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Aquatic plants. Aquatic plants: types, description, names Flowers on the lake name

So, you are the owner of a garden ornamental pond. Having spent a lot of effort on the arrangement of a mini-reservoir, and having decorated it in a landscape or design style, it is time to start gardening. What plants can be planted in the pond, and what plants can be planted near the pond, in its coastal zone? There are a lot of options here, here you will learn about the most popular representatives of aquatic flora for an artificial reservoir.

What types of plants can be planted in a home pond

All aquatic plants for an artificial pond perform an important task: they serve as a kind of filters to purify water and maintain biological balance. It is desirable that at least one third of the artificial reservoir be devoted to plants.

There are several types of aquatic pond plants, each of which requires planting at a certain depth.

There are deep-sea plants for the garden pond, the flowers of which are on the surface of the water surface (for example, water lily).

There are oxygenator plants that grow in the water column and bring the greatest benefit to the reservoir, but they are practically invisible from the outside.

There are floating plants for the pond, as well as coastal plants that rise above the surface of the water, and their roots are in the ground under water. Swamp crops are usually planted next to a body of water in waterlogged and moist soil. They bring little benefit to the reservoir, but they provide shade and perform a decorative function. When deciding which pond plants to plant in the water surface and on the shore, you need to choose them in accordance with the style of landscape design, based on your own taste.

Planting water plants for an artificial country pond

Plants for a pond in a country house are planted in a pond already at the moment when the structure is completely ready, filled with water and settled for 10 days. It is better to plant aquatic crops in early summer. Depending on the type of plants, they are planted along the shore or at the bottom of the reservoir. You can plant the plants directly in the soil laid on the bottom, but it is best to place them in plastic or ceramic pots, which are then placed on the bottom.

Pots with water plants for a pond must have holes in the walls and bottom, this is necessary for soil ventilation, otherwise the roots will rot. Z and plants in pots and baskets will be easier to care for: move for wintering to a warm room, carry out reproduction, etc.

The soil in the baskets can be made up of ordinary garden soil (clay soil is better) and a small amount of bone meal. It is impossible to enrich the soil with manure, fertilizers, black soil or peat, this can cause poisoning of the inhabitants of the reservoir.

Take care to keep the soil layer in the baskets from being washed away by water, and also that the fish do not pick up turbidity from the surface of the soil. To do this, after planting the plants in the pond, you can lay a clean burlap or other coarse fabric on top, and place small pebbles on it (2 cm layer).

Regardless of which plants it is decided to plant in the pond, especially long roots and old leaves must be removed from them before planting. After planting, it is necessary to compact the soil around the stem of the plant so that the distance between the soil and the edge of the basket is at least 40 mm. Before planting aquatic plants, it is imperative to establish exactly at what depth they should be planted.

There are also such types of plants for an ornamental pond that do not require landing at all - they float freely on the surface of the reservoir, independently holding on to the surface of the water. These plants include water lilies and lotus. But these crops must be carefully monitored, because in favorable conditions they multiply rapidly and, if not thinned out, can quickly take up the entire pond.

The main problem for any closed reservoir with stagnant water is the duckweed, which multiplies rapidly and rapidly captures the entire area. In no case should you plant it specifically. In general, when planting plants, you need to adhere to the measure - all plants need light and, in addition, dense thickets in a small pond will look unattractive.

In any case, the reservoir with plants must be regularly thinned out, removing excess and old processes. As for the preparation of plants for wintering, those aquatic crops for which a temperate climate is a natural habitat should be left in the reservoir.

Exotic home pond plants from warm countries should be removed from the pond by placing them in a home aquarium or indoor bath for the winter. First you need to prune heavily overgrown plants. Indoors, crops need to be provided with sufficient lighting so that they do not wither.

If it is not possible to buy plants for a country pond in a store, you can simply go to the nearest swampy pond, carefully study what grows in it and at what depth, and then select individual specimens for your own reservoir.

Since the water in the pond is stagnant, as in most artificial reservoirs, the plants in it will be suitable, and besides, all of them, without exception, are adapted to the local climate.

In this case, it will be possible to transplant into an adult plant immediately. But you need to be careful and not go “for prey” alone, because after all, many of the plants grow in swampy areas, and here it will be difficult for one person to cope with the task, and even unsafe. You must first stock up on two long poles to feel the ground under your feet, good rubber boots with a high top and a reliable assistant who will have to stay on the shore, but within reach of the pole.

The most popular aquatic pond plants

The most popular aquatic plant in the construction of an artificial pond is the water lily, or water lily. It belongs to the category of deep-water plants and has a horizontally growing rhizome. There are four types of water lilies: dwarf (planting depth - 0.1-0.25 m, diameter of the surface covered with leaves - 0.3-0.6 m, coverage area - 1-2.5 m2, flower diameter - 5-10 cm ), shallow (planting depth - 0.1-0.25 m, diameter of the surface covered with leaves - 0.3-0.6 m, coverage area - 1-2.5 m2, flower diameter - 5-10 cm), medium (planting depth - 0.1-0.25 m, diameter of the surface covered with leaves - 0.3-0.6 m, coverage area - 1-2.5 m2, flower diameter - 5-10 cm) and large (planting depth - 0.1-0.25 m, diameter of the surface covered with leaves - 0.3-0.6 m, coverage area - 1-2.5 m2, flower diameter - 5-10 cm). Often, large and beautiful water lilies are much cheaper than small and nondescript at first glance relatives. But the former grow in tropical climates and do not adapt well to ours. In addition, large water lilies need a large body of water. But smaller water lilies and take up little space, and feel great in the local climate.

As you can see in the photo, these aquatic pond plants come with white, pink, red and yellow flowers:

The leaves begin to grow immediately after the ice melts, when the water temperature in the reservoir rises several degrees above the zero thermometer, and the plants bloom until late autumn. The peak of their flowering falls on the warmest period of the garden season. When choosing the type of water lilies, their characteristics must be taken into account: the temperature of the content (exotic species are not adapted to our climate), the depth of the reservoir (some species require a depth of up to 1 m), the area covered with flowers.

If the reservoir is small, then too abundant flowering will cover more than half of the surface of the pond, and this can lead to shading of the reservoir, there will be a lack of oxygen in the water, an excess of swamp gas will appear and the water will rot.

Deep-sea lilies as they grow (after 2-3 months) need to be transplanted to a greater depth, and if the pond is shallow, then pots with roots should be removed to the basement for the winter.

The bog-flower is also a deep-sea plant. This plant resembles a water lily, because it has small wavy leaves, often with brownish spots (up to 5 cm in diameter).

Look at the photo: in this pond plant, yellow flowers, collected in inflorescences, reach a diameter of 4 cm. Usually this culture is planted in a pond until the water lilies take root. Has a tendency to grow rapidly. Planting depth - 0.3-0.6 m, height of flowers above the water surface - 5-8 cm. Bog flower blooms from July to September. Reproduction occurs by dividing the rhizomes and occurs in late spring or summer.

Another plant from the deep-sea category is the egg-pod. This is a "relative" of the water lily, although it is not so beautiful. The capsule has small and uninteresting flowers, planted on thick peduncles, towering above the surface of the water. This plant needs running water and partial shade. For a medium-sized pond, you can use a small and dwarf egg-pod.

