General Planting Instructions

Iris 'Gerald Darby'

1. Do not have splashing water from fountains onto the top of waterplant leaves. It will damage the leaves & could cause the plant to die.

2. If the water level is too deep for decorative waterplants, stand pots onto some bricks carefully placed into the bottom of the pond..

3. Fertilise all waterplants by removing potted plant from pond & push a stick into the potting mixture. Pour about a tablespoonful for 20cm pots & a teaspoon full for 15cm pots of a slow release fertiliser into the hole & cover over. Slowly lower plant back into the pond.

4. Some aquatic plants lose their leaves & die down for a dormancy stage throughout winter. This is normal. Other foliage plants can improve the ponds appearance during this time.

5. If you do not wish to remove spent leaves & flowers from aquatic plants, they will sink beneath the water & compost down. This is okay. It is part of the plant/pond life cycle.

6. Iris & foliage plants look better if spent leaves & flower stems are cut & removed.

7. A healthy pond has a weak tea colour. If you have a green pond, this is caused by too many nutrients. Add plants to help absorb the nutrients. You should also add plants to cover part of the water surface. This will help kill the algae as it cannot live without light.

8. Oxygenating plants are a bit of a myth. They do provide some oxygen in daylight when they photosynthesize, but at night they use some of the oxygen as they respire. Their real benefit is that they are usually vigorous growers and help to absorb the excess nutrients in the water, hence compete against the algae and improve water clarity.

9. Submerged aquatic plants are self adjusting to water depth. Most plants supplied to the retail nurseries have been grown in shallow water in order to make it easier to transport. However, if the pond is deeper & all the leaves are below the water surface, either put bricks under the pot to raise the plant, or leave as is & the plant will produce new leaves which will grow upto the waters surface. The old leaves will however die off, but this will not harm the plant.