Your Koi water garden is finished and now the fun begins as you select garden features and water plants. Water plants help to create a relaxing feel and look to your water garden and turn it into a beautiful backyard oasis.
Water plants add a final decorative touch to your water garden but they also help maintain the biological balance your garden needs to thrive and stay healthy. Plants help to control the balance of the water and keep the water cleaner.
Your water plant selection will be based on your likes and dislikes and also on the climate conditions you live in. When choosing your plants your local pet store, garden center or Koi dealer should be able to answer your questions about water plants. The internet and library will also have available information to help you.
Lotus Plants
Lotus plants are beautiful plants that give a tropical look to areas where they grow. For this reason they are very popular in Koi water gardens. Lotus plants have beautiful blooms, an artistic to the way they grown and move in the wind and a fragrance that adds another dimension the backyard oasis. For those of you who live in areas that have temperatures lower than 65 degrees will have to make arrangements to over winter the lotus if you decide the grow the plant.
I move my lotus plants into the house in the winter. I group them with my other tropical plants and get to enjoy their beauty in my zone 5 climate all year long. You may want to consider moving them to a greenhouse if you don’t have room in your house.
The lotus plants do require soil but grow semi submerged in water. They will also require a large amount of sunlight so may not be a good selection for a shady water garden.
Water Hyacinths
Water hyacinths have become very popular in the last few years because of their simplicity and ease to maintain. They do not require any type of soil or planting. After you bring them home you just place them in the water and lightly anchor them so that they do not float all over the pond. Water Hyacinths are extremely pretty and help to control both algae and blanket weeds.
Water Hyacinths are very invasive and will take over your pond and possible your yard if you allow them. They have been known to cross over fences and take over the neighbors yard, so proper control and care must be taken with these plants.
There are also plants that you add to your water pond by sitting just under the water but leave in pots. This gives you more control over adding and removing the plants and they usually are focal plants that add beauty to you garden oasis area. Your Koi dealer or garden center will be able to help you select these water plants.
Underwater Plants
Underwater plants live below the water line and often go unnoticed. They help battle algae, put oxygen back into the water, feed your fish for you and offer a place for you fish to hide and relax during the hot summer days.
These plants can be found in bundles at your Koi dealer or local pet store. Most underwater plants will not need additional support during the winter. Once placed in the water garden you may not think twice about them again. But check the growing needs of the plants when purchasing them
Although these water plants are rarely seen the benefits they add to your water garden and for the fish make them well worth purchasing.
Water plants will add that final tropical feeling to your backyard oasis paradise and your Koi fish will enjoy them. Just remember to let you plants adjust to their new home for two to three weeks before adding your Koi.