Plants for ponds: Let the growing begin

In response to my blogs about making my new pond (here and here), a question came in from Sue S as to what plants will go in it.

Now is a good time to get new pond plants...but when the pond was filled in December I couldn't resist buying some plug plants there and then.

So they've had three months or so to bed themselves in and grow a little during any warmish spells, and here they are so far:

Water-crowfoot: If it does well, it should form a mat of leaves on the surface, spangled with little white buttercup-shaped flowers. It's one worth trying in the shallows of smaller ponds but a bit hit and miss whether it survives.

Yellow Flag: One of our most glorious native flowers, but in a small pond go for one of the purple or blue water irises such as Iris versicolor.

Greater Spearwort. It will have yellow buttercup flowers, and nearby I have its little cousin, Lesser Spearwort.

Corky-fruited Water Dropwort. What a name! It should have rather Cow Parsley-like flowers, and isn't horribly poisonous like many of the water dropworts.

All those so far are for the shallow margins of the pond. For deeper water, I have Fringed Water-lily. This single leaf on its slender stem has risen to the surface in only the last couple of days. It should then have yellow flowers only a couple of inches across and be less intent on world domination than the White Water-lily, which is for giant ponds only. In very small ponds, the nymphaea water-lilies are like exquisite and well-behaved miniatures.

And then the plant that every pond should have, Marsh Marigold. Native everywhere in the UK and sun a sunshine flower of delight, avoid the double-flowered version, and it is great for solitary bees and hoverflies. I was surprised to get even one flower out of a plant that was just two small leaves in December.

As well as these, I have Rigid Hornwort as my submerged pondweed, which is so great for egg-laying newts and dragonflies, plus Water Avens, Marsh Woundwort, Water-plantain and Water-starwort as more marginals.

Some I think will struggle - pondplants s are just like garden plants in that some seem to like your pond and for no apparent reason others decide it's not for them. But some I'm expecting to go like crazy, and I'll let you see how it develops.

The main thing with pondplants is avoiding those non-native invasives which are causing such havoc in the countryside, so only buy water plants from reputable suppliers. And remember that pondplants are fuelled by an endless water supply so can grow like triffids, so choose plants appropriate to your pond size.

But get it right and they can make a pond so brilliant for wildlife...and for you.