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Marginal Plants For The Pond. Part 3
This will be my third article on what plants to grow in the pond. I have written a brief description about various marginals, but here I am going to write about some of my favourites. This is purely my own preferences and they suit my pond or how I want my pond to look. You may not like my choices because we all have our own favourites, but here we go with my favourites.
Houttuynia (Houttuynia)This one is an easy to grow carpeter for planting between the taller specimens, but you must grow it in a container to keep its invasive nature in check. The stems are red and the bluish-green leaves are distinctly heart shaped. It grows 6 inches to 1 foot high and in early summer the cone-shaped flowers appear, each one surrounded by 4 white bracts. Houttuynia cordata bears single flowers. The double flowered variety 'Plena' is the preferred one. 'Variegata' has the most colourful foliage, reddish green splashed with yellow and cream but with very few flowers. The recommended planting depth is 2-4 inches, it will grow quite happily at the surface or even in damp soil, but the roots are damaged in winter if they are exposed to frost or ice.
Hypericum (Marsh St John's Wart)There is only one species - Hypericum elodes. This lowly relative of the well known Rose of Sharon which grows in shrub borders everywhere thrives happly in mud or an inch of water. Its stems and mass of small rounded and wooly leaves make it a useful carpeter for growing between latter plants such as Iris or for disguising the edges of a rigid pond. It spreads about 18 inches and in July to August, small yellow bowl shaed flowers are borne at the tips of the stems. It grows about 9 inches to 1 foot in height and the recommended planting depth is 0 - 2 inches.
Mentha (Water Mint)Water Mint (Mentha Aquatica) is a useful creeping plant which can be used to cover the edge of the pond. It is easy to grow and spreads rapidly, which can be a problem if you have small choice specimens growing nearby. The rule is to grow it in a basket and trim back stems which are becoming invasive.The rounded leaves are hairy and often take on a purplish tinge. As you would expect, the foliage is aromatic when crushed. In mid and late summer it becomes an attractive flowering plant. The tiny lavender flowers are grouped together in miniature powder puffs which are borne in whorls along the stems. These flowers are especially attractive to bees. Water Mint grows 12 - 18 inches high and the recommended planting depth is 0 - 3 inches.
I have said many times before that not all Marginals have much use in the pond. In fact I would go as far as to say that many of them have no use at all, but if you are careful in your selection they can help to make a plain, boring pond suddenly come to life. There are a lot more Marginal plants to write about, but I wanted to these a mention as some of my own personal favourites.
About the Author
A lot of my time is spent in my garden. I have been looking for help on how to develop the perfect pond habitat for the fish which I intend to stock it with without much luck. To obtain the help I need have decided to use a company called <a href="http://www.serviceteam.co.uk/gardening_and_landscaping_services.asp"> Landscape Gardener London</a> company. So far they have given me all the help and advice that I need, as and when I ask them for it.
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