Marginal plants provide a visual transition from land to water.
Aquatic plants add interest to a pond and provide a living environment for the tiny creatures that call it home. Coupled with floating and partially submerged species, marginal plants grow along the edges of a pond, ease the eye toward the surface of the water and complete the statement you are making with a water feature. Plants such as submersed grasses and delicate ferns trail and ripple through the water at a pond's edge, creating interest just below the water line.
Plant Types
Aquatic plants, including marginal species, are categorized by where they grow in a pond environment and how their leaves behave. The leaves of floating plants provide shade, while submerged plants give off oxygen important to the survival of fish and other aquatic creatures. Marginal plants create a border around the edge of a pond, and provide contrast to other lower-growing plants. The leaves of plants such as pondweed are thin and delicate and live underwater, while immersed leaves, such as those produced by reeds and cattails, exist above the water line. The thick leathery leaves of the familiar water lily plant are classified as floating. The roots of all aquatic plants are submerged.
Marginal Plant Types
Types of trailing marginal plants include Parrot Feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum), Water Zinnia (Wedelia trilobata), Crystal Confetti Pennywort (Hydrocotyle sibthropiodes), Chameleon Plant (Houttuynia cordata),and Water Forget-Me-Not (Myosotis scorpioides). The plants grow at the pond's edge, and spread by trailing along the soil line and into the first few inches of shallow water. Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) hangs from rocks and is useful for hiding pond liners.
Plant Function
Most aquatic wildlife exists at the edges of a pond or bog. The edges of the idea pond slope gently and gradually toward the deeper middle, creating as much area as possible to provide homes for dragonflies, water beetles, tadpoles and newts. The plants also provide a place for small creatures to lay eggs and feed. Marginal aquatic plants such as water lettuce and water hyacinth produce trailing roots that act as water filters in a pond or water feature. The roots also absorb the nutrients that could contribute to excessive algae bloom in the pond water. Both plants multiply rapidly and can quickly become invasive.
Considerations
Trailing marginal pond plants behave much like ground-cover plants used on dry land to camouflage unsightly areas. They creep and trail across rocks or rough uneven pond edges where the soil would otherwise be visible, softening the effect and enhancing the pond's beauty with their reflection in the water's surface. Many marginal plants, such as water lettuce, are easy to propagate simply by planting sections of them into the mucky soil along the edges of the pond.
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