Planting up your Pond

Once your pond is full of water and you've edged it (click here for our guide to edging your pond) you can start to plant it up. This can be done immediately but you’ll have to wait a while to add fish (see our section on adding fish to your pond).

Putting plants in a pond is a great idea; it looks natural and can really enhance the look of your pond. It gives fish a place to hide and to lay eggs as well as providing a habitat for all of the other pond creatures that we should encourage in our gardens like frogs, toads and insects. Plants also absorb nutrients that are present in the water and would otherwise lead to the growth of algae and green water.

Most plants that are bought for the pond are already potted into aquatic baskets. These are made of a plastic mesh that allows the water to pass into the basket without letting the soil out.

When you’ve planted your basket it’s a good idea to put it in a bucket of water first, before placing it in the pond. When the soil gets wet the air trapped inside is driven out and drags with it a fair amount of soil.

If the soil does get into the pond then the water will go cloudy for a time but this will usually clear up.

There should be a layer of gravel on the top of the pot to keep the soil in too and sometimes you might want to add a bit more than comes with the plant; about an inch thick (2.5cm) is a good guide. You can then put the pot straight into your pond.

If you are planting a pot yourself then you should use an aquatic basket as described and use aquatic compost. This is heavier (with more clay) than garden compost and contains no nitrates that would feed the algae. Some people put a layer of hessian inside the pot before adding the compost to prevent soil from getting into the water. If your basket has small holes then this is usually not necessary.

Don’t forget to add a layer of gravel as before.

Check out our pond planting section.for everything you'll need to get started.

Now that you know the basics about planting up your pond, why not have a look at one of our other plant guides to learn more:
Marginal Plants
Deep Water Plants
Floating Plants
Oxygenating Plants
Invasive Species

Or click here to see the full list of guides