Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Lily pads?

At one end of my 5 acre lake we have a 4ft deep section that might make up 3/4 of an acre. It is consistently 4ft deep throughout this section. I am trying to determine if I could plant Lily pads and the like without having them spread and become a nuisance. My idea is to lay out a 20x30 ft tarp and use cinder blocks to hold the edges and have pea-gravel everywhere else. In the middle I would like to cut a 7-8 ft circle and have these plants grow up through the hole but be limited to this area only. I think this will work in the short term and provide great habitat but I am afraid after a few years they might spread. Is my concern valid? Will they grow and survive in the pea-gravel without any soil in it? This tarp would be 20 feet from the shore on both sides so silt shouldn't be a factor for some time. If this doesn't work will another plant be less invasive but still give us some natural cover? Any advice would be appreciated.

Doc-Sounds like a great idea but I hope you dont have any muskrats in your pond. I had tried planting lilly pads several times. They can be expensive to just feed the muskrats with. They love em & will devour them. it took me quite awhile till I figured out what was happening to mine ,till I caught the little varmits redhanded.I would try starting out with the cheap ordinary ones first till you are sure you dont have muskrats. The fancy ones cost too much just to be critter food.

In my pond (6-7 acres), I have only been successful at getting lilies established at one spot which also happens to adjacent to where the most human activity takes place. In this spot, I planted two plants about 4 years ago, now there are 3-4 plants there and the span is about 8-10' at full. With this type of progression, I'm not worried about them overtaking the pond.

Unfortunately, I do not know the name of the specific lily.

As far as my other attempts to get lilies established in other areas, the turtles would get to them as soon as they sprouted a few pads, and that would be it.

This year, I'll be trying again but will be using a wire mesh staked around each new plant to guard against turtle attack.

EDIT: DanB, I do also have muskrats, and they may be working against me too.

Lily pads reproduce via seeds and spreading roots. Some types of lilies are invasive, others aren't. Avoid fragrant white water lilies and American lotus.

Doc- I have snappers in my pond & never knew of them doing damage to my lilies but may have. I did witness the Muskrats tearing them up though.I think turtles do the damage on accident by digging but Muskrats seek them out to eat them. I would definately be more concerned over the rats than the turtles. Pesky little varmits!!!

Definitly avoid the lotus. Someone planted them in a 380 acre lake near me, and now it is nearly unfishable. The plants can grow to depths of 16-18' and spread like wildfire. In the last 5 years the lotus have covered almost 60% of the lake.

Thanks for the information. I will definitely stay away from the lotus and white lilies. With all the un-natural habitat we are putting in the lake it would be nice to provide something natural and aesthetically pleasing.

Will grass carp eat lillies? I planted some and will be adding a few grass carp in the near future.

Yes, grass carp will eat lilies especially if other grassy or leafy plants are not available. Wait till the lilies get well established before adding grass carp.

Does anyone have any recommendations on specific types of lilies? I used to keep tropical lilies in a large koi pond and they did well but I had to drag them out and over winter them inside which was a real pain but they are really nice and they smell great. I have been contemplating putting out about fifty or sixty in the shallower water in my pond and leaving them in their pots but if there are some that do well that wouldn't take over that would be great. I don�t have muskrat issues thanks to Mr. Conibear but I have large painted turtles that my kids really like which pretty much means they are staying even if I could get rid of them.

Joe Check out this thread. This should provide some details about preferred hardy lilies.
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=15;t=000025#000000

http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=15;t=000016;p=1

http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000040#000004

Come back and ask some questions if you still need some more advice especially about some specific names of varieties that you are able to buy.

Bill, thanks for the links. I tried to contact Andrew Davis today to see about waterlilies but I kept getting a busy signal, I'm going to try again Monday. Do you think that tilapia would destroy waterlilies?

Joe, you can click on Andrew's name & go to his website : http://www.members.aol.com/abdavisnc/swglist.html

His e-mail is listed at the bottom of his homepage: [email protected]