Aquatic plants

A great selection of aquatic plants for your pond

Aquatic plants are plants that like to grow in water or boggy ground and can be purchased from specialist nurseries. This is just a small selection of plants that are available for your pond. Don’t get carried away when planting, plant a few and see how they grow and then if needed, add a few more.

Oxygenating plants

This type of plant oxygenates the pond water to ensure the survival of pond life.

Common water moss (Fontinalis antipyretic)

Common water moss, also known as greater water moss, will grow in sun or shade and is slow-growing, so it won’t take over your pond. Your fish will love it, as it makes a good spawning habitat too.

Water milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum)

Water milfoil is good for small ponds has long stems of feathery green leaves, providing oxygen for your pond fauna. It has small red buds opening into white flowers in June/July, held just above the waterline.

Floating pondweed (Potamogeton natans)

Floating pondweed is better suited for larger ponds, as it can spread fairly quickly. It has floating oval-shaped leaves and slim submerged leaves, producing a spike of flowers in summer.

Floating plants

Frogbit (Hydrocharis morsus-ranae)

Frogbit leaves that look like very small water lily leaves, producing small white flowers in summer. It likes the sun and the water must be deep enough to prevent the buds for freezing in the winter.

Water soldier (Stratiotes aloides)

Water soldier is an upright, spiky leaved plant that needs at least 30cm of water to float on. White flowers are seen in mid to late summer and come the winter the plant sinks to the bottom, to rise again next spring. Older plants tend not to survive the winter very well.

Aquatic plants - over 30cm depth of water

Water plantain (Alisma plantago-aquatica

Water plantain has rhizomes producing a rosette of green leaves, followed by fronds of small white flowers in late spring. Deadheading is essential to prevent water plantain shedding seed and choking your pond.

Water hawthorn (Aponogeton distachyos)

Water hawthorn has white forked flowers with a scent in summer, from submerged tubers and spear-shaped leaves. It may have hawthorn in its name but there are no sharp spikes.

Water lily (Nymphaea)

Water lilies come in a wide range of planting depths, colours (white, pinks, yellows and purple), varying numbers of petals and leaf sizes - plus some even have a scent. The large floating leaves provide shade for aquatic pond life and they help reduce green algae.

Aquatic plants - 15-30cm depth of water

Lesser spearwort (Ranunculus flammula)

Lesser spearwort is a small plant producing masses of small buttercup shaped flowers all summer. There is larger version Ranunculus lingua, Great Spearwort or Giant Spearwort, where the flowers are up to 50mm wide. It’s a member of the buttercup family.

Arum lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica)

Arum lilies look exotic, with arrowhead-shaped leaves and white leaf-like surround to a yellow spike of very small flowers in the spring and summer. It can get fairly tall (up to 1m) so position it carefully in your pond. There is a similar plant with a yellow spathe called Lysichiton americanus, or Skunk Cabbage, which as the name suggests has a slightly unpleasant smell!

Aquatic plants - 5-15cm depth of water

Flowering rush (Butomus umbellatus)

The flowering rush is a deciduous perennial that can grow up to 1m in height, with thin leaves followed by stems of rosy pink scented flowers in late summer. Flowering rushes like full sun.

Irises (Iris)

There are many different varieties of Iris that have sword-shaped leaves and stems. Depending on the variety the flowers vary in colours from white, blue, purple, rose, yellow or magenta. Some Irises like the water’s edge, while others need 15cm of water.

Golden club (Orontium aquaticum

Golden club will grow in deep mud or a basket at the edge of the pond, or water up to 60cm deep. Has long blue/green floating leaves, producing candle-like stems/flowers in spring and summer.

Bog/wet soil plants

Tufted sedge (Carex elata ‘Aurea’)

Carex elata ‘Aurea’ is a member of the sedge family. It looks like a grass and has bright yellow leaves edged with green, forming a mound up to 60cm. The flower spikes are dark brown.

Angel’s fishing rod (Dierama pulcherrimum)

Angel’s fishing rod has a mound of long leaves (1.5m) with arching stems rising above, carrying sprays of trumpet shaped deep pink flowers 5cm long in the summer. This is a great plant to have around your pond.

Giant rhubarb (Gunnera manicata)

Giant rhubarb is great if you have a large boggy area to plant up. It can grow 2m or more, with huge leaves carried on spiny stems and has rust coloured very small flowers on cone shaped spikes. It’s not for the faint hearted!

Chameleon plant (Houttuynia cordata)

Houttuynia cordata, or chameleon plant, is an evergreen plant grown for its leaf colour of green, cream and rusty red. This plant will spread, so needs to be kept in check.

Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi)

Ragged Robin is a perennial with thin stems and leaves, flowering in late spring to summer with finely-cut pink petals. Ragged Robin will grow in sun to dappled shade.

Water forget-me-not (Myosotis scorpioides)

Water forget-me-not is an untidy perennial to grow in sun or semi-shade, but has sky blue flowers with yellow centres all summer to make up for its unruly habit.