Japanese and foreign capsules are often found on sale, but these plants require a large reservoir, because the diameter of the flower reaches 8 cm, and the pistil is comparable in size and shape to a small glass bottle. Planting depth - 0.3-0.6 m (for small species), height of flowers above the water surface - 8 cm, the pod blooms from June to September, and propagates by dividing rhizomes in late spring or summer.

Floating plants for garden ornamental pond

Vodokras ordinary, or frog, is a plant floating on the surface of the water. This culture is often used in small reservoirs, because it grows slowly, although it blooms all summer, and its foliage dies off in autumn. Vodokras hibernates in the form of buds at the bottom of the pond, which rise to the surface at the beginning of summer and a new plant grows from them. Some experts recommend taking out the kidneys for the winter along with part of the muddy bottom and storing them in a jar of water, and lower them back to the bottom in April. This will protect the population from freezing, because shallow water bodies freeze thoroughly.

Water color leaves reach a diameter of 2.5-5 cm. The height of flowers above the water surface is 3-5 cm. Water color reproduces in summer by dividing the bushes.

One of the most popular plants in the construction of artificial reservoirs - hornwort. This plant is an oxygen generator, i.e. it has no roots and grows right in the water. Adapted to any light conditions, does not grow too much, propagates by dividing the shoots into parts in the summer.

In the water it looks like a thick branched brush. This plant is necessary to maintain the biological balance in the water.

There are several types of hornworts, but for artificial reservoirs, dark green or submerged are recommended. The plant overwinters in the form of buds at the bottom of the reservoir.

What plants to plant near the pond in the country

Below are coastal pond plants with photos and names that can be planted around an artificial reservoir.

Air refers to coastal plants. There are several varieties of calamus, which differ in color and size. When choosing, it must be remembered that undersized varieties are more vulnerable to winter frosts. Usually, two types of these coastal plants for a pond are used to decorate garden ponds: common calamus and marsh calamus.

The first type is very large, resembling an iris. It has straight arrow-shaped leaves that exude a pleasant aroma. Cob inflorescences are of little interest - they are small, greenish and horn-shaped. The second type of calamus has beautiful green-cream leaves that turn green-pink in spring.

The height of this plant of the coastal zone of the pond is 0.5-1 m. These aquatic plants need to be planted at a depth of 8-15 cm. It is also a coastal plant - Volzhanka. There is a dioecious Volzhanka and a forest Volzhanka, or an ordinary one. The latter is the most common. This plant is unpretentious, takes root well in a new place, reaches a height of 2 meters in 2 years. Flowering time - June-July, propagated by dividing the bushes in the fall. Volzhanka inflorescences are large, fluffy and long (up to 20 cm), consist of many creamy white flowers. You need to plant crops at a distance of 75 cm from each other and in small quantities, because this large plant quite strongly obscures the reservoir. At the end of autumn, the Volzhanka must be cut, leaving only stems 10-15 cm long above the ground. The crop should be planted in the shade.

Plants of the coastal zone around the pond in the country

When deciding which plants to plant near the pond in the country, pay attention to buttercups, they also belong to the group of coastal plants. For the design of artificial reservoirs, an underwater ranunculus is used, which looks very peculiar - it has two types of leaves: the underwater leaves are cut into thin segments, similar to hairs, and the surface ones, floating on the surface, have trifoliate leaves and look like clover. The first flowers appear in early summer. They are white, on branching stems that rise above the water. When the flowering period ends, the plant dies. Buttercup propagates in spring and summer by cuttings.

kaluzhnitsa is a marsh plant, and it is often used to decorate the coastal zones of reservoirs. This plant near the pond is a very unpretentious culture that grows well on the banks of small ponds or swamps. The marigold blooms early - in April. Its flowers resemble buttercup flowers, and the leaves are round or heart-shaped. The most popular variety of this plant, planted near the pond, is marsh marigold. The height of the plant is 0.3-0.5 m, it is planted to a depth of 5 cm, blooms with bright yellow flowers.

Another popular type of plant around the pond is Calthapalustris Plena. This culture is distinguished by double, yellow flowers similar to small chrysanthemums, blooms in April. The bushes reach a height of 10-30 cm. There is a variety of the Alba plant that blooms in May with white flowers. The culture grows in a swamp, the planting depth is up to 2.5 cm, the height of the plant is 15-20 cm. Another marigold, thin sepals, is a bit like Alba. But this is a real giant among all the other relatives. The marigold has large beautiful leaves and large yellow flowers, grows up to 1 m in height and is planted at a depth of 5-10 cm in large reservoirs. All these plants growing near the pond in the country house are propagated at the end of summer by fresh seeds or by dividing the bushes.

What other plants to plant near the pond in the country

What other plants to plant near the pond to decorate the coastal zone of the reservoir?

Sedge grows both in water and in coastal marshy soil. The depth of its planting in water is 5 cm. There are tall plants that are suitable for large reservoirs. In decorating the pond, sedge sticking out is often used. This plant, planted near a pond in the country, has yellow leaves, and the bush reaches a height of 0.5 m. You can also use coastal sedge - it has green and white leaves and a bush height of 0.3-0.6 m. a plant with fragrant leaves. Its bushes grow to 15 cm in height, and bloom all summer with small yellow, button-like inflorescences. There is kotula coronopusolistnaya - an annual plant that easily propagates by self-sowing.

You can sow the seeds of this plant in the spring at home, and then, transplanted into a ceramic pot, planted in a pond. Depth of landing kotula - 12 cm.

An excellent plant for the shore of the pond is pontederia. The heart-shaped pontederia is the most popular when arranging garden ponds. This is a very beautiful plant: it has large shiny leaves, it grows in bushes, the inflorescences are cylindrical, spicate-shaped, pale blue in color, the height of the peduncles is 0.6-0.75 m, it grows slowly. Pontederia blooms from July to September, propagated by dividing the bushes in late spring. However, this plant, planted around, is not very resistant to frost, hibernates with buds at the bottom. Therefore, it is desirable that the kidney be as deep as possible, or for safety, you need to choose the kidneys from the bottom along with silt and place them in a jar of water for the winter, and with the onset of heat, move them back to the reservoir.

In reservoirs, both natural and artificial, it is quite common to find aquatic plants, which on the surface of the water floating leaves various shapes and sizes. Under the rays of the sun on the water surface of the reservoir, they form a colorful mosaic carpet.

These plants include:

small egg yellow;
Water lily , Nymphaeum (white water lily);
Water lily small, tetrahedral;
Pod grass-like or multi-leaved;

These, in addition to Chastukha, Olysma and Euryale are awesome, having thick, massive rhizomes containing highly nutritious substances, grow mainly in frost-free areas of reservoirs. Therefore, they are throughout the year a valuable nutritious food for small animals: muskrat, beaver, muskrat, water rat.

