This is one trio of plants that apart may underwhelm you, but put them together, and you get color, texture and taste!
Aquatic Mint(Mentha aquatica) is a fast grower and will quickly fill your container. It smells like the breath of a child who just ate mint ice cream. And it is edible, just like terrestrial mint. Aquatic mint can become invasive, so a pot is the best place for this plant which grows up to 18 inches tall with a running spread. But if you want to grow it out of the pot and in your pond, it looks great along a stream bed and softens the rock edges.
Zebra Rush(Scirpus tabemea-montani ‘zebrinus’) is the center piece of this mini water garden. It boasts two to five foot green spikes with white horizontal stripes. It is a heavy feeder, so if you fertilize a lot, you’ll see more stripes. Zebra Rush likes water up to three inches deep but will tolerate deeper water if you want to put it in your pond.
Unlike Aquatic Mint which sounds edible and is, Water Celery sounds like you could crunch into it, but resist the temptation. It is not. Water Celery (Oenanthe javonica ‘flamingo’) is however, colorful and bushy. A perfect accent to the vertical Zebra Rush and the draping Aquatic Mint. This fast spreader grows up to a foot high and adds fullness to a container water garden and also softens the rocks around a pond.
For this container water garden you will also need:
- A container at least 22 inches in diameter
- Aquatic Planting Media or 100 percent ground clay(unscented kitty litter)
- Mosquito Dunks(insect larvicide) or bait shop minnows if your container can hold at least 20 gallons
- Plumber’s Epoxy
- Aquatic Fertilizer tablets
- Water dechlorinator if you plan to add fish
If your container has a hole in the bottom, flatten a dollop of plumber’s epoxy and cover the exposed hole. Wait 20 minutes. Then fill the container three quarters full with aquatic planting media or unscented kitty litter. Plant Zebra Rush in the middle of the pot with Aquatic Mint and Water Celery on either side. Place one or two aquatic fertilizer tablets deep into the media. Next place your container where you want it to stay. Once you fill it with water, lifting won’t be so easy! Now its time to fill your container water garden with H20 and watch your plants grow and spread. If you have planted with kitty litter, the water may turn cloudy but will clear up in about 24 hours.
Who says you need a pond to enjoy a water garden?
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