pond plants

Dear all

I, and others in a group at college have been given the task of tidying up
and replanting around and into the informal pond. Any suggestions?
The garden area does get a slight frost over the colder spells but basically
can be a suntrap. The pond has a liner although the surrounding ground is
pretty wet throughout the wetter months (all year). South west coastal area
of Scotland.

There are thousands of things you could do, here are a few off the top of my
head:
Don't use recovered sleepers, terribly fashionable this year, but next year
people will have realised that they are really just big bits of wood and
look rather silly.
You could go for the 'Wild life' pond, this would involve a little
tidying-up, remove the shopping trolley, etc., plant a few showy natives
like Trollius europaeus and add some frog spawn.
another current favourite is gravelled edges with grasses, sedges & rushes
dotted around, can work but only if done carefully, the way the gravelled
land meets the waters edge can easily look overly contrived and care must be
taken over the choice of suitable stone for the job.
With larger ponds doing these things generally looks pretty crap and just
planting the area up with a few informal beds and maybe a waterlily or two
in the pond itself.

Some good marginals for the South West of our fine country include:
Good old Gunnera manicata or G. tinctoria for a slightly smaller pond (the
familiar shape can give the illusion that the pond is bigger than it really
is)
Small Gunneras such as G. magellanica, G. monicia, G. prorepens, G.
hamiltonii & G. flavida
Primulas; candelabras, P. florindae with its' fine scent, P. sikkimensis &
P. alpicola, P. a. 'Violaceae', P. denticulata for early on & P.
secundiflora & P. vialii for later.
Bulbinella hookeri, showy yellow asphodel from New Zealand
Anaphalis margaritacea, A. triplinervis grey-leaved moisture lovers.
Elymus magellanicus a grey-leaved grass that loves the wet
Carex pendula, a large native sedge, Juncus effusus 'Spiralis' a curly rush,
Acorsus spp.
Astelia chathamica, Miscanthus spp., Cortaderia richardii.
Many Irises, I. chrysographes Black Form is interesting
Marsh marigolds
Cardamine raphnifolia
Rodgersia spp.
Ligularia spp.
Senecio smithii
Persicaria affinis & P. bistorta
Schizostylus coccinea
Lysichiton spp.
Geum rivale
Several ferns esp. Osmunda regalis.

Some shrubs or small trees:
Phygelius spp.
Olearia 'Henry Travers' (O. semidentata), O. virgata
Salix helvetica, S. lanata, S. bab. 'Tortuosa'
Gaultheria mucronata (Pernetya)
and many many more!

Hope this is some help
Regards
Ben Rushbrooke
Garden Cottage Nursery
--
Http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/rrushbrooke/

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