Besides, Caps and water lilies well rooted at the bottom of reservoirs. These plants growing in them can be judged by the depth of water bodies. So, the egg capsule takes root at a depth of a reservoir up to 2.5 m; To uvshinka - up to 2 m. In artificial reservoirs for growing water lilies, the depth can be 75-100 cm.

family water lilies, common in the water bodies of Asia, Africa, the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere at a depth of 30-90 cm. It is believed that egg capsules appeared in the water bodies of the earth during the Oligocene period, that is, 25-30 million years ago. This aquatic herbaceous plant has reddish stems, a powerful rhizome, the thickness of which is 5-8 cm, length is about 1 m, greenish above, whitish below.

From the rhizome, located at the bottom of the reservoir, leaf petioles and pedicels grow yellow capsules . In winter, it stores the reserves of nutrients necessary for the formation of leaves and flowers of this plant for the next year. In addition, the rhizome, like other parts yellow capsules , has air channels through which oxygen necessary for breathing enters the underwater organs of the plant.

Leaves at yellow capsules two types: underwater - translucent, wavy along the edge, heart-shaped arrow-shaped. Floating on the water surface - entire leaves of aquatic plants with trihedral long petioles of dark green color, shiny, leathery, dense, 20 cm long.

Single flowers are arranged on long stalks, fragrant, and thanks to nectar, attract numerous six-legged pollinators. Beautiful flowers of bright yellow color, up to 6 cm in diameter, close at night, but remain on the surface of the reservoir. The plant blooms in June-July.

The fruit is a fleshy multi-seeded, ovoid-conical pitcher. Propagated yellow capsule by seeds and vegetatively. It grows well on silty or on soil containing a mixture of peat, humus, clay soil. Plants prefer a well-warmed, sunny location of the reservoir. It should be noted that Yellow capsule must be protected, since intensive collection of its beautiful flowers brings great harm to it. So, in many reservoirs, the hollow disappearance of this colorful plant was observed.

small egg small

family water lilies, common in water bodies of the forest zone from Western to Eastern regions of Russia at a depth of 0.5-1.5 m. This aquatic herbaceous plant is much smaller in size yellow capsules, the rhizome of which is about 1 cm. The leaves are emersed, oblong-ovate, floating, rising above the water, rather pubescent below. The length of the leaves is 15 cm, the width is 11 cm. The flowers are small, the diameter of which is 2-3 cm, with golden yellow petals.

Propagated by seeds and vegetatively. It grows well on soils containing a mixture of peat, humus and clay soil. Old and extra leaves are recommended to be removed so that the water mirror in the pond is ¾ or 2/3 free. Small capsule is widely distributed due to the fact that it grows both in stagnant and slow-flowing waters, and in fast-flowing rivers.

Despite the fact that this plant contains poisonous substances (alkaloids, nymphein and nyufarina), many wild animals, such as elk, water rat, muskrat, beaver and even bear and otter feed on this plant. The seeds capsules small love to feast on and waterfowl. In America, the small egg-pod is considered a highly nutritious food and protective plant for some valuable fish species.

Water lily Nymphea (water white lily)

family water lilies, common in Europe and the Caucasus. It is believed that water lilies appeared in the water bodies of the Earth much earlier than the egg capsules, that is, during the Paleocene period (about 60 million years ago). This is a perennial herbaceous stemless plant with a rather thick rhizome lying at the bottom of the reservoir. The rhizome is dark brown in color, covered with the remains of leaf petioles; floating leaves of aquatic plants , on the water surface, large, round-oval, glossy. Leaves are dark green above and reddish purple below.

The flowers are solitary, delicate, white, 10-12 cm in diameter with a pleasant delicate aroma, located on long pedicels. The flowers have numerous petals, which are directed in different directions, and, as it were, cover each other. Therefore, the flower itself looks like a white, rather lush rose. The plant blooms from late May to August.

In the morning, at about 8 o'clock, this aquatic herbaceous plant releases its flowers on the water surface, which open under the rays of the sun. At the fifth or sixth hour of the evening, the flowers fold their petals and fall under the water. In rainy and cloudy weather, the flowers of this plant do not rise to the water surface at all.

Fetus water lilies - fleshy multi-seeded, has the shape of a wide vessel. The plant reproduces by seeds and vegetatively. The water lily is unpretentious to soils, therefore its dense thickets are found on silty, clay, sandy, peat lands. For its cultivation in artificial reservoirs, a thick layer of silt or nutritious clay soil is poured onto the bottom.

The plant is not demanding to light, so its thickets can develop well in the shade of tall air-water plants. Of particular note is that Water lily , Nymphea is very sensitive to injury, so these beautiful flowers should not be plucked. The plant may die and disappear forever from water bodies.

Water lily small or square

family of water lilies, distributed in the forest zone of North-Eastern Europe, Siberia, the Far East and North America. The differences that have aquatic plants Small water lily - floating leaves and flowers (whose diameter is 4-6 cm) are much smaller than those of water lilies Nymphaeum, rhizome is much thinner.

However, the feeding value of this plant for small animals is great, since it grows precisely in the northern regions where the Nymphaeum water lily cannot grow.

Varieties are also known Water lily: Water lily pure white (flowers are pure white, diameter 6-10 cm); Water lily pink (pink flowers, 10-15 cm in diameter).

Rogulnikov family, distributed in the south of Europe, in the south of Siberia, in the Far East. This annual herbaceous aquatic plant has a long underwater stem, on the lower nodes of which there are filiform roots that attach the water chestnut to the ground.

Leaves - in a rosette, floating, broadly rhombic, 3-4 cm long, 3-4.5 cm wide, pubescent below. Petioles have an oblong-elliptical swelling filled with air-bearing tissue of various lengths. This creates good lighting for each sheet.

The flowers are small, white, located one by one on thin pedicels in the axils of the leaves. Flowers develop under water, they are brought to the water surface by pedicels, which are covered with upward curved hairs. The flowers open in the morning, for several hours, close by noon and go under water. The plant blooms in May-June. The fruit is a nut with a conical base and four powerful, pairwise-opposite horns. The fruits are well preserved in the silt, even for ten years, without losing their germination.

The plant reproduces vegetatively. In order to grow this family of aquatic plants, the muddy soil of the reservoir is necessary. Very sensitive to the composition of water. So, if it contains even one percent of sodium chloride and calcium salts, the plant dies. Walnut fruits are highly nutritious food for muskrat, river beaver, geese, ducks.

The local population consumes it as a delicacy. The water chestnut is interesting in that sometimes for a while it can turn into a free-floating (floating) aquatic plant: this happens when the water level in the reservoir can rise sharply so that the stem of the plant cannot reach the bottom of the reservoir. However, if the water in the reservoir subsides or, like a free-floating plant, the water chestnut swims to shallow water, its stem will take root again in the soil of the bottom of the reservoir. Recently, the water chestnut is found less and less every year, therefore it is subject to protection. Listed in the Red Book.

family rdestovye, distributed in the lakes of Western Siberia. It is a rhizomatous, fast growing plant. It has two types of leaves: floating and underwater. Floating - wide oval, greenish, with a wax coating, which are well kept on the water surface due to the presence of air-bearing tissue and channels in them.

underwater leaves aquatic plants narrowly lanceolate, quite densely covering the stem submerged in water. They die off long before the plant begins to bloom. The flowers are small, pink, collected in inflorescences in the form of an ear, rise above the water surface. The plant blooms in June-July.

