Viewing post #2020078 by Sallymander

drdawg said:Yes, my pond is 3/4 acre, averaging around 6' in depth (max. depth is right at 12'), and is around 9,000,000 gal. Unlike most large garden ponds and even the vast majority of farm/residential ponds, my ponds is fed by an artesian well, 24/7. That artesian water is potable and of course, cold all year long. I have some cattails and lots of rush growing at the water's edge, but I keep the cattails controlled and they don't take up much room. The only submerged plant that I know of is hornwort, and there's plenty of that. I have fish as well as turtles, tilapia, bream, and largemouth bass. I have hard shell and softshell turtles, but the hard shell are apparently the ones that like to munch on water lilies.

Water hyacinths are highly invasive plants here, as well as throughout the entire SE USA. I have none. It is even illegal to have them in our ponds here in Florida.

Here's a portion of my pond. You can see the artesion water flowing in one of them.

I am misinformed. I thought Florida used water hyacinths in their sewage treatment. I suppose that still could be true, and it could still be illegal for home use. The plant is legal here because it is nearly impossible to winter over. You have to move several small planets out of orbit to align with some very distant stars to make it happen, but it can be done. Not sure I'll do it again.

I was already jealous of you, and now I'm more so. Fresh, flowing water! How wonderful!
If the turtles leave the cattails and rush alone, maybe try getting the water lilies started in an among them, once the water lily roots get established they might move out further into the water. Along the line of planting tulips surrounded by daffodils because the squirrels don't like daffodils. What type of water lily do you have?

Since you have cold water year round, have you tried water hawthorne? It's my favorite cold water plant. The roots are highly edible, you might need to protect it from preydation as well. Lovely, blooms when nothing else will. Though, in Florida, I imagine that isn't an issue.