question about raising pond plants

[allierw]

When we made the pond structure, I didn't make any underwater shelves or anything for plants. considering it's 3 feet deep, does anyone have any suggestions about our options? Dr. Foster and Smith has floating pond pots which are pretty neat, and look like you could DIY pretty easily. Or, I guess we could sink a couple of cinder blocks down in the pond as plant shelves. Even lily plants are usually potted, aren't they? What do you guys do with pond plants in the winter?

[ree123]

Plastic milk crates, The square ones are the tallest and most stable. Open to allow water movement and fish in and out. Can stack to get proper height.
In time cinder blocks desinagrate. Been there, done that.
Lily's are potted. Tropical vs. cold tolerant are planted differently.
Tropicals are moved in in Oct. to kiddy swimming pools under the house with a shop light over them 24/7 all winter. Natives and non-tropical are trimmed down and left for the winter.

[davidtcb1]

If you want a more natural look just pick out some rock pieces that you could make a shelf/shelves out of. Obviously a flatter stone for the top etc. Pots etc will sit on that fine and can also serve as hideouts for fish.

[davidtcb1]

Stepping stone type pieces from Lowes etc could also be a cheaper option than a stone yard.

[mruble]

You can plant water lilies in plastic buckets. Use potting soil with gravel on top to hold the soil in. Leave a few inches to the top of the bucket. When koi or goldfish spawn, they will do it in the gravel. They do a lot of gravel slinging, so you need some bucket sticking above the level of the gravel if you want the gravel to stay in the bucket. You can put 5 gallon buckets upside down to create a shelf that will hold flower pots for emergent plants.

[allierw]

Great tips, guys! I hadn't thought of using 5g buckets or milk crates. We may wait until next spring to really get some of the plants started, since it's getting late in the summer.