The fruit is an obovate nut with a short nose. Seeds ripen in late July-August. Propagated by seeds and vegetatively. It is not picky about soils, it grows well on silty, clay, sandy soils. Wintering is Pdest floating at the bottom of reservoirs, the depth of which is from 0.5 to 2 m. At this time, “dormant” buds are formed.

Wintering buds and rhizomes are highly nutritious food, especially in the ice period for small animals: muskrat, beaver, water rat. Its dense thickets serve as a good place for spawning of many, including valuable species of fish. Tuberous thickenings of rhizomes in baked form can also be used as human food. The features of this plant are that it enriches the water of the reservoir with oxygen, and can also be used as a good fertilizer.

Family Pedestaceae, distributed in the temperate zone of Eurasia and North America. This perennial rhizomatous plant has thin, strongly branched stems. Leaves of two types: underwater and floating. Underwater - numerous, lanceolate, translucent, form the main vegetative mass. Grassy pondweed - aquatic plants with floating leaves, in shape and structure, which resemble the leaves of floating pondweed.

The flowers are small, inconspicuous, collected in inflorescences - a thick ear. The fruits are spike-shaped, with a short beak. Grassy pondweed, like floating pondweed, hibernates at the bottom of reservoirs. In summer it is a favorite food for all aquatic animals and waterfowl. In winter - for animals in non-freezing areas of water bodies.

Grass-like pondweed is a very variable species of pondweeds. So, with an increase in the water level in reservoirs, which leads to the deepening of the plant, its floating leaves die. When the reservoir dries up, the plant can take on a terrestrial form with leathery leaves narrowed into petioles.

Chastukhov family, distributed in the European part of Russia, the stern of the Arctic. It is a perennial aquatic plant with a thick, large tuberous rhizome. It has thick, erect stems, much longer than the leaves. The leaves of Chastukha are of two types: floating and surface.

Floating - lower, wide-line, pure green. Emersed - large, ovoid or broadly ovate, located on long petioles, also pure green. The flowers are small, up to 1 cm in diameter, whitish-pink or pale lilac in color, collected in graceful pyramidal panicles.

The flowers are located on stems, the height of which is about 0.7 m. The plant blooms in June-August. Propagated by seeds and vegetatively. The plant is poisonous when fresh and harmful to livestock, but when dried, the toxicity disappears. The plant is very decorative; from dry inflorescences make up winter bouquets. And it can also be a beautiful addition to floating plants in the design of reservoirs.

lily family, distributed in the Ussuri region, India, Japan, China. It is an annual, stemless aquatic plant. The leaves are long-leaved, arrow-shaped in a young plant. At a later time, they are round-oval, leathery, reaching 130 cm in diameter. The underside of the leaves of aquatic plants is slightly pubescent, purple-purple in color; upper - green, naked. It has strongly protruding veins, on which numerous spikes are located.

The plant is remarkable in that its leaves have numerous bulges. Air bubbles accumulate under them, due to which floating plants Euryales are kept on the surface of the water surface of the reservoir.

The flowers are large, blue-violet in color with a reddish core, located on thin peduncles. Flowers and peduncles are covered with spines, bent down. The plant blooms in the second half of summer. The fruits are round, dark purple in color, weighing up to 200 g, covered with powerful spikes. The seeds are black, spherical in shape, covered with sticky mucus, ripen in September-October.

Euryale is propagated by frightening seeds. Every year the plant produces abundant, flat, spiny foliage. This original, photophilous plant is sown in reservoirs of the southern regions of the countries indicated above.

seed propagation

Seeds are used to propagate capsules, pondweeds, water lilies, Chastukha, Alysma, Euryalu. Fruits of egg capsules and spikelets of Rdest, which float on the surface of water bodies, are collected from the boat by hand in late August - early September, tearing them off the pedicels.

Fruit water lily that are under water are cut off with a hook. The collected fruits and spikelets are placed on the bottom of the boat, covered with wet moss or damp burlap to prevent them from drying out. They are then placed in baskets or boxes with holes and dipped in water to ripen. After 7-12 days, the seeds of these plants are completely freed from the shells of the fruits, from the spikelets, from the mucus, that is, they are ready for sowing.

seeds Caps and Water Lilies scatter from a boat or from the shore. They descend on the muddy soil of a pre-surveyed reservoir. Seedlings appear next spring, and a year later the plants bloom.

Seeds of Rdestov are rolled into lumps of clay and lowered into clay soil, the layer of which is 10-15 cm, to a depth of 40-90 cm; on clay - with sand content, to a depth of 30-90 cm.

Seeds of Chastukha, Alysma sown during the summer in open water, silty soil to a depth of 7-10 cm.

Euryal seeds frighteningly freed from the shells of fruits and mucus, they are sown in the muddy soil of a reservoir with a depth of up to 1.3 m.

Water chestnut is propagated by fruits, one plant of which produces 10-15 fruits. During harvesting, its fruits are placed in damp moss to protect them from drying out, since dry fruits completely lose their germination capacity. It has been noticed that in the silt the fruits of the water chestnut can be preserved up to 10 years, while germination is not lost. The fruits of the water chestnut are planted in shallow, sun-warmed reservoirs with muddy soil to a depth of 0.6-1 m.

Vegetative reproduction aquatic plants with floating leaves

In a vegetative way, that is, by dividing the rhizomes, the capsules, water lilies, pondweeds, Chastukha, Alisma are propagated. To do this, the rhizomes of these plants from the bottom of the reservoirs, from the boat are hooked with a hook and removed to the surface. Then they are cut with a knife into cuttings 20-25 cm long so that each cutting contains buds (“eyes”) and root bundles. Having tied load to the cuttings (it can be gravel, gravel, pieces of brick), immerse them in the water of the reservoir. In this case, the cuttings of rhizomes should remain on the surface of the soil.

cuttingsCaps and Water Lilies planted in the muddy soil of the reservoir to a depth of 0.6-1.2 m. in natural - to a depth of 15 cm. It should be noted that for planting cuttings of the rhizomes of these plants, you can use the West thermal season. However, the best time is spring and the first half of summer.

Legends and tales about capsules and water lilies

Legend 1 (about the white water lily). The scientific name of the Kuvshinkov family (Nymph) was apparently given in honor of the beautiful white-faced young Nymph with a shock of golden hair, living in a forest lake. At night, sinking to the bottom of the lake, she slept peacefully. And in the morning, having risen to the surface of the water, she washed herself with dew from coastal plants. Her life flowed calmly surrounded by dryads and naiads in the midst of picturesque nature.

But one day, on the shore of the lake, she saw the then young Hercules. Sleep and peace left her, she stopped sinking to the bottom of the lake, meeting with her girlfriends - she was still waiting for the return of Hercules. But he didn't come back. Life was slowly leaving the beautiful Nymph, and this legend about the white water lily says that it soon turned into a snow-white flower with golden stamens. Every morning the flower opened on the surface of the lake, as if waiting and hoping to see Hercules again.

