What Do I Do With Hardy Lilly?????

[Ranchu Rancher]

I have a hardy lilly and I am not sure what to do with it. Do I need to keep it in water, or am I suppose to let it dry out?? Right now I have it in my indoor pond.

Gregg

[Cincy Ranchu]

cut the leaves of and sink into the bottom of you outdoor pond:yess:

[terryl]

Can they survive if the water is forzen solid in the winter?

[VeiltailGuy]

The crown of the lily should not freeze, after leaves look yellow/brown cut all off down to the container and drop to lowest part of pond until early spring and bring back up to shallower water (warmer water) that will help get it going good for another Summer:exact:

Rick

[OldMarine]

Hi I'm new to this message board.

Just from experience, cut back all of the dead parts of the lilly down to the base to avoid rotting plants in your pond during the winter. Leave in place at the bottom until next spring. I re-pot all of my lillies each spring with pea gravel and no fertalizer. If you have the right balance of fish, snails, frogs, and plants, you won't have to fertalize. If your pond is sterile, I.E., no living organisms like fish, snails or frogs. Then you need to fertalize.

[Veil Gal]

I have two large potted waterlillies that will need to be divided next spring. Can you be more specific on how you repot. Do you put the plants solely in pea gravel? Don't you use soil and then cover the surface with gravel? That is how my current plants were planted from the place I purchased them. I have some thick "rhizome stalks" busting out of the pots.:youtellme:

[OldMarine]

The pea gravel alone allows water and nutrients to flow into and thru the potted lilies and other pond plants. With a good balance of fish and plants the pond plants will thrive without using any commercial fertalizer. Just speaking from experience.

[George Ludrosky]

I like using a nice "heavy" garden soil for my hardy and tropical water lilies. It seems that I get more blooms this way. I always cut back the old leaves after they have turned brown and drop the pots into the deepest part of the pond where it won't freeze solid. Then in the spring I put the pots up on bricks near the surface of the water and slowly drop them down after they have started growing. I do fertilize about 4 times during the summer months using a fast release tablet fertilizer. I seem to do pretty good working my lilies this way. I don't keep fish in my outdoor ponds because I have alot of predators here in Ohio, raccoon, snakes, frogs, owls, minks and even my Dog!

[OldMarine]

Hi George,

I don't want you to think I'm strange, but I stopped using fertalizers in my pond plants altogether. I just don't like the idea of putting any chemicals in with my shubunkins. I use pea gravel for a potting medium, and the plants seem to get enough nutrients from the fish waste in the water.

Before my 365 gallon pond went in, I had racoon attacks on my 80 gallon tub/pond almost daily until I installed a six foot vynal fence all the way around my back yard. At the time, I didn't know the new vynal fence was going to the answer to my constant racoon problem. So far, I haven't had any blue heron drop in on my pond for a snack. I have seen them fly over the house, but they seem to be focused on something else.

[George Ludrosky]

My sister has a pond that she never fertilizes, The ratio of fish to plants is the important thing. Once a pond is balanced, it takes care of itself. The plants grow and bloom without any human intervention.

Hats off to you for having a very Low maintenence water garden!

As for the racoons, I have even tried an electric fence and even that didn't stop them completely. So...I garden with nature and grow what I can and hope I grow enough to have some left over after the animals get their fill.

[OldMarine]

I always feel bad for anyone plagued with meroding racoons. They used to come in and uproot my plants and the filter system would all tore apart, and then they would leave the pond looking like everyone in their stinking family had taken a bath.

[OldMarine]

Go with a six foot vynal fence, you can't go wrong. Pricie, but it works. Coons can't climb smooth plastic.

[George Ludrosky]

Another option is a small electric fence. Fido-Shock is an inexpensive one that just gives a light shock, just enough to scare but not bad enough to harm. I've used this fence for exactly this reason and it worked really good. Just remember to turn it off when you go near the pond or it will get you also! ( it even scared me!)

[BruceP]

We have an electric fence around one of our ponds because a cat got a pearlscale out of it. I keep trying to get Lari to touch it :)

[George Ludrosky]

Tell Lari that it really dosen't hurt, but when you accidentaly bump it when you forget to turn it off, it will really give you a jolt!

[OldMarine]

Ranchu Rancher,

If your lillies are in a indoor pond they are will be fine, just as long as you cut back any dead growth. Leaving them indoors for the winter should give you a early jump start on growth with your lillies.

I'm hoping to try a lotus this next year. My pond is to small for a lotus, but I thought I would get a half wine barrel just for the lotus. I will use water from the pond to grow the lotus. I'll throw in some mosqueto fish to.