Here at Amen Corner Ponds, we partner with you to bring your backyard pond visions to life. Contact us and we’ll talk about your next pond paradise.
As a South Carolina homeowner, you may have a variety of plants like trees, hedges, or other vegetation on your property. But how many of us get to have pond plants growing on our property? At Amen Corner Ponds, that’s where we come into the picture.
Over the course of nearly a decade, we have successfully installed over 500 private yard ponds that feature unique designs. We can combine our experience and expertise with your artistic imagination to produce back or front yard ponds that will beautify your landscape, improve your property value, and provide a space for peaceful relaxation.
In addition to installing waterfalls, brooks, or other pond architecture, we can also help you add things to the water that further enhance the pond’s overall aesthetic value, such as verdant and visually stunning water plants. The following section will give you a better idea of just what these plants are and how they can fit into your overall home pond architecture.
What Are Floating Pond Plants?
Floating pond plants are simply varieties of aquatic plants that take well to life in smaller bodies of water. While many aquatic plants can stay vibrant while completely submerged or on the verge of bodies of water, floating pond plants can thrive at the surface. Their affinity for surface life gives you plenty of opportunities to enjoy the beauty of their flowers and other types of blooms.
Water Lily
These are among the most well-known and iconic floating water plants, and for a good reason. They can grow to a variety of sizes, from 2 inches across to as large as a foot across. They also produce leaves that can float and form floating halos that could be up to 6 feet across. In addition to their size, water lilies produce a stunning range of colors that is almost unparalleled.
Water Lettuce
These petite green beauties resemble floating heads of lettuce. They can make cute additions to just about any outdoor pond setup.
Broadleaf Arrowhead
This plant can grow marginally or submerged and has classic white flowers with bright yellow centers.
Enjoy Marginal Plants in Your Home Pond
To keep your home pond biologically balanced, you will also want to include other types of aquatic plants in your design plan. One type of plant group that fits this bill is the marginal or bog plant variety. They earn this name because these families of plants tend to do best in shallow water or on the verges of ponds and lakes.
Because they enjoy growing in the shallows and around the edges of home ponds, bog plants and flowers can form attractive boundaries in your landscaping design. They can also give your home ecosystem a more natural look and feel. Some marginal home pond plants that you’ll want to keep your eye on are listed below.
Cardinal Flower
These marginal plants thrive near the edge of small home ponds. They can grow up to 3 feet in length and have leaves that can grow to nearly a foot high. They have a bright red and burgundy color that is impossible to miss.
Creeping Jenny
This edge of the pond plant has small, round green leaves and even smaller yellow flowers that make it a great addition.
Rodgers Flower
This plant produces flowers and lots of leaves, a combination that makes it a good fit for the edge of water applications.
Blue Flowers Can Complement the Look of Your Pond
There is something about water and the color blue that are naturally complementary. Clear light blue beach water shimmering over a white sandy seabed is one example. Bright blue surface-dwelling pond flowers are another example of this special aesthetic effect.
Many floating pond plants can help you enjoy this same effect right in your yard, such as:
- Pickerelweed: Growing from 2 to 3 feet in height, this slim and green-clad plant produces serrated-looking blue flowers.
- Water Iris: This family of plants comes in many varieties, and they are known for their affinity for blooming early in the season. The blue iris is included in these ranks, and its striking colors are sure to turn heads.
Aquatic Oxygenating Plants That Thrive in Ponds
To keep your home pond clear and the life that lives in it healthier, you’ll also need to consider plants that help maintain the oxygen balance. Aquatic oxygenating plants fit the bill in this regard, and you can add several species to your pond that may also increase its visual appeal. You may also be interested in adding fish to your pond in the future, and having the right kind of oxygenating plants can keep them alive and healthy.
As a rule of thumb, you should try to avoid importing plants that you will use for oxygenation purposes. By using plants that are native to your local environment, you’ll use species that are used to the weather patterns and more likely to survive.
Some popular oxygenating plant varieties include:
- Water Wisteria: At about a foot wide and 2 feet deep, this prodigious oxygenator is on the smaller side. It can also produce beautiful blue blossoms on the surface.
- Water Hyacinth: These easy-to-grow summer bloomers are like lily pads and verdant. They are also great oxygenators.
- Dwarf Sagittaria: With thin arrowhead tips, these grass-like oxygenators easily grow under the surface and out of sight.
Contact South Carolina’s Certified Aquascape Contractor
As you can see, there is much to know when it comes to installing plants in your home pond. The good news is that here at Amen Corner Ponds, suggesting the right pond plants and other accessories is one of our specialties. Whether you have a pond or want a pond, we’re here to help!
Fill out our contact form for a consultation about your next home-based pond system.