Legend 2 (about Mermaids and Water Lilies). Apparently, the myths about Mermaids appeared among the Slavs because of the ability of water lily flowers to sink into water. These pale-faced, slender beauties loved on moonlit nights, sitting on stones, stumps on the shores of a forest lake, combing their long flowing, moonlit hair. And when they saw random belated travelers, they caught them and dragged them into their water kingdom.

Legend 3 (Water lilies - amulets). The water lily (white water lily) was called in ancient Rus' Odolen-grass. It was believed that she was able to protect people traveling to distant lands. Therefore, a piece of its rhizome was put into an amulet and worn as an amulet. They also believed that the shepherd should wear its root so that his flock does not scatter. There was also a belief: "whoever begins to dislike you, and you want to dry him out, let the root eat."

Legend 4 (love story of the Water King and Princess Nymph). Admiring the capsules and water lilies, people composed legends about the origin of these amazingly beautiful plants. So, one Italian legend about the Water Lily says ......

Among the picturesque hills covered with flowers, in the foothills of the Alps, there is a blue-blue lake. During the day, under the rays of the sun, many different species of fish splashed in its water. And when the stars lit up in the sky, and the Moon appeared, the lunar path ran along the water surface of the lake; in this lake lived the Water King.

Not far from the lake, on one of the hills, stood a magnificent old castle. Beautiful towers, turrets, spiers of this castle were reflected in the water of this lake. Many generations have changed in this castle during the life of the water king. But one day he saw a young, beautiful girl with golden, lush hair, with eyes bluer than the waters of the lake, skin whiter than snowy mountains.

It was Nymphi, the daughter of the owner of the castle. Seeing her, the Water King felt his loneliness for the first time. But how do you get close to her? After all, only a light small cloud of gray fog could cling to the windows of the castle - this was his real appearance. And he could only move into a snag or a dead one. One day he heard that a ball was being prepared in the castle, at which Nymphia was to choose a groom.

On that day, clinging to the windows of the castle, he looked with longing as the elegant guests who arrived had fun, danced - music was playing in the castle. And when dusk came, he saw that a strange horseman had appeared on the road to the castle. He was sitting on a horse, for some reason back to front, muttering something indistinctly. True, he was young and handsome, rather elegantly dressed, and his horse was thoroughbred. When the rider, having driven the spur into the horse, made him soar, the horse threw him to the ground. The young man groaned, but soon subsided.

The water king felt sorry for this man, he leaned over him. A few moments later, a young, handsome Stranger entered the castle hall. The music stopped instantly, and the room fell silent. And suddenly his ironic imperious voice was heard: “why is the music not playing?”. And the musicians, without even asking the permission of the owner of the castle, began to play.

The guests made way for the stranger as he went to invite the Nymphs to the dance. All evening they danced alone, no one dared to enter the circle. “I will show you the whole world,” the Stranger whispered to the charming Nymph. Further, this legend about the Water Lily says that in the morning both disappeared, and no one ever saw them again. And on the blue-blue lake, from time to time, capsules and water lilies began to appear. The locals said that it was the Water King and the Nymphs who visited this lake again.

Since the growing conditions of aquatic plants, as well as those that need wet soil at a certain period, are very different from the living conditions necessary for plants grown on normal garden soils, it is clear that only certain types of crops can be used for landscaping coastal areas. . They are divided into three main groups: marsh, moisture-loving and water.

swamp plants

Shallows, swamps and wet banks of streams, lakes and small ponds are an ideal place for "settlement" with beautiful marsh flora. Its most famous representative is marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), which blooms in April-May. It forms long, rising up to 20-50 cm stems with wide kidney-shaped leaves and yolk-yellow pentate flowers. This plant is planted so that it is immersed in silt or has up to 5 cm of water above its roots. In horticultural practice, magnificent terry marigold crops with golden yellow flowers are more common - Caltha palustris "Multiplex".

The marsh calla (Calla palustris) belongs to the group of low-growing marsh plants. This plant, 15-30 cm high, with heart-shaped leaves on long petioles, grows in silt or places with low water levels. Its long flower-bearing stems end in inflorescences, in which the stipule is white with a greenish underside, and the flowers themselves are collected in short yellow-green cobs. Ripe calla fruits - poisonous coral-red berries - look very impressive.

An interesting perennial plant is the three-leaf watch, or tripol (Menyanthes trifoliata). It reaches 20-30 cm in height, has trifoliate ovate leaves on long stems and blooms profusely in May-June with white or pink flowers collected in clusters. The layer of water above the roots of the watch should not exceed 30 cm.

It is very decorative due to the peculiarity of the leaves of the arrowhead, which is also called volodushka, umbrella susak, marsh euphorbia (Sagittaria sagittifolia). This plant is 30-60 cm tall, characterized by characteristic arrow-shaped leaves on long petioles, and its white flowers appearing already in June-July are collected in rare whorls. The green round fruits of the arrowhead are also beautiful. This plant is suitable for planting in places where the water depth is between 5-40 cm.

There are quite a few tall marsh plants. So, umbrella butomus (Butomus umbellatus), 50-90 cm in height, is distinguished by dense leaves resembling iris leaves. Its stem, up to one and a half meters long, ends with an umbrella made up of reddish-white or dark-colored flowers. The plant is planted at a depth of water within 10-20 cm.

Another well-known inhabitant of the swamps is the iris, or iris iris (Iris pseudacorus), 80-100 cm in height. This powerful plant with juicy green xiphoid leaves blooms in June with bright yellow flowers. It loves swampy soil, but it can also develop on normal, moderately moist garden soil, although at the same time it can withstand such conditions when there is a 5-30 cm layer of water above the roots.

No less famous is the common calamus, or tortilla (Acorus calamus). This plant is 60 to 120 cm tall with xiphoid leaves with a thick longitudinal rib in the middle. The fleshy and aromatic calamus rhizome has medicinal properties. It blooms modestly with small yellow-green flowers in June-July, grows well in muddy ground and on shallows, where the water layer is about 5 cm.

The common chastukha, or plantain, which is also called the shilnik (Alisma plantago-aquatica), has long petiolate and wide, spear-like leaves that form a rosette; from it grows a thick, branched shoot with white or pinkish flowers, gradually opening from June to September. This plant is approximately 80 cm high and is suitable for planting where the water depth is about 20 cm.

Broad-leaved cattail (Typha latifolia) reaches a height of 150-200 cm; It has long, upright, grey-green leaves. From August, this plant is decorated with dark brown cobs 10-30 cm long, which are often used to decorate vases in winter. Due to its large size, cattail cattail is grown only in large reservoirs, where the water depth is about 50 cm. attention to yourself with beautiful small cobs - “cigars”. This culture is also suitable for shallow ponds, where the water depth does not exceed 20 cm; it can be planted in the immediate vicinity of the water, along the shore.

Caltha palustris "Alba" is a marsh marigold with white flowers native to the Himalayas. In gardens, it is used in the same way as C. palustris; this plant is not so tall, it has smaller leaves and begins to bloom earlier

Of the ornamental grasses suitable for constantly or periodically wet places with shallow water, as well as for shallow ponds, manna (Glyceria maxima) deserves attention. In gardens, its elegant yellow and white striped variety "Variegata" is more common, 80 cm high. This plant loves sunny, warm and at the same time humid places.

