Hobby gardeners often wonder whether they should plant their aquatic plants in baskets and put them in the pond that way. The answer is yes, it makes sense. This guide tells you why and why!
Baskets make pond cleaning easier
Good reasons for planting aquatic plants in baskets
Planting aquatic plants in baskets is good and helpful for several reasons:
- Stop aquatic plants with a strong urge to spread
- make cleaning your pond easier and more convenient
- Protect sensitive roots of aquatic plants from being caught by fish
Prevent proliferation
Planting in a basket is advisable, especially for aquatic plants that have a strong urge to spread (e.g. reed, broad-leaved cattail, canary grass).
If you plant such varieties directly in the pond, it can happen that they overgrow the water oasis after just a few years. This can be avoided with baskets.
facilitate pond cleaning
From time to time, of course, your garden pond also needs to be cleaned (or patched up). It is of great advantage if you only have to remove the baskets. For one thing, it's much faster to just reach for the baskets; on the other hand, this procedure is much gentler on the aquatic plants, since they are protected in their "housing" and cannot be damaged.
Protect roots from fish
Speaking of being protected: aquatic plants also benefit greatly from living in baskets in the pond. There their roots are much safer from the fish in the water oasis - although the animals also tend to dig in the baskets.
Tips for planting aquatic plants in baskets
The most important tips for planting aquatic plants in baskets at a glance:
- Use sturdy plastic baskets that are slightly larger than the root balls of the aquatic plants.
- Fill the baskets all around with pond soil. This is poorer in nutrients than normal potting soil. This is how you prevent algae growth.
- As an alternative or in addition to the pond soil, you can also use lime-free gravel or crushed clay granules (also to avoid algae). When putting together the substrate, always focus on what the respective plants need.
- If you have a koi pond, you should lay coarse gravel on top of the base layer (soil, gravel, clay granules). The cover prevents the fish from digging the roots out of the baskets.