Adding floating water plants to your pond can enhance its beauty and improve water quality Floating plants offer shade, shelter for fish, oxygenate the water, and help prevent algae growth. With so many options to choose from, it can be tricky to select the best floating plants for your pond This complete guide covers everything you need to know about choosing and caring for floating water plants.
Benefits of Floating Pond Plants
Floating plants provide numerous benefits for backyard ponds:
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Aesthetic appeal – Floating plants add natural beauty with colorful flowers, interesting textures and lush greenery spread across the water’s surface. They soften the look of man-made pond edges.
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Shade – Floating plants shade and cool the water, providing a more comfortable environment for fish on hot summer days. Their shade also limits sunlight penetration, inhibiting algae growth.
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Shelter – Thick floating plant cover gives fish a place to hide from predators like birds and cats. It also provides a spawning medium for some fish species.
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Oxygenation – Floating plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the water through photosynthesis. This oxygenates the pond, boosting water quality.
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Filtration – Floating plants utilize excess nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus that would otherwise feed algae blooms. Their roots absorb pollutants from the water.
Best Floating Pond Plants
Here are some of the most popular and effective floating pond plants:
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Water Hyacinth – Water hyacinth has lush green leaves and stunning purple flower spikes. It grows extremely fast, so frequent thinning is required. Hardy in zones 8-11.
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Water Lettuce – Known for its round, lettuce-like leaves. Small flowers hide at the base of leaves. Slower growing than water hyacinth. Not winter hardy.
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Duckweed – Tiny green leaf discs that rapidly cover the water’s surface. Great food source for ducks and fish. Thrives in full sun.
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Azolla/Mosquito Fern – Feathery green leaves turn red or pink in full sun. Helps remove pollutants and prevents algae.
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Frogbit – Round waxy leaves float flat initially then rise above the surface as plants mature. Must keep leaf tops dry.
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Salvinia – An attractive floating fern with folded oval leaves and trailing roots. Grows rapidly doubling in size every 2 days.
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Pennywort – Deep green, coin-shaped leaves on trailing stems. Unfurls attractive white flowers. Ideal for pond edges.
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Sensitive Plant – Tropical plant with fern-like foliage that curls inward when touched. Adds nitrogen.
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Parrot Feather – Feathery foliage on red stems. Thrives along pond edges and in moving water. Can be invasive.
Planting and Caring for Floating Plants
Most floating plants simply need to be placed in the water, no planting required. Avoid fully submerging the plants. Allow them to float freely or corral them using floating planter rings.
Introduce plants gradually over a few weeks rather than all at once. This prevents shocking the pond ecosystem.
Situate plants in areas shaded from hot afternoon sun during their first 2 days in the pond. Acclimate them slowly. Then they can be moved into sunnier spots.
Since floating plants grow rapidly, thinning is needed. Remove extra growth every 2-4 weeks during peak growing seasons to prevent overcrowding. Dispose of thinned plants away from waterways.
In colder climates, trim back plants before winter or remove tropical varieties. Hardy plants like frogbit and pennywort will survive winter in the pond.
Controlling Invasive Floating Plants
Left unchecked, fast spreading floating plants can completely overrun a pond. Follow these tips to keep them under control:
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Start with fewer plants, allowing room for growth. It’s easier to add more later than remove excess.
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Use planter rings or pool noodles to restrict plants to designated areas rather than allowing them to roam free.
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Thin aggressively and often during the growing season. Target the most vigorous growers.
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Remove invasive varieties like parrot feather and water hyacinth in cooler climates before they spread out of control.
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Introduce fish that eat floating plants like koi, grass carp and tilapia to help control growth.
The benefits floating plants bring to backyard ponds make them well worth planting. Just be sure to choose less aggressive varieties and maintain control over their spread. With a little effort, floating plants can beautify your pond, improve water quality and provide better fish habitat without becoming a nuisance.
