NGC pond plant questions

[fotoguzzi]

I’m rebuilding my backyard waterfalls that has not been operational for the past few years. I have some questions about plants . The ferns around the lower canoe are like a jungle now, they have multiplied like crazy, that’s a good thing.
I want to put some tall water plants in the upper vessel to cover up seeing the floor of the canoe. I’ll get some suitable pond plants from the garden store but here’s the question.
How can I contain the soil or muck where the plants root? I use a submersible pump with pretty high capacity. The considerable flow/current will want to stir up the dirt making the waterfall cloudy. My objective is to have a clear water in the falls, in the past I just didn’t use plants up there so I had clean flow.
I will also plant some lily pads and stuff in the lower pool.
I will ask the same question at the garden store but my experience is the Wildguzzi encyclopedia is at least as good at answers as the so called experts. So what solutions can you recommend?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIhD0YxIr04

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYLD4L6mhGE

[RinkRat II]

  Hydroponics may be in your future. Plants really don't need soil to grow as long as nutrients are provided. Talk to your nursery expert on which plants would be best and a containment system for them. My$.02

    Paul B 

[dte8dom]

I have a small artificial pond in the backyard, it has a bog for filtration. The plants in the bog are in a mesh basket with gravel and some pond “dirt” that I got at the store where I got the plants. It’s more like a clay than dirt and it doesn’t cloud up with current or when the turtles get into it.  I don’t remember the name of it, I seem to recall the guys at the aquatic supply store just called it pond dirt and that is was specifically for rooting aquatic plants without mucking up your pond.

[80CX100]

Depending on what you use for growing medium, you could cover it or enclose it in landscape cloth.

If you ventured into the hydroponics as suggested you could grow in rockwool or similar material, or if you have old abs pipe lying around you can core holes in the side of it to place your plants into it.

Hydro or Aerop[onic solution would be fussy and a pita with sun, nutrient, evap algae etc.

I've never heard of it, but if as suggested there is special pond dirt,,,,, that sounds the simplest

 

[fotoguzzi]

Depending on what you use for growing medium, you could cover it or enclose it in landscape cloth.

If you ventured into the hydroponics as suggested you could grow in rockwool or similar material, or if you have old abs pipe lying around you can core holes in the side of it to place your plants into it.

Hydro or Aerop[onic solution would be fussy and a pita with sun, nutrient, evap algae etc.

I've never heard of it, but if as suggested there is special pond dirt,,,,, that sounds the simplest

 

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[aklawok]

place the pickup for the pump in a clay/tin plant pot or plastic bucket so that the lip is a few inches below the serface (sometimes with holes around side) and some rocks in it, it can even be laid on side opening faced away from silt source. it is what we use for recirculating water for a gold sluice in a tub to keep 12v pump from clogging!

[fotoguzzi]

place the pickup for the pump in a clay/tin plant pot or plastic bucket so that the lip is a few inches below the serface (sometimes with holes around side) and some rocks in it, it can even be laid on side opening faced away from silt source. it is what we use for recirculating water for a gold sluice in a tub to keep 12v pump from clogging!

I get that but still want to keep it clean where the water pumps into the upper canoe, it could stir up anything (dirt) up there.

Lots of good ideas so far, thanks all.

[80CX100]

Wow, obviously you have a keen artistic eye, very neat design.

If water plants submerged in the middle prove problematic, perhaps some type of draping/creeping vines that didn't mind getting their feet a little wet placed at either end and train them to grow back and frame around your waterfall.

[ddrillmaker]

Nice idea for pond upgrading. I had the pond too near my field. Due to the strong rains, it started to flooding at once. As the result, I got water erosion which made it difficult to continue doing business. I haven't figured it out on how to add a picture to my post. However, my field was similar to the first picture here https://eos.com/blog/water-erosion/. Like one big pond.

[Paul_Tim]

'Pond dirt' or 'aquatic potting compost' as the posh people call it will be your friend. I've half a dozen large water lillies as well as some assorted reeds planted in the stuff contained in the perforated plastc tubs you get designed for the purpose. Cover the surface with fine gravel when you fill the tubs.
You'll get a bit of fine dirt come out when you first submerge them but it soon stabilises and I don't find I need to clean the filters any more than usual (the fish don't object either)

[Moparnut72]

I get some of my pond stuff from The Pond Guy.
kk
https://www.thepondguy.com/product/microbe-lift-aquatic-planting-media/

[jkguzzi]

At the suggestion of a local pond retailer we put about 2-3" of 3/4" washed stone on the bottom and rooted the lilies in the stone. After a year or two the lilies covered the pond.