Moisture-loving plants

Near lakes and pools, many beautifully flowering perennials can be grown in normal garden soil. However, for normal development, these plants need to be thoroughly watered. The most beautiful of them is considered, for example, Kaempfer's iris - Iris kaempfeh. There are several varieties of it, distinguished by characteristic properties, with pure white, pinkish, blue and deep purple flowers, an unusual, almost exotic appearance that always attracts attention.

From other perennials, Siberian or grass-leaved irises (Iris), various primroses (Primula), astilbe (Astilbe), tradescantia (Tradescantia), various orches (Orchis), perennial forget-me-nots (Myosotis), sedges (Cagex), cornflowers ( Thalictrum), krasnodnevy (Hemerocalis), black cohosh (Cimicifuga), meadowsweet, or meadowsweet (Filipendula), and many other hardy perennials.

water plants

The most popular typically aquatic plants are undoubtedly water lilies, or water lilies. Water lily (Nymphaea) is a genus with many species and varieties that have been worked on by more than one generation of breeders. Now there are varieties with simple, semi-double and double flowers, characterized by a rich range of shades: from white, yellow, pink to copper red and purple. Their round or ellipsoid glossy green leaves of various sizes also look very decorative. They usually float on the surface of a body of water.

All water lilies love warm standing water and sun, but some species can tolerate cool environments as well. There are also those that develop well in running, slowly flowing water. However, the requirements for the depth of water for individual species are very different: in the range from 20 to 150 cm. This is an important point when choosing crops for a particular reservoir.

Planted water lilies grow over time; they bloom from June to September. In order for the plant to bloom well every year, it is recommended that after about four years, taking it out of the water, divide it and at the same time change the land.

In addition to water lilies, other plants are bred in reservoirs, rooting deep at the bottom and needing a higher layer of water above their roots. The leaves of such plants and their flowers rise above the surface of the water or float. They, like water lilies, keep the pond clean by limiting the growth of algae.

Large leaves of the yellow pod (Nuphar lutea) lie on the surface of the water, yellow flowers growing separately rise above it. Caps bloom in June-July no earlier than the third year after planting. They can be planted at a depth of 40-200 cm.

Aponogeton (Aponogeton distachyus) has floating leaves and fragrant forked white flowers with black anthers. This plant blooms in spring and autumn. It develops at a depth of 10-45 cm.

Some plants do not take root at the bottom, but float on the surface and sink to the bottom only by autumn, where they overwinter in silt. They grow very quickly, violently, so from time to time they have to be taken out, sorted out, adjusting their number. Such plants include common watercress (Hydrocharis morsusranae), three-furrowed duckweed (Lemna trisulca), small duckweed (Lemna minor) and aloe-like telorez (Stratiotes aloides).

Selection of plants for the reservoir

To achieve a more natural look of aquatic vegetation, a garden pond or pool is best "populated" with crops of different sizes. At the same time, it must be remembered that all of them should cover no more than one third of the total area of \u200b\u200bthe water surface, otherwise the feeling of water will disappear, and some kind of greenish carpet of not very clear origin will remain.

You should never plant too many different species, even in a large body of water. It is better to repeat the already existing interesting compositions in different versions, as nature itself does.

In reservoirs, both natural and artificial, it is quite common to find aquatic plants in which leaves of various shapes and sizes float on the surface of the water. Under the rays of the sun on the water surface of the reservoir, they form a colorful mosaic carpet. These plants include:

Water lily, Nymphaeum (white water lily);
Water lily small, tetrahedral;
Pod grass-like or multi-leaved;

In addition, capsules and water lilies take root well at the bottom of reservoirs. These plants growing in them can be judged by the depth of water bodies. So, the egg capsule takes root at a depth of a reservoir up to 2.5 m; water lily - up to 2 m. In artificial reservoirs for growing water lilies, the depth can be 75-100 cm.

The Water Lily family is common in the water bodies of Asia, Africa, the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere at a depth of 30-90 cm. This aquatic herbaceous plant has reddish stems, a powerful rhizome, the thickness of which is 5-8 cm, length is about 1 m, greenish above, whitish below.

From the rhizome, located at the bottom of the reservoir, the petioles of the leaves and pedicels of the Yellow Caps grow. In winter, it stores the reserves of nutrients necessary for the formation of leaves and flowers of this plant for the next year. In addition, the rhizome, like other parts of the yellow capsule, has air channels through which the oxygen necessary for breathing enters the underwater organs of the plant.

The leaves of the yellow capsule are of two types: underwater - translucent, wavy along the edge, heart-shaped arrow-shaped. Floating on the water surface - entire leaves of aquatic plants with trihedral long petioles of dark green color, shiny, leathery, dense, 20 cm long.

The fruit is a fleshy multi-seeded, ovoid-conical pitcher. Propagated yellow capsule by seeds and vegetatively. It grows well on silty or on soil containing a mixture of peat, humus, clay soil. Plants prefer a well-warmed, sunny location of the reservoir. It should be noted that the yellow capsule must be protected, since intensive collection of its beautiful flowers brings great harm to it. So, in many reservoirs, the hollow disappearance of this colorful plant was observed.

The Water Lily family is common in water bodies of the forest zone from Western to Eastern regions of Russia at a depth of 0.5-1.5 m. This aquatic herbaceous plant is much smaller in size than the Yellow Capsule, the rhizome of which is about 1 cm. The leaves are emersed, oblong-ovate, floating , rise above the water, rather pubescent below. The length of the leaves is 15 cm, the width is 11 cm. The flowers are small, the diameter of which is 2-3 cm, with golden yellow petals.

Despite the fact that this plant contains poisonous substances (alkaloids, nymphein and nyufarina), many wild animals, such as elk, water rat, muskrat, beaver and even bear and otter feed on this plant. Waterfowl also like to feast on the seeds of small capsules. In America, the small egg-pod is considered a highly nutritious food and protective plant for some valuable fish species.

Family Water lilies, common in Europe and the Caucasus. It is believed that water lilies appeared in the water bodies of the Earth much earlier than the egg capsules, that is, during the Paleocene period (about 60 million years ago). This is a perennial herbaceous stemless plant with a rather thick rhizome lying at the bottom of the reservoir. The rhizome is dark brown in color, covered with the remains of leaf petioles; leaves of aquatic plants are floating, on the water surface, large, round-oval, glossy. Leaves are dark green above and reddish purple below.

The fruit of the Water Lily is a fleshy multi-seeded, has the shape of a wide vessel. The plant reproduces by seeds and vegetatively. The water lily is unpretentious to soils, therefore its dense thickets are found on silty, clay, sandy, peat lands. For its cultivation in artificial reservoirs, a thick layer of silt or nutritious clay soil is poured onto the bottom.

The plant is not demanding to light, so its thickets can develop well in the shade of tall air-water plants. It is especially worth noting that the Water Lily, Nymphaeum is very sensitive to injury, so these beautiful flowers should not be plucked. The plant may die and disappear forever from water bodies.

