How water can transform your garden

Turn your space into a relaxing oasis with water and lush aquatic plants. Yvonne Pecujac reports.

ADDING water features is one of the nicest and most effective things you can do to turn your garden into a nurturing, relaxing space – and it’s fantastic for wildlife and children.

We’re not talking about a chlorinated pool with everyone on high alert for stray leaves.

No, we’re talking about billabongs, dry creek beds that fill with water during storms, rain gardens, water bowls, a storm water chain, ponds and water features that bubble, trickle and softly splash, giving your garden a sense of serenity and aquatic life. Water provides habitat for a whole array of wildlife and will cool your space during the heat of summer.

Ponds and billabongs are a whole world of adventure for children – this is Nature Play at its best, with a fascinating array of plant and aquatic life including fish, frogs and tadpoles, water snails, lizards and dragonflies. In one garden design, we turned an entire front garden into a giant billabong that could only be crossed by stepping stones. It ran into a dry creek bed that ran down a slope and collected into a large lake at the bottom of the garden with its own jetty, sandy beach, zip line and fire pit for cookouts and nights gazing at stars – all designed for a family with a posse of adventurous young boys (see here).

In Sydney’s northern beaches, locals are turning their neglected backyard pools into wetland habitats, with the encouragement of the local Sutherland Shire. Residents say wildlife they’ve never seen before are taking up residence in their gardens, including birds, frogs and lizards, and even the Bearded Dragon.

Adding water to your garden opens up a whole new suite of plants that you can use. Even if you just add a water bowl, you’ll be surprised at how lush and inviting it can be – and versatile in terms of adding style, colour and height to even the smallest of spaces.


Courtyards
Water bowls may just be the best friend of the courtyard where there’s often not much room – these small spaces are often used as outdoor rooms providing a place for relaxation and entertaining as well as a garden. Often courtyards have extensive hard paving over most, if not all, of the space and opportunities for planting are limited. Water bowls can add lush green plants, texture and colour without needing to access the soil.


Dramatic heights
You can also use water bowls to give your garden vertical structure by using tall reeds and sedges such as the dramatic and beautiful Papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) – even the dwarf variety will give height – or Umbrella Sedge (one of the many varieties is Cyperus alternifolius) to create an impression of a lot of lush planting with only a small footprint – ideal for small spaces. Then there’s the incredible textural detail of plants such as Cyperus Sedge (Carex pseudocyperus) with its gorgeous hanging tassels.


Natives
You can stay native by using tall vertical plants to emphasise texture such as the beautiful Tassel Cord Rush (Restio tetraphyllus), the threatened Echidna Rush (Chorizandra enodis) and the lovely River Club Rush (Schoenoplectus validus) to name just a few.


Colour
You can play with vertical plants that have intense flowering colour such as Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) – a native to Australia and many other parts of the world – with its spectacular tall pink spires flowering from early January on. Or how about the Yellow Flag (Iris pseudacorus), any of the five gorgeous Louisiana Irises or the indestructible Swamp Iris (Iris orientalis). The clear red flower of the deciduous Water Hibiscus (Hibiscus Coccinea) is a true sight to behold but we think it’s just as valuable for its wonderful autumn foliage.

Tropics
You can use aquatic plants to give your space a tropical feel using plants such as the Black Taro (Colocasia esculenta) or the Powdery Alligator Flag (Thalia dealbata), straight out of the steamy US Delta.

Scent
There’s not many things more beautiful than a Water Lily in flower (Nymphaea sp.), but did you know there are scented varieties? (see Resources). The Water Hawthorne (Aponogeton distachyos) with its striking double white flower is breathtaking in flower and has a strong delicious vanilla scent.

The Lotus is one of the all-time great plants. One of the most beautiful examples we’ve ever seen is in Bali where a huge stone pool at the old palace in Ubud is completely filled with Lotus plants whose sturdy leaves rise high into the air. Spectacular.

While Lotus plants (Nelumbo nucifera) are too large for most domestic gardens, the dwarf Lotus can happily dwell in a large water pot. They’re deciduous, spectacular in fruit and flower, and we highly recommend them.


Water surface
Plants that float on the water surface include the Water Lily (Nymphaea sp.), the native Nardoo (Marsilea drommundii or Marsilea mutica), Water Ribbons (Triglochin sp.) and the Water Hawthorne (Aponogeton distachyos). All are wonderful for giving interest to a body of water while supporting the ecology around it.


Depth
Let’s get a little technical here: some aquatic plants need a certain water depth – if you’re constructing a pond, build in generous ledges at different heights so that you can accommodate potted plants that need shallow water and those that prefer a greater depth. Some plants, such as Water Lily (Nymphaea sp.) and Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), can be planted at the bottom of water ponds.


Sun and shade
Most aquatic plants do well in sunny conditions but some need filtered sun with very few tolerating shade. One such filtered shade aquatic plant is one of our favourites, the Water Hawthorne (Aponogeton distachyos).


Mozzies
Mosquitoes like to breed in still water so create movement by adding fish or water features that trickle and splash. Frogs also like to eat mosquito larvae but need to be kept separately from any fish, which like to snack on tadpoles.

Nick RomanowskI

Melbourne Zoologist Nick Romanowski has written extensively on wetlands, native restoration and grasslands but we love his books on aquatic plants.

RESOURCES

Nick Romanowski, Water garden plants and animals: The complete guide for all Australia, Sydney, UNSW, 2000.
Contains a wonderful extensive guide to Water Lily varieties with hard-to-find information on scented varieties.

Nick Romanowski, The Australian aquatic garden, ANPSA, 2000
anpsa.org.au/APOL20/dec00-6.html

Blue Lotus Water Gardens, 2826 Warburton Hwy, Yarra Junction, Victoria, Australia.
www.bluelotusfarm.com.au
Open Boxing Day to late April when the 6ha of Water Lilies and Lotus plants are in flower.