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Live Pond Plants Water Lillies For Spring & Summer Today
Live Pond Plants Water Lillies For Spring & Summer Today
Live Pond Plants Water Lillies For Spring & Summer Today
Live Pond Plants Water Lillies For Spring & Summer Today
Live Pond Plants Water Lillies For Spring & Summer Today
Live Pond Plants Water Lillies For Spring & Summer Today
Live Pond Plants Water Lillies For Spring & Summer Today
Live Pond Plants Water Lillies For Spring & Summer Today
Live Pond Plants Water Lillies For Spring & Summer Today
Live Pond Plants Water Lillies For Spring & Summer Today
Live Pond Plants Water Lillies For Spring & Summer Today
Live Pond Plants Water Lillies For Spring & Summer Today
Live Pond Plants Water Lillies For Spring & Summer Today
Live Pond Plants Water Lillies For Spring & Summer Today Anacharis Elodea Plants Plant Description Anacharis (Elodea) is an oxygenating plant that grows beneath the surface of the water with narrow green leaves on long green stems. Anacharis is sold in bunches. Anacharis helps in algae elimination by competing for the same nutrients that algae needs to thrive, while adding oxygen…
Live Pond Plants Water Lillies For Spring & Summer Today Plant Description/common names Blue Trailing Jenny, Lemon Bacopa, water Hyssop, or Bacopa Caroliniana or is an excellent pond plant that has pretty, blue flowers on this lovely, lemon scented aquatic plant. Blue Jenny/Lemon Bacopa looks great spilling over a waterfall, at the edge of your pond to soften the rockery or…
Live Pond Plants Water Lillies For Spring & Summer Today Try our Small Floating Plants Bundle3 Water Hyaconths, 3 Frog bit
Why Choose Floating Plants
Your pond or water feature may be optimized by adding floating aquatic plants. They add texture, color, and interest and are highly functional for creating and maintaining a healthy aquatic environment.
There’s no getting around it; floating plants are beautiful. The range of shades, shapes, sizes, and textures is astounding! With a bit of research, you can easily find just the right plants to create the look you want.
Some have very small leaves that appear as a layered green carpet across your pond, like the Duckweed or the Salvinia Floating Fern. But if you want a little more interest in texture or complexity, consider the Azolla Fairy Moss with its cookie-cutter leaves or the Water Hyacinth for height and dimension.
How to plant a FLOATING POND PLANTER – Best Pond Plants
FAQ
What are the best floating plants for ponds?
Native floating pond plants include Water Soldier and Frogbit. While Water hyacinth, Water Lettuce and Water Chestnuts are popular imported floating plants. Salvinia natans (Floating watermoss) is also popular in UK ponds but is not particularly frost hardy.
Is duckweed bad for ponds?
It can shade out submerged pond plants, outcompete plants for nutrients and reduce the amount of oxygen in the water.
Can you have too many floating plants in a pond?
Too few plants can lead to algae overgrowth and poor water quality, while too many plants can stunt their growth and limit oxygen levels.
What plants can grow floating in water?
- Azolla – Fairy Moss Floating Pond Plant. $7.99 Available May 19, 2025. …
- Duckweed Floating Pond Plant. $7.99 Available May 19, 2025. …
- Salvinia – Floating Fern Pond Plant. $7.99 Available May 19, 2025. …
- Water Hyacinth Floating Pond Plant. …
- Water Lettuce Floating Pond Plant. …
- Frogbit Floating Pond Plant.
What plants float in a pond?
Floating aquatic plants also help to oxygenate the pond water, which is especially beneficial during the summer months when oxygen levels decrease as the water warms up. 1. Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) Water Hyacinths are one of the most popular floating pond plants.
What are the different types of floating pond plants?
Some common floating pond plants include water lilies, water hyacinth, and water lettuce. Water lilies are a beautiful addiction to any pond and can really enhance the aesthetic and health of the overall pond. The two types of water lilies are Hardy and tropical.
How do you plant floating plants in a pond?
How you plant floating plants in a pond will depend on the species. For example, planting Frogbit, Water lettuce, and Water Hyacinths can be as easy as scattering them across the water’s surface. On the other hand, Lily pads and Floating Heart are best planted in pots submerged under water.
What can I do with floating pond plants?
What you do with floating pond plants will depend on the hardiness of the species. Some plants, like Water Hyacinth and Water lettuce, will not overwinter, so you can discard them and replant them in Spring. Lily Pads and Floating Hearts can be trimmed and lowered into deeper water over winter.
What is a water pond plant?
Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) Water Lettuce is another type of floating pond plant with thick green leaves in a rosette shape resembling a lettuce. The flowers are small and hidden in the centre of the plant in amongst the base of the leaves.
Why are floating plants important in a pond?
In ponds, the presence of floating plants can significantly influence water quality and diversity. The shade afforded by the leaves of floating plants aids in maintaining cool water temperatures, protecting wildlife from overhead predators, and preventing harmful algal blooms. As they photosynthesize, they help strip the water of excess nutrients.