Native Plants

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Monday - June 23, 2008

From: Atlanta, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Water Gardens, Grasses or Grass-like
Title: Plants for edge of pond
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

We live in Atlanta, Texas. My husband built a beautiful pond that is almost an acre in size. We are fortunate in that one side of the pond is covered by trees and a natural ground cover that keeps weeds and grass from growing. He is constantly having to use the weedeater on the edge of the pond closest to our house to keep the grass from getting too high. Is there anything we can do to the edge of the pond to get rid of the grass..any spray or other plants we could use?

ANSWER:

Mr. Smarty Plants is pretty sure you don't want use any sort of herbicide spray there because it will likely affect all plants nearby, not just the ones you want to get rid of. My suggestion is to plant attractive plants along the edge of the pond that you won't mind having grow a bit tall. Here are some recommendations that are native and do well in moist areas in full sun:

Ornamental grasses

These grasses look good when they are green and when they have matured and turned brown.

Chasmanthium latifolium (Inland sea oats)

Andropogon glomeratus (bushy bluestem)

Elymus canadensis (Canada wildrye)

Sedges

These are grass-like, but usually shorter than grasses and many are evergreen. Here are a couple of suggestions:

Carex blanda (eastern woodland sedge)

Carex cherokeensis (Cherokee sedge)

Semi-aquatic plants

These will grow in shallow water at the edge of the pond or in moist areas on solid ground.

Hydrocotyle umbellata (manyflower marshpennywort)