A good rule of thumb for most lily species in medium sized ponds is to plant them no more than 18” below the surface of the water (from the top of the pot).  Miniature lilies (1”-2” flowers) in small water features can be planted in water as shallow as 6” and large lilies can be planted deeper (up to 24”).

Planting lilies in a shady part of the pond can result in foliage and no flowers – they need good levels of sunlight to flower.

Keep lilies away from fountains or waterfalls.  Splashing water will literally drown them as they breathe through their leaves, and if water collects in the flower buds they will become soggy.

Make sure they have food – ideally lilies should be re-potted every couple of years in a specialist aquatic compost.  Regular feeding with a specialist aquatic plant food such as AquaHydrotech Aquatic Plant Food Plus will increase flowering and this product has the added benefit of controlling algae as it contains Extract of Barley Straw.  If you’re planning to add lilies to your pond this Spring, www.WatersideNursery.co.uk  has a good selection and provides planting advice to make sure that they get off to a good start.

Following on from last month’s advice on using AquaHydrotech Cloudy Water Treatment to clear murky ponds, we used if very effectively ourselves recently to clear the water after a visit from a couple of ducks!.  They stirred the sediment at the bottom of the pond up to the extent that a week later it still hadn’t cleared, but after one dose of Cloudy Water Treatment the water is beautifully clear again.