Cultivating Water Lilies and Water Plants

Wallis Creek Watergarden

www.walliscreekwatergarden.com.au

Water lilies are the most popular water plants for decorative water gardens and ponds. There is an exciting range of sizes and colours for many depths and growing conditions. Pygmy species can be grown in as little as 150 mm of water while large ones thrive at depths of a metre or more. (Water depth is measured above the plant crown) Lilies like lots of sunshine and should have at least 4 hours of direct sunlight a day. Colours range from white, through yellows and pinks to reds and deep purples.

Water lilies are divided into hardy and tropical types-

Hardy lilies grow in the temperate parts of Australia and can withstand the water freezing over in winter when they are dormant. They carry their flowers close to the water surface. The pygmy water lilies are in this group. Hardy lilies flower through spring and summer and are dormant in winter.

Tropical water lilies originate in the tropics but many can be grown in parts of Australia where there are warm summers. In temperate areas of Australia these lilies will die back to bulbs during the winter and can be grown in coastal areas as far south as Melbourne. Tropical lilies flower through Summer and into Autumn. Tropical lilies carry their flowers high out of the water.

Cultivating Lilies and Other Water Plants.

Lilies should be grown in still or slowly moving water but this can be anything from tiny tubs to huge lakes. Normally, in decorative growing of water lilies they are grown in containers so they can be moved, fed, divided, and repotted just like any other potted plant. They just grow in the water.

POTTING AND REPOTTING LILIES AND WATER PLANTS

Water lilies should be repotted, or fed at the beginning of the growing season each year for best growth and flowering. Water lilies are heavy feeders and need enough fertiliser to last the whole growing season. The directions below give a standard potting method for water lilies and plants.

1. Remove most of the dirt around the roots of the plant carefully and divide if necessary with a sharp knife.

2. Line the pot with newspaper or other material. This stops the soil seeping out of the bottom of the pot into the water.

3. Fill the pot approximately two thirds with a mix of some heavy loam and add about one tablespoon of fertiliser mixed into the lower two thirds of soil.

4. Place the plant in the pot on top of fertilised mix and surround and top up with some unfertilised soil.

5. Optionally cover the top with gravel, stones, or mesh, as some pond fish will dig up the lily roots.

6. If the lilies need feeding (this is apparent when mature leaves are small and the plant flowers less) but do not need repotting, place about a full teaspoon of fertilizer in some paper and bury it into the mud in the pot next to the roots.

We recommend using a mix of fertiliser that is equal parts Dynamic Lifter (or similar product), blood and bone, and Nutricote. If you cannot get all the components the Dynamic Lifter and blood and bone should be adequate.

When starting lilies in farm dams or very large ponds where they are released to grow in a soil base, mix the fertiliser and soil as above but place the plant and soil inside hessian cloth or other organic material tied around the plant crown, instead of a pot. Just drop it in within a suitable depth range. The soil inside will feed the plant until the material rots and roots make their way into the soil.

Other emergent and even bog plants are potted in the same way. Just water depth varies.

FISH

Fish are an essential part of your water garden, needed to keep the water free from insects that eat plants (cadis fly larvae) or those that attack humans (mosquito larvae). However, if you want your plants to do well, avoid Koi Carp as these fish will dig up your plants and dirty the water.

HAPPY GARDENING

And remember, you can always ring for advice on (02) 49 380 230

For further information, contact details and our online mail order catelogue go to

www.walliscreekwatergarden.com.au