Entretien et conseils
suivant les saisons

Plant life   Should you plant straight into the soil or in special baskets?  The advantage of the baskets is that you have better control over the development of your plants. You can also move them around, change their depths and their general upkeep is made easier.   A culture planted straight into the ground (20 cm at the bottom of the pond) will enhance the plants development. For example, the water lilies will have more beautiful flowers. On the other hand, it will much harder to keep the root expansion in check, and the upkeep will be more difficult.   Do not forget the golden rule: a water garden will be biologically balanced if its vegetated surface does not exceed 60%. We will list in order of importance (usefulness) and preference the following plants :   - Submerged plants   * Elodea Canadensis or Canadian Elodea: is an excellent oxygenating and cleaning plant. It floats freely on the surface.   * Ceratophyllum demersum or Hornwort: free floating oxygenating and filtrating perennial plant.   - Plants with floating leaves   * The hardy type nymphea or water lilies need a lot of sun and calm waters: no water fountain or water fall close by.  Their flowers are white, pink, yellow or red. Their roots, depending on the specie, should be at a depth of 30 cm to 1.20 m.   . From 5 to 40 cm under water,   * Aponogeton distachyus or water hawthorn: a perennial plant with white perfumed lowers from April to October, requires a semi-shaded exposure, is planted in small isolated groups.   - Plants with emerging leaves   . From 15 to 40 cm under water,   * The Caltha palustris or marsh marigold or Kingcup: a very decorative perennial plant with superb yellow-gold flowers from June to May.   "The caltha palustris is an easy rustic plant which lightens-up your pond with its bright golden yellow flowers"   * The Pontederia cordata: a very pretty perennial plant with beautiful blue blooms from June to August. * The Butonmus umbellatus or the flowering rush: a very pretty perennial plant with pink flowers which bloom from June to August. * The Orontium aquaticum: a slow growing perennial plant with long white shoots whose extremities are bright yellow. It looks like lit candles. It flowers from March to June. * The Sagittaria Sagittafolia or duck potato or wapato: a calm water perennial plant with white flowers from June to August. * The Lobelia: a perennial plant with shiny leaves topped by grapes of flowers from June to October   The Lobelia Fulgens “Queen Victoria”. Height: 1 meter. Shiny purple foliage. . At 10 cm below water,   * The Iris pseudacorus or the yellow flag iris: they flower from June to July.     * The schizostylis coccinea or small water gladiolus: A perennial plant with pale pink or bright pink flowers from September to November.   - Hardy perennials in open ground around the pond   * The hosta: A plant which resist well to the cold. It is used to decorate the edges of the pond. White, blue or mauve coloured flowers blooms from May to September. * The houttuynia cordata or chameleon plant: a ground covering with white flowers from July to September (40 cm high, 30 cm wide) * The Petasitas hybridus : an ornamental plant with perfumed flowers from February to March ( 160 cm high, 60 cm wide) * The Astilbes or meadowsweet: come in a large number of varieties, different colours and hues and from 15 to 200 cm in height. Avoid the full sun exposure.   * The rhododendron and azalea: beautiful bushes to plant in shaded or semi shaded areas; they flower from April to July depending on the variety. (30 cm to 3meters high)     The plants listed above are only examples among many available varieties. These plants are numerous you’ll never be short of pretty assortments; you can blend varieties and colours to your heart’s content!  Some advice:   How do you get clear water? All you need is to have enough oxygenating and filtrating plants. Les Elodea Canadensis and the ceratophyllum demersum are good oxygenating plants. The hydrocotyles vulgaris and the myriophyllum proserpinacoides are interesting as filtrating plants. These absorb the particles the algae use to feed and grow.  Ornamental shrubs The Japanese maple is especially decorative and is good for small gardens. It is really beautiful around a pond.  Why not be original and plant it in a half barrel? This container must be treated to prevent rot and wood worms. Then its inside is lined with a cover, and finally a hole is punctured at the bottom for proper water evacuation. All you need to do is to fill it with earth and plant your tree in it.