The Kuvshinkov family is distributed in the forest zone of North-Eastern Europe, Siberia, the Far East and North America. The differences that water lilies have are small water lilies - floating leaves and flowers (whose diameter is 4-6 cm) are much smaller than those of Nymphea water lilies, the rhizome is much thinner.

However, the feeding value of this plant for small animals is great, since it grows precisely in the northern regions where the Nymphaeum water lily cannot grow.

Varieties of water lilies are also known: Pure white water lily (pure white flowers, diameter 6-10 cm); Water lily pink (pink flowers, 10-15 cm in diameter).

Family Rogulnikovye, distributed in the south of Europe, in the south of Siberia, in the Far East. This annual herbaceous aquatic plant has a long underwater stem, on the lower nodes of which there are filiform roots that attach the water chestnut to the ground.

The local population consumes it as a delicacy. The water chestnut is interesting in that sometimes for a while it can turn into: this happens when the water level in the reservoir can rise sharply so that the stem of the plant cannot reach the bottom of the reservoir. However, if the water in the reservoir subsides or, like a free-floating plant, the water chestnut swims to shallow water, its stem will take root again in the soil of the bottom of the reservoir. Recently, the water chestnut is found less and less every year, therefore it is subject to protection. Listed in the Red Book.

Family Rdestovye, distributed in the lakes of Western Siberia. It is a rhizomatous, fast growing plant. It has two types of leaves: floating and underwater. Floating - wide oval, greenish, with a wax coating, which are well kept on the water surface due to the presence of air-bearing tissue and channels in them.

The underwater leaves of aquatic plants are narrow-lanceolate, rather densely covering the stem submerged in water. They die off long before the plant begins to bloom. The flowers are small, pink, collected in inflorescences in the form of an ear, rise above the water surface. The plant blooms in June-July.

Family Pdestaceae, distributed in the temperate zone of Eurasia and North America. This perennial rhizomatous plant has thin, strongly branched stems. Leaves of two types: underwater and floating. Underwater - numerous, lanceolate, translucent, form the main vegetative mass. Grassy pondweed - aquatic plants with floating leaves, in shape and structure, which resemble the leaves of floating pondweed.

Chastukhovye family, distributed in the European part of Russia, the stern of the Arctic. It is a perennial aquatic plant with a thick, large tuberous rhizome. It has thick, erect stems, much longer than the leaves. The leaves of Chastukha are of two types: floating and surface.

The Water Lily family is common in the Ussuri Territory, India, Japan, and China. It is an annual, stemless aquatic plant. The leaves are long-leaved, arrow-shaped in a young plant. At a later time, they are round-oval, leathery, reaching 130 cm in diameter. The underside of the leaves of aquatic plants is slightly pubescent, purple-purple in color; upper - green, naked. It has strongly protruding veins, on which numerous spikes are located.

The plant is remarkable in that its leaves have numerous bulges. Air bubbles accumulate under them, thanks to which the floating plants of Euryale are held on the surface of the water surface of the reservoir.

Seed propagation of aquatic plants with floating leaves

Water lily fruits that are under water are cut off with a hook. The collected fruits and spikelets are placed on the bottom of the boat, covered with wet moss or damp burlap to prevent them from drying out. They are then placed in baskets or boxes with holes and dipped in water to ripen. After 7-12 days, the seeds of these plants are completely freed from the shells of the fruits, from the spikelets, from the mucus, that is, they are ready for sowing.

Seeds of pods and water lilies scatter from a boat or from the shore. They descend on the muddy soil of a pre-surveyed reservoir. Seedlings appear next spring, and a year later the plants bloom.

Seeds of Rdestov are rolled into lumps of clay and lowered into clay soil, the layer of which is 10-15 cm, to a depth of 40-90 cm; on clay - with sand content, to a depth of 30-90 cm.

Seeds of Chastukha, Alysma sown during the summer in open water, silty soil to a depth of 7-10 cm.

Euryal seeds frighteningly freed from the shells of fruits and mucus, they are sown in the muddy soil of a reservoir with a depth of up to 1.3 m.

Water chestnut is propagated by fruits , one plant of which produces 10-15 fruits. During harvesting, its fruits are placed in damp moss to protect them from drying out, since dry fruits completely lose their germination capacity. It has been noticed that in the silt the fruits of the water chestnut can be preserved up to 10 years, while germination is not lost. The fruits of the water chestnut are planted in shallow, sun-warmed reservoirs with muddy soil to a depth of 0.6-1 m.

Vegetative propagation of aquatic plants with floating leaves

In a vegetative way, that is, by dividing the rhizomes, the capsules, water lilies, pondweeds, Chastukha, Alisma are propagated. To do this, the rhizomes of these plants from the bottom of the reservoirs, from the boat are hooked with a hook and removed to the surface. Then they are cut with a knife into cuttings 20-25 cm long so that each cutting contains buds (“eyes”) and root bundles. Having tied a load to the cuttings (it can be gravel, gravel, pieces of brick), they are immersed in the water of the reservoir. In this case, the cuttings of rhizomes should remain on the surface of the soil.

Shanks of capsules and water lilies planted in the muddy soil of the reservoir to a depth of 0.6-1.2 m. in natural - to a depth of 15 cm. It should be noted that for planting cuttings of the rhizomes of these plants, you can use the West thermal season. However, the best time is spring and the first half of summer.

Legends and sayings about capsules and water lilies

Legend 1 (about the white water lily). The scientific name of the Kuvshinkov family (Nymph) was apparently given in honor of the beautiful white-faced young Nymph with a shock of golden hair, living in a forest lake. At night, sinking to the bottom of the lake, she slept peacefully. And in the morning, having risen to the surface of the water, she washed herself with dew from coastal plants. Her life flowed calmly surrounded by dryads and naiads in the midst of picturesque nature.

Legend 2 (about Mermaids and Water Lilies). Apparently, the myths about Mermaids appeared among the Slavs because of the ability of water lily flowers to sink into water. These pale-faced, slender beauties loved on moonlit nights, sitting on stones, stumps on the shores of a forest lake, combing their long flowing, moonlit hair. And when they saw random belated travelers, they caught them and dragged them into their water kingdom.

Legend 3 (Water lilies - amulets). The water lily (white water lily) was called in ancient Rus' Odolen-grass. It was believed that she was able to protect people traveling to distant lands. Therefore, a piece of its rhizome was put into an amulet and worn as an amulet. They also believed that the shepherd should wear its root so that his flock does not scatter. There was also a belief: "whoever begins to dislike you, and you want to dry him out, let the root eat."

Legend 4 (love story of the Water King and Princess Nymph). Admiring the capsules and water lilies, people composed legends about the origin of these amazingly beautiful plants. So, one Italian legend about the Water Lily says ......

A decorative pond is often associated with a decorated shoreline and water lilies, although in fact there are a huge variety of plants that can decorate and complement the water surface. Moreover, if you correctly select the “inhabitants” of a decorative pond, then the pond can become the highlight of a summer cottage that does not require constant care.

Plant oxygenators (underwater)

Almost all oxygenator plants do not perform decorative functions, but at the same time they are the most important "inhabitants" of the reservoir. After all, it is thanks to these plants that a decorative pond can remain clean and well-groomed without additional effort.

