New Stour & Avon, October 8, 2021 27
Home & Garden
Gardening...
...with botanist Dr Dave Aplin
DAMP DELIGHTS: Yellow flag seeds, left, and Ragged Robin
Pictures: DAVE APLIN
Pond plants for a perfect perspective In my last column I discussed the virtues of making a garden pond to enhance wildlife and our own mental wellbeing, if you missed it, you can find it online at stouravonmagazine. co.uk/issues/latest-issue/. This article focuses on the kinds of pond plants that could be chosen. Since the aim is to encourage wildlife, I will focus on native species; the elegance of some of these may really surprise. Pond plants can be divided into different habitats, those that live in the water and keep it oxygenated and those that enjoy the boggy margins of the pond and don’t mind their roots being constantly wet. Oxygenators are vital to any pond; they remove carbon dioxide during the day and release oxygen. An oxygenated pond allows a whole host of life to flourish in water that does not noticeably smell. When oxygen becomes
depleted there is a change-ofguard at the microbial level and these new organisms give off the kind of smells you wouldn’t want in your garden. My choice of oxygenators are the native hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum) and water crowfoot (Ranunculus aquatilis). Water crowfoot lives entirely underwater except in June when slender stems emerge from below the waterline holding up white, buttercup flowers to pollinators. Hornworts, on the other hand stay underwater even when flowering with their pollen dispersing in water. Canadian pondweed (Elodea canadensis) is perhaps the best know oxygenator, but it is a thug, producing lots of growth and quickly reproducing from stem fragments. It is against the law to transfer it to a natural site because it can block waterways, so best avoided.
Native water lilies (Nuphar lutea or N. alba) are too vigorous for small to mediumsized ponds and need water to a metre deep. The bogbean (Menyanthes trifoliata) is a good alternative. It takes its name from the resemblance of its leaves to beans, but this is where similarities end. The leaves emerge from underwater stems and poke above the water’s surface, but its most spectacular feature are its exotic-looking spring flowers. These are white with feathery margins to the petals. Like its name suggests, bogbeans need boggy soil up to a depth of 60cm. There are a host of native plants that can colonise the margins of your pool with one ‘foot’ in the water. These include the yellow flag (Iris pseudacorus) with attractive yellow flowers and architectural seed pods with tightly packed disc-like seeds.
Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) reaches 120cm in summer and produce spires of pink-purple flowers before disappearing below ground in winter. Kingcups (Caltha palustris), also known as marsh-marigold are likely the first of the native pond plants to bloom in March and April producing buttercup-like flowers the size of a 50p piece. One of my favourite plants, Ragged Robin (Lychnis floscuculi), enjoys the moist ground surrounding my pond and happily self-seeds in damp places. A member of the carnation family, its pink petals have raggedy margins between May and August. Predominantly planting native plants in pods is a superb way of welcoming wildlife, but more than this, it provides opportunity to view a spectacular array of plants that you may otherwise seldom encounter.