerged Plants – may be rooted in soil or free floating but their leaves tend to remain submerged. These oxygen producers are important for fish and they also use the nitrogen produced by decaying matter thus depriving algae.

Keep in mind that your plants will grow often quite quickly so ensure you leave space for them too grow. At most, your plants should cover around 50% to 60% of the water, . It’s not a bad idea to select some for their fragrance, some for their looks and some that produce generous amounts of oxygen as they’ll help you maintain a healthy pool. The base line is that you need to maintain a balance between plants that are functional and those that are ornamental. In addition the right selection of plants can not only add vertical aspects to your garden but also a stunning variety of color and texture.  Lorenz’s OK Seeds carries a variety of seeds suitable for your water garden. Including:

• Broom Sedge Bluestem (Andropogon virginicus)
• Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
• Common Reed (Phragmites australis)
• Frog Fruit (Lippia nodiflora)
• Pennyslvania Smartweed (Persicaria pensylvanica)
• Plains Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria)
• Torrey’s Rush (Juncus torreyi)

The bottom line is that water gardening can be a lot of fun and generally take about the same effort as a normal garden to maintain. Moreover, imagine how relaxing it is to sit by your garden listening to the relaxing sounds of a gurgling and bubbling stream right in your own yard.

Additional Resources -There are a lot of business websites that specialize in water gardens including design, construction, components and accessories. A basic search using your favorite search engine will provide some excellent results.

However, I believe the best place toget your creative juices flowing is to grab hold of a couple of good books such as those you’ll find about  Water Gardens at Amazon.com.

Water Lily - A Surface Water Garden Plant

Another Example of an Unusual Water Garden