Often the leaves, flowers and stems of these plants are under water and only occasionally appear on the surface, so they are often called underwater. The purpose of "underwater lifeguards" is to absorb carbon dioxide and normalize the oxygen balance in their habitat.

The most popular representatives of oxygen generators:

Autumn swamp

Autumn bog is a perennial herbaceous plant, which is partially or completely submerged in water, only small light green leaves are visible above the surface. The swamp propagates in spring or summer using cuttings.

Urut spiky

Urut spiky is a perennial aquatic herbaceous plant with thin branching stems of reddish or brown color. Urut reproduces very quickly and is able to displace other plants forming dense clusters.

Hornwort dark green

Dark green hornwort is a long-stemmed plant with green needle-like leaves and a reddish stem. The hornwort grows very quickly and at the same time it is very unpretentious. Propagated by simple division of the stem, it is enough to take a very small piece.

Plants floating on the surface

A characteristic feature of floating plants is the leaves and stems that float on the surface of the water. These plants are an indispensable protection from the sun, they prevent the development of blue-green algae and help create a stable temperature regime in an ornamental pond.

In addition to "rescue" functions, plants living on the surface perform decorative functions. As a rule, these plants have beautiful broad leaves and bright showy flowers.

The most popular representatives of these species:

Azolla

Azolla is a beautiful water plant of the floating fern genus. Its small paired leaves float on the surface of the water, forming large colonies, which in the warm season can grow to a significant size in just a few weeks.

Vodokras

Vodokras is a perennial plant with creeping stems and medium-sized white flowers. Sand or fine silted gravel 4-5 cm thick is suitable as a soil for water paint. This perennial propagates by planting seeds and rhizome segments. It is recommended to plant it in an unshaded place or in partial shade.

water chestnut

Water chestnut or chilim is a fairly rare annual water plant today, listed in the Red Book. Propagation and planting are very simple - just throw chilim nuts into the required place with a suitable depth. If there is not enough fertile soil in the reservoir, then the nuts are planted in containers, and then drowned. An important condition for the existence of an aquatic plant is the absence of large mollusks that eat the leaves of the hornwort.

Wolfia

Wolfia is one of the smallest flowering plants, characterized by green elliptical formations (no more than 1 mm in diameter). This small plant needs good light, but at the same time it must be protected from direct sunlight. Wolfia is not picky about temperature and water hardness, but needs little water movement.

Duckweed

Duckweed, along with reeds, is one of the most common aquatic plants. Duckweed looks like a cluster of small leaves floating on the surface of the water. Duckweed lives in well-lit stagnant or slowly flowing water bodies. Of care, only the periodic capture of a part of the duckweed population should be singled out, since it grows very quickly. Duckweed reproduces vegetatively and, as mentioned above, very quickly.

water hyacinth

Water hyacinth is a flowering aquatic plant distinguished by large oval-shaped leaves and large inflorescences slightly similar to garden hyacinth flowers. The water hyacinth prefers waters with good lighting and high water temperatures due to its tropical origin. Under good living conditions, it can multiply so quickly that it begins to displace other plants from the reservoir, leaving them without oxygen.

deep sea plants

Most of these plants feel great when planted to a depth of 2 meters. The best option for cultivating deep-sea plants is to plant them in special containers that are placed at the bottom of the reservoir. When choosing suitable flowers, one should take into account the frost resistance of the plant; this or that flower will be able to overwinter in a decorative pond.

Lotus

Lotus is an incredibly beautiful herbaceous amphibian plant that can grow for several years thanks to its massive root, in which it accumulates nutrients. The lotus owes its popularity to large cream, yellow or pink flowers.

Lotus can be propagated both by seeds and rhizome. Moreover, in the second case, the lotus may bloom the next season. When planting a lotus, it should be remembered that this flower loves clean water, so it is better to sprinkle the bottom of the reservoir with small pebbles and do not forget about periodically cleaning the water. In the spring, if the lotus has grown, it must be cut off, first of all, removing old and dying flowers and leaves.

Aponogeton

Aponogeton is a widespread rhizomatous aquatic plant with large lanceolate leaves. For development and inconspicuous flowering, this plant requires a water temperature in the reservoir of at least 18 ° C, so it is often planted directly into the water directly in pots, and in the fall they are taken to the basement for wintering.

small egg

The pod is an ornamental aquatic plant in the water lily family. This type of water lily has a powerful root system, so the soil layer at the bottom of the reservoir must be at least 7 cm. For full growth, the egg pod needs two more things: good lighting and clean water. It is advisable to change the water at least 1-2 times a month if it is an artificial reservoir, or install water purification filters and cover the bottom with pebbles to reduce the amount of turbidity in the water.

Nymphaenik

Nymphaeum or marsh flower is a perennial deep-water plant that stands out for its height, which depends on the water level in the reservoir and can reach one meter. Flowers and green leaves resembling a water lily develop on a long stem. The flowers of the marsh flower are more like buttercups and are collected in small brushes. The nymphaeum gives its preference to quiet, illuminated backwaters and shallow reservoirs.

Shelkovnik

The mulberry belongs to the buttercup family and is often found in standing or slow-flowing bodies of water. In artificial reservoirs, it is often used to enrich the water with oxygen, in addition, it adapts quite easily to life on land, which makes it very popular. Silkworm reproduces vegetatively using stem segments.

coastal plants

In order for the reservoir not to stand out from the general design of the summer cottage, it is necessary to take care of a smooth transition between water and land, for this it is necessary to select plants that will decorate the coastal line and help ensure oxygen access under the ice crust in winter.

Bolotnik

Perennial aquatic plant, very hardy. The stems are immersed in water, thin, curved, branched. It grows in lakes, rivers and canals, prefers stagnant or slowly flowing water, but can also live on waterlogged soil - damp hollows and periodically flooded areas.

The swamp is very unpretentious. Light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy clay soils are suitable for cultivation. It needs a well-lit place, but on very hot days the plant can be shaded. For good growth, the depth of the soil when planting should be at least 15-20 cm.

water pine

As a predominantly swamp plant, the water pine grows well in shallow water, but can also grow completely underwater. This plant is very unpretentious and winter-hardy. As a rule, it is planted in growth limiters or in containers with any soil that can be submerged to a depth of 1 m. It grows equally well both in the sun and in the shade.

Iris

Some moisture-loving species of the genus Iris can grow in close proximity to water bodies. They are able to grow in shallow water and in the coastal zone on excessively moistened soils. Most of them grow successfully when the rhizomes and lower parts of the stems are immersed in water. Moisture-loving species include Kaempfer's Iris and Siberian Iris.

Marsh marigold

Marsh marigold is a beautiful primrose of bright yellow, orange or golden colors with a fleshy stem. The plant is very fond of well-moistened soil, so it is ideal for planting near water bodies. In care, the marigold is very unpretentious: any fertile soil, almost any lighting is suitable for it (partial shade is preferable). The marigold propagates by dividing the bush.

cattail

Cattail is one of the most common and unpretentious perennial aquatic plants of the sedge family. Cattail is planted in shallow water, propagation is usually carried out in early spring by dividing the rhizome. After planting, the plant requires abundant watering and good lighting.

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