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Well, as the title implies, there's a lot of grass getting into my small pond and staining the water green and clogging the filter. I've tried to net it out but with the water the lovely grass green color it's somewhat difficult to get much. What I'd like to do is plant flowers or low lying plants around my pond to create some buffer space between the pond and grass. My brother also suggested a brick walkway around it. So I thought perhaps I could do both.either bricks then flowers around it, or flowers with bricks around. Any suggestions on plant types or links to making brick paths in the yard would be extremely helpful.
Thanks

This is a great idea, and I totally sympathize with grass and yard debris ending up in your pond. There are a whole lot of plants that remain low and bushy that would look good around a pond. I would cut the sod (the layer of dirt with the grass in it) away about a foot to a foot and a half around the pond. You can line the edges with small rocks, or stick bricks into the edge lengthwise so that half is in the ground and half sticks up forming a border.
You should determine what kind of soil you have and amend it appropriately (someone at a garden center can help you with this, but basically, you want soil with good drainage that is neutral PH to slightly acidic. Mix in some planting mix and peat moss, and some perlite if it's quite heavy). Then pick your plants. You'll need to figure out what planting zone you're in, and how much sun does your pond get (all shade, some sun, sun for how many hours?). These will determine the kinds of plants that would work best for you. If all you want is a low border, then consider carpet-forming plants like carpet phlox or a ground ivy. Or you could plant a variety of bushy flowers, but they will require higher maitenance, especially in the fall.
Once you've planted your plants, use a layer of mulch or decorative pebbles over the whole bed to keep weeds out and add that finishing touch.

There are a lot of websites out there for this type of garden, and for beginner gardens. You could also look for a magazine that has basic instructions for border gardens, or some will even have pond garden plans that may suit you.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

[font color="#800080"] As was mentioned it will depend on your soil conditions. A few groudcovers you might want to look into are vinca vine and english ivy. Both are considered invasive by some, so keep track of it. Vinca puts out lovely little blue purple flowers in the spring and throught the summer. English ivy is rather boring, but hardy and should be rather cheap.
If the pond is shaded, you might look into hosta lillies, they spread so single plants can be planted a few feet apart they'll love the moisture and nitrates from fish tanks and will fill in.
I'd love to see a combo of brick or stone work and plants that will set off the pond area from the rest of the yard.
[hr width='40%']"Buttons are NOT Toys!"[/font]

Thanks so much for your suggestions I will look into the plants you mentioned.

you could mow it all off and pave the surrounding to make a path

~elaine~

Have you finished yet?

Depending on laws where you live and if you have lots of large trees around, that have thick trunks.
Cut one tree and then into slices all the way down (removing the branches on some trees)place them to figure out where you want them, then dig a hole to make them flat into the ground.
Let the grass grow closest to the pond for shade along the sides. Then you have stepping stones as well. Kind of they are very slippery when wet

Angel Eel if you understand that


Last edited by angeleel at 04-Jul-2005 19:49