Container Water Garden

Container water garden is an excellent choice for avid gardeners who want to have a garden pond, but do not have space to construct one. Truly speaking, this form of gardening is similar to any form of container gardening, except that the former involves using a tub that can hold water for a prolonged period.

Do something new by growing this miniature aquatic garden, and you can make your gardening project a complete one by introducing attractive water plants.

The type of plants suited for this mini-aquatic garden depends on sunlight exposure, size of the container and many other factors. Floating aquatic plants and flowering plants require longer sunlight exposure than bog species. Select plants that grow well in combination to balance the ecosystem.

List of water container garden plants includes:

• Salvinia longifolia (giant velvet leaf)
• Yellow flag iris
• Parrot feather
• Fanwort
• Wild celery
• Anacharis

Some more plants have been illustrated further.

For a naturally balanced ecosystem, you can have snails and fish in container gardening project with water lilies and other aquatic plants. Choose a larger tub to avoid overcrowded effect. These aquatic organisms add interest and clean water, bringing a balance to aquatic garden. The supplies and tips for container water gardening are highlighted here.

Select a location carefully. Make sure the area is exposed to 4-6 hours of sunlight everyday for healthy growth of aquatic flowering plants. Once you fill water in the tub, it will be very heavy to lift. So, place them in an accessible, undisturbed location. You can keep the container plants in patios and decks, where they receive some morning sunlight.

Once you purchased the container and placed it in an ideal location, the next thing to do is fill water. It need not be filtered water or purified water. A simple idea is to take tape water in 2-3 buckets (or as per capacity of the chosen tub), and let them sit uncovered for 1-2 days.

This allows evaporation of chlorine, making it ideal for your container water garden plants. Fill the tub with this water, and you are ready for plant introduction.

Grow the emergent plants in individual small pots with heavy clayey soil. Place 2-3 pots in the larger container by maintaining adequate spaces. If the depth is higher, your emergent plants may submerge in water. For such a case, you can line the bottom of the pots with terracotta or bricks.

Finish off by adding submerged and floating plants. Follow basic aquatic plant care and give optimal light, or else your flowering plants will produce less blooms.

Indeed, container water gardening is the easiest way to enjoy the beauty of garden pond in a smaller version. Hoping that you replace evaporated water, feed plants regularly and provide adequate sunlight, it requires least maintenance. When winter comes, consider overwintering your miniature water garden.

You can bring the tub indoors, or if it is very heavy, transfer the plants and fish into another water filled container. With the arrival of spring, you can start the same container water garden again.