Planting & Maintaining Water Lilies

If you have a water garden with water lilies and other pond plants,
spring is one of the best times to divide and repot your plants.

Hardy water lilies grown in containers require division every year or two. Overgrown lilies in need of dividing do not bloom. They produce smaller and smaller leaves from multiple growing points in the rootstock. The lily has a congested appearance and leaf color may be yellowish. The lily's container may be so full of roots that it is difficult to insert the fertilizer tablets.

Division and repotting usually restores vigor and bloom. The best time to divide a hardy water lily is in the spring although they may be divided at other times of the growing season. After repotting, a lily usually does not bloom for three to four weeks.

• Many water gardeners divide and repot their water lilies every spring or every other spring when they start up their pond.

Dividing Procedure:

• Remove the plant from the container and rinse off all of the soil. Plant will have a main growing tip and some secondary juvenile growing tips visible on a large rootstock.
• Cut off (or break off) old rootstock end, leaving 4-6 inches of healthy rootstock with the main growing tip. Cut off juvenile crowns. Discard old woody rootstock end.
• Repot trimmed rootstock, following planting instructions below. Use clay soil from your garden or special aquatic plant soil. 
• Be sure to fertilize with tablets made especially for water lilies and other water plants. 
• Juvenile crowns or growing tips may be discarded or potted in a small (1 gallon) container and grown in shallow water for a season. They will be blooming size plants in one year or less.

Planting water lilies and Placing in Pond:

• Select potting container to correspond to lily size.
• Fill the container 1/3 full of soil. Use aquatic soil or heavy topsoil (potting soil will float out of the pot and into the water).
• Push in fertilizer tablets according to directions.
• Position lily with the cut edge against the side of the pot. Growing tip should be up at a 45 degree angle and point into the center of the pot to allow for maximum growth.
• Gently add soil around roots and tamp down.
• Keep growing crown (at top of root formation) free of soil.
• Thoroughly saturate soil with water.
• Cover soil with a 1/2 inch of pea gravel again keeping the crown free.
• Lower potted lily into pool to a depth of 18"-24" of water over soil surface. If the lily has few or no leaves, place it in 6"-8" of water for the first few weeks to encourage plant growth.
• Lilies require 2-3 weeks adjustment after planting before new growth resumes.

Planting Marginal Plants:

• Select potting container.
• Fill the container 1/2 full of soil. Use aquatic soil or heavy topsoil (potting soil will float out of the pot and into the water).   
• Push in fertilizer tablets according to directions.
• Plant bog plant in the center of the pot.
• Cover roots with soil and tamp down.
• Cover soil with 1/2 in. pea gravel.
• Saturate soil with water.
• Lower potted plant into pool to a depth of 18"-24" of water over soil surface. If the plant has few or no leaves, place it in 6"-8" of water for the first few weeks to encourage plant growth.
• Place in pond at correct water depth (adjusting depth of pot as needed.) Most marginals do best in 1/2" - 3" of water over the top edge of the pot.
• Divide and repot every 1-2 years.

This water gardening tip is compliments of Harper Statuary & Water Gardens. For more great water gardening tips and information, visit Harper's Statuary & Water Gardens!