Plants For Natural (Vegetable) Pond Filters

Most of you will have heard me mention my friend in the UK ... Peter J May. Peter is the source of much of my information on plant materials in particular and he is a fantastic practical landscaper of many years experience. He is available to provide consulting services if you have that tricky idea and can be contacted via his site http://www.perfect-pond-detective.com

I owe the plants recommendations in this next piece to Peter and it is an attempt to answer the many questions I get about using plants as substitutes for biofilters (they are not a total substitute by the way).

A vegetable filter is a specific area within the pond or more normally just before the main pond in which plants are deliberately grown to reduce toxic build up within the pond itself. Obviously the filter can only work if the plants grow and this is influenced by many things including season of the year. This is the main reason they can never be a true substitute in a garden pond environment containing fish for an effective biofilter

As water flows through the vegetable filter the plants remove a myriad of nutrients and especially nitrates. This source of nitrogen complements the photosynthesis process which uses oxygen and sunlight to convert carbon compounds to vegetable mass (larger plants).

In this way the water becomes "purer".

What are the best plants to use in the vegetable filter?

The Norfolk reed (Phragmites australis) is by far the best since it not only removes pollutants but is capable of adding oxygen to the water by extracting it from the air ... ie it is an oxygenator albeit an unusual oxygenator plant. Oxygenators are generally those plants whose leaves are always submerged so that oxygen from the photosynthesis process has a chance to dissolve before being lost to the atmosphere.

Other useful plants are generally in the fast growing class so that maximum biomass is created in the quickest possible time. Consider the following ...

Sweet Galingale (Cyperus longus

Soft Rush (Juncus effusus

True Bulrush Scirpus lacustris

Flowering Rush (Butomus umbrellatus)

Spearworts (Ranunculus lingua)

Watercress has also often been used

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