Small patio water gardens are one of the top gardening trends
It is easy to raise plants in a water garden. For one thing, it is difficult to overwater them. Put a shoreline plant in any container that holds water and you have a water garden. They can be big and hold fish, or they can sit on a tabletop.
One of the fastest ways to get started is to use a halfbarrel. They are available at many garden centers each spring. Find one that is in good physical shape and doesn’t smell too much like its former contents. Some barrels are made just for use in gardens, and others are left over from whiskey or wine production.
Many places sell hard plastic liners that fit barrels. If the barrel is too tall, you may have to set the liner on some sand or blocks so that when it is full, it won’t bend and crack as it falls the last few inches to the bottom of the barrel.
Fill the container with water, and add shoreline plants. Some aquatic plants grow underwater and can just be tossed in. These plants are sometimes mistakenly called oxygenators. They produce oxygen during photosynthesis like other plants and consume oxygen during respiration 24 hours per day, so the net effect is a little oxygen. The main way oxygen gets into the water in a container or pond is through wave action. Water pumps or air pumps that move the water around will add oxygen to the water much more quickly than underwater plants.
Parrot feather is a good underwater plant that will come to the surface. It will then grow out and down the container sides like a hanging basket.
Some aquatic plants are floaters that have roots that filter the water while the leaves and flowers float above. Water lettuce, salvinia and water hyacinth are good but may be banned in certain Southern states where they could survive in the natural streams and lakes.
Shoreline plant roots are planted in wet soil. There are many colorful blooming species. Arrowhead, cattail, pickerel rush and umbrella cyperus are good choices. Many terrestrial plants do well planted in shallow water. Impatiens, caladiums, canna and many irises will grow if their pot is half in and half out of the water.
Everyone wants the beauty of a waterlily, and there are several dwarf varieties that will bloom in half-barrel containers.
If you want to add a fish to the barrel, start out with only two or three small fish. Small aquarium fish like guppies work best. Goldfish can grow to more than a foot long, so do not add too many. If you keep the fish quantity low, you may get by without an additional pump and filter. This way you do not need electricity to filter the container. But if you are adding a fountain, then add the filter, too.
Fish require biological filtration to remove waste products like ammonia and nitrites from the water. Biological filtration is accomplished with beneficial bacteria that grow on the filter material and the inside of the pond. You can buy starter bacteria products where you buy the fish.
Fish will eat any mosquito larvae in the container. If the container is very small, it can be emptied and refilled to kill the larvae. Larger containers without fish will need another beneficial bacteria product called Mosquito Dunks. The Dunks release the Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria for as long as 30 days and kill mosquito larvae.
If you live in a cold-climate area, the aquarium fish and annual plants will die in the cold weather unless you bring the container inside. It will need a very sunny window to make it through the winter. No matter where you live, never release any aquatic plants or animals into the natural environment.