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Planting The Garden Pond>Controlling GrowthFertilizersCompostWhen to PlantPlanting the TropicalsPlanting in Shallow WaterMovable receptacles also have the advantage of controlling growth. Water-lilies, in their many varieties, are much like people. Some are shy and retiring; some bold, ambitious, and ruthless, and the strong crowd out the weak in Short order if they are not restrained. The most practical way of keeping a strong, prolific water-lily in check is by planting it in a container where you can limit the food supply and tl1US prevent overzealous spreading. For a weaker species, you can keep soil and fertilizer in one spot where roots will have exclusive access to it. Boxes are a great help also when you set out the tropical water-lily seedlings you have developed indoors during the winter. Turned loose in a pool with all assortment of adult plants, the seedlings can be quickly overwhelmed. REGULATING DEPTH The ideal water depth for lilies in a pool ranges from 2 to 3 inches for some varieties to 2 to 3 feet for others. A single species-particularly a tropical seedling-will do far better if, in early stages of growth, it passes through increasing depths by progressive stages. Placing a planting box in the water at the exact depth you want is quite easy. Simply prop it up at the desired height with bricks. As the season moves on and growth progresses, you can increase the depth gradually by pulling out one layer of bricks at a time. (See Drawing 21.) Planting Boxes, Buckets, Tubs (Drawing 21)
Water-lilies can be planted in much the same kind of container you use for your porch flowers-with one exception. Because of the tremendous growth they make in a season, water-lilies require quite a bit more soil and fertilizer. Even the shy ones are voracious, and the more luxuriant the foliage and bloom, it seems, the healthier the appetite. At this point, I think it would be a good thing to mention that the tremendous blooms pictured in water-lily catalogs are not exaggerations. Flowers will attain the near unbelievable size the dealers claim DISHPAN CEDAR PLANTING PAIL WHITE CEDAR PLANTING TUB
PLANTING BOX SHALLOW PLANTING BOX
they will, provided plants are set out and fed according to directions. So give them plenty of sunlight, plenty of soil, and plenty of fertilizer. Don't cheat water-lilies on their food allowance and they won't cheat you on bloom. The ideal container is about 18 inches square and 10 inches deep, although, if you must, you can get by with something a little smaller-say a cubic foot of earth. Anything larger than 2 by 2 feet by 10 inches deep is a waste of space. As for strength, any container will do that will hold together well enough for you to move it about and take it out of the pool occasionally. SOIL It is important to start with proper soil, since the basic food for both hardy and tropical water-lilies is good, firm garden loam which you should enrich in ways which we will discuss later. Starting with a poor soil, and trying to build it up with fertilizer, does not work out well. In light or weak soil, regardless of how well it is fertilized, water-lily growth will go into foliage. Swamp muck, although it may look black and rich enough to grow hair on an egg, will not do. Actually, there is very little nutritive material in muck. What there is will very likely be in the form of only partially decomposed vegetation. As decomposition is completed in the pool, gases are produced and the muck turns sour, fouling the water and creating an unhealthy environment for goldfish. River mud cannot be used for the same reason. Leafmold, although it contains plant food, will foul a pool as it decomposes. Heavy clays are very good for water-li1ies since they contain potash. However, they cannot be used unless well mixed with lighter soil or sand, for it is difficult for lily roots to penetrate solid clay absorb food from it. I would emphasize again the importance of starting with the best possible soil, which an experienced water gardener will tell you is either a good fibrous loam or garden soil fertilized as I suggest below. In lighter soils, growth will go to leaves rather than into flowers. Continue to Fertilizers |
Planning Your Pond |
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