I have a six acre pond that has areas that are 11 feet deep. However ½ of the pond averages only 3 feet or so deep. Are there any plants that I could use for cover to help cool the water and keep down algae blooms that will only stay in water 1 to 2 feet deep? If they will grow in three feet of water I am afraid of them taking over the pond? I do not care if they die back in our cold Pennsylvania winters; I just want them to stay in the really shallow water.

Ron,
Hello fellow central Pennsylvanian! I live near Fort Indiantown Gap, and it's good to see someone with similar interest here in the area. As to plant selection,if you check out some of the water lilly suppliers such as Lillypons or Paradise water gardens, they carry plants which will only thrive in 2' of water or less. Many garden centers and even Lowe's carry such plants. Water lillies are great, since their leaves cover so much surface area, yet leave the area below fairly open for fish. They also are not as hard to cut back and control as many other plants. Rather than spending a lot of money on the fancy lillies, you might want to see if you can find some yellow pond lillies (Nuphar lutea) or as they are sometimes called brandy-bottle lillies. They are common to our area, thrive with little or no care,and can often be had for free as others cut theirs back. Good luck with your search, and I look forward to keeping in touch in the future.

I highly recommend you stay away from the Nuphars, brandy-bottle, spatterdock, bullhead, or aka cow lilies. Everyone that has had them near me eventually cuss them. They often seem quite good but eventually they start spreading and go out of control. So much for free lilies. Ron, they could easily cover 75%-80% of your pond. Hybrid lilies will not do that nearly as fast or grow as deep as the Nuphars. Spend a little money and do it the better way. Start slow if you are cautious.

Thanks Bill,you've educated two for the price of one. I guess there really is no free lunch, except for a mouth full of one's own foot.

Yup, quite a few lakes are lost to the native Nuphars, they do trot off into deeper water quite rapid, in numbers. there are small forms that you might consider, possibly, the Cape Fear Spatterdock and a miniature form which don't like deep water, though those are hardly available commercially

Any of the medium to large hardy waterlilies will create quite well behaved groups of shading plants, you might add Water Fringe, aquatic Iris, Pickerel and Arrow Arum as well, in up to one foot depth of water. When they mass up they won't cope with water any deeper.

Plants like those will increase the range of habitat to encourage fish fry in areas sheltered from larger predators

Regards, andy
http://www.members.aol.com/abdavisnc/swglist.html

Ron,
Another source of aquatic plants that I found is LillyBlooms. Prices are better.