Floaters

The name sort of gives this plant away, yes a floater will float on top of the pond. The most common floaters are water lilies that always look great in any pond and provide shade for the fish.

There are other types of floater plant and we will have a look at a few here:

Fairy Moss and Duck weed are types of floater and ones that I would definitely avoid, once these buggers get hold they don’t let up. They spread very quickly and can form a blanket across any pond in a short space of time, this can starve the fish of oxygen. These are also very hard to get rid of once they have got hold. Herbicide spraying may help to get rid of these floaters although I am not sure if it will rid them for good, I have read some where before that there is a weevil that can be added to the pond that will have no effect on the rest of the pond but will rid it of the fairy Moss or Duck weed. I would just avoid these in the first place.

Frogbit is a floater and lovely they are too, Frogbit has three leaves with a white flower in the middle a bit like a small water Lilly. Although they are individually small they can multiply fairly quickly, but unlike the Fairy Moss are easy to clear.

Water Soldier is another lovely looking plant with long leaves that rise during the summer months and produce a flower in the middle of them, These can get quite big in size and again can tend to take over given the chance a great looking plant though.

Water Hyacinth produce beautiful lavender flowers in the summer months they are a great plant to have in a pond, these again can spread very rapidly, but if you keep them under control they not only look beautiful but are said to help keep the pond water free from nutrients that algae feed on which means indirectly they help keep the water clean and clear, sort of assisting the pond filtration system.

These are just a few floaters, a couple to avoid but some others that are really nice plants that will enhance any pond.

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