Planting Hardy Water Lilies
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How To Plant Hardy Water Lilies
 Most
garden pond owners often wonder about the correct way to plant
water lilies and here I am going to show you how. Planting water
lilies is actually really simple to do and I will show you step by
step to make sure you planted them correctly. Now sometimes you
may be able to buy water lilies already potted for you but it will
cost you more for your pond plants. Most nurseries or local garden
centres around you may have water lilies on hand already done for
you. This is what we call convenience but you will also learn by
the price tag as well your paying for it. Buying water lilies
potted for you is great but if your looking at saving money on
your aquatic plants you can do it yourself and save money if you
don't mind getting your hands a little dirty. My suggestion is to
buy the water lily root only that way you can place it in the
correct size pot and get maximum growth out of it. It doesn't take
long to plant really and your suppose to enjoy water gardening so
why not give it a try. Water gardening is suppose to be fun so try
potting your own water lilies.
What You Need To Plant Water Lilies
Before planting your water lily you are going to need some
supplies. Your better off to make sure you have all the tools
needed in order to plant your lily. By checking off the things you
will need will end up saving you some time from running around
while you begin planting.
Here are a few supplies or tools you will need in order to
plant your water lily:
- You will need the water lily bare root.
- You will need some good garden soil. Do Not use top soil.
The thing with top soil is that it will end up floating to the
water's surface when you place it in your pond. You can either
buy some water lily soil or dig some up from your garden. Water
lilies prefer heavy garden soil or clay.
- You will need to have a medium to large pot available to
plant your water lily. You can get water lily baskets or
containers at any local garden store or at nurseries too. Make
sure you get one fairly big enough as your water lily needs room
to grow and you don't want to have to re-pot it again next year
if it overgrows your lily pot.
- You will need rocks or small pebbles also called pea gravel
which you can get pretty much anywheres. You won't need that
many rocks, so you may be able to find it around your yard. Just
keeps the goldfish, koi, or any other type of fish you may have
in your pond from uprooting the water lily.
- You will need a small shovel or digger to get the soil from
your yard and to place it inside the lily pot.
Planting Your Water Lily
Step 1
The first thing you will need to do is fill the water lily
basket with the garden soil or the water lily soil you may have
bought for this as well. Fill the container up to about 2-3" from
the top ridge of the pot. This will allow you enough space to
place the pea gravel on top of the soil in a later step.
Step 2
Now take your garden tool or digger to move the soil back and
make a small ditch. In this step using your hands will work just
as good and something I prefer doing. This way makes a nice ditch
to place the water lily in the pot later.
Step 3
Place the water lily inside the ditch or groove that you just
made. Make sure you place the water lily bare root against the
side of the pot. You need to place the water lily against the side
as the water lily will grow outwards where you see the leaves
beginning to grow. We call this part the crown. By placing water
lily bulb against the side will give the lily more room to grow.
Step 4
Now that you have the water lily inside the pot in the little
ditch, you will need to add some soil in an around the water lily
also called the rhizome. Gently push the soil in and around the
water lily making sure you leave the crown free and uncovered.
Step 5
Now you can begin to place those rocks or pea gravel that you
have on hand. Spread about an inch of rocks on the top. This will
prevent the soil from being washed up when you place it in the
pond and also preventing the fish from digging it up as well. Make
sure you leave the crown free and uncovered in this step as well.
Just cover the rest and leave the water lily crown open.
Step 6
The last and final step is getting your water lily pot ready
for placement in your water garden pond. What you need to do here
is get your garden hose and your going to spray the water lily pot
so it enables the soil to become heavy and wet. By doing this it
will help stop any soil from coming to the top messing up the
water surface area as this will take out any air pockets that may
be inside. Now you can pick up your water lily pot and go place it
in your pond. A good suggestion is to gently lower it into the
garden pond and once the water starts to come over the top of the
pot lift it up again making sure no air pockets. Now that there are
no air pockets left place the lily into the pond. If we were to
just drop the water lily into the pond without doing this it would
leave a mess of soil at the top of the water and maybe even uproot
your water lily as well. That's why we do it this way, eliminates
us from having to clean the water surface later.
Water Lily Gardening Tip
When planting hardy water lilies or tropical water lilies in
fact here is a tip that will get your water plants growing faster.
Make sure you have your newly placed water lily close to the water
surface. If your garden pond has different ledges you can place it
on the highest ledge close to the surface. If your water garden
doesn't have a ledge you can always use bricks and place them
under your water lily basket. This will in turn help your water
lily to grow faster. Now once you've seen one or two water lily
pads touching the surface, lower it down again. Keep repeating
this process and once those lily pads reach the surface again,
lower it down until you reach the proper depth for your water
lilies.
The next thing I will talk about is
how to fertilize water
lilies, how to get the maximum growth potential and how to get the
most flowering lilies in your pond.
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