Nature Perfect

Crafting Beautiful Landscapes Throughout
The South Puget Sound Since 2000.

2905 Black Lake Blvd SW, Tumwater WA 98512

Current Hours
Landscape Design & Installation (360) 280-5116
Monday-Friday 8:00-4:00
Saturday and Sunday - Closed

POND Supply Store (360) 412-0309
Monday - Friday 8:00-4:00 | Saturday 10:00-4:00
Sunday-Closed


Pond Plant Fall Care Tips

Pond Plant Fall Care Tips

Pond Maintenance & Care , Pond Plants 🕔November 23, 2020

It’ that time of the year, fall, when leaves are changing color, nights are getting colder and ponds begin to go dormant for winter. There are a few tasks you can do now that will help your ponds water quality by tending to your water plants before the leaves on the trees start to drop. Here are some tips to help you out.

  • Cut back hardy plants that have gone dormant, a few inches above the water surface (Iris, Lobelia, Cattails etc.), leaving 2-3 inches of plant stems exposed.
  • Make sure plant roots are below the water surface a few inches to protect from freezing. mulch exposed roots with gravel to protect from winter freezing

Remove plant debris, leaves and other dead plant matter.

  • Cut back dead foliage from evergreen plants and grasses (Acorus/Sweet Flag, Rushes), mulch roots with gravel if needed.
  • Winterize tropical water plants like Taro, inside or treat as annuals.
  • Remove Water Hyacinths, Water Lettuce & any other annual pond plants that do not survive our winters around Halloween or before the first frost. If you do not, you may forget, then they eventually turn to a mushy mass and fall to the bottom of the pond creating sludge and food for an algae bloom later on in the season. You can try to winterize them indoors, but you may not have good luck (spider mites or aphids usually attack them)- it may be best to purchase each year around Mother’s Day, then compost them in fall.
  • Remove dead leaves from waterlilies that are on the surface, cut stems from 2-3″ form the base, keep indicator leaves intact (leaves that are growing close to the root).
Water Hyacinth, displaying a purple blooming, is an annual floater.

If you have questions about pond plants, you can email me at Ke*****@Na***********.net">Ke*****@Na***********.net or stop by the store on Monday, Wednesday or Thursday and speak with me in person. We can also special order pond plants and help with you aquascaping design.