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Pot your plants in water-permeable containers. Spread a thin layer of gravel on top of the soil to keep the water clear. Submerge potted plants to create your water garden. Design a visually-appealing garden.
All plants need to be potted, even if they are capable of rooting out along their stems (like watercress). Use plastic pots that have plenty of holes for the water to go in and out of the root system. Line your pot with newspaper, then put in a scoop of organic garden soil. Once your pot is filled about halfway, place the plant’s roots gently on top of the