Building A Container Water Garden
Steve Wilcott

Once you’ve chosen a spot for your container water garden –
remember, 6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day, no
overhanging trees, and a nearby water source (and power source
if you’ll be using a circulating pump for a waterfall) – you
get to the fun part. Most home and garden supply store chains
carry all the materials you need to create small ponds,
including plastic liners – but you’re only limited by your
imagination and a few basic rules in choosing a container for
your water garden.

It must be easy to drain.
It must be non-porous.
It must be deep enough to support the plants you want to grow.

I’ve seen water gardens that use everything from old bathtubs
to an assortment of terracotta pots (with plastic liners) to
large baskets (also with plastic liners).

For a container water garden, you won’t actually be planting
the plants in the bottom of the ‘pond’. Instead, each plant
will be planted in its own separate pot and submerged in the
water.

Assemble your equipment
You’ll need your containers, plants, bricks or terracotta pots,
gravel, heavy soil, aquatic plant fertilizer tablets and a
garden hose.

Pot your plants
If they’re not already in suitable pots, you’ll need to pot
your plants. Do not use potting soil, vermiculite or peat moss
– all of which will wash out of the pots and foul the water.
Instead, you want a very heavy, mud-clay like soil. Fill the
pot 2/3 full with soil. Push a fertilizer tablet into the soil,
then carefully spread the roots of the plant over the surface of
the dirt. Add a few inches of dirt and lightly tamp it down,
then cover with an inch or so of pea gravel. Repeat until all
of your plants are potted.

Arrange your plants in the container
This is where the bricks come in. The tops of the plant pots
should be no more than a few inches below the surface of the
water. Stack bricks, upended terracotta pots or construction
blocks in the container and place pots on top of them to vary
the heights of the plants.

Add pump for fountain or waterfall if using one.
If you’re adding a fountain or a waterfall, situate the pump
per the manufacturer’s directions.

Fill with water.

Using the garden hose, fill your container with water until the
plant pots are submerged under a few inches of water. If you
‘fill from the bottom’ by dropping the hose into the bottom of
the container and letting the water level rise, you’ll reduce
the chance of disturbing the soil and gravel in your plants.
Enjoy.

Don’t forget that the point of the exercise was to have a
lovely, cool water garden to enjoy. Make sure that you place a
bench or comfortable sitting rock nearby where you can enjoy
the beauty of your own miniature pond every day.

About The Author: This article courtesy of
http://www.flowers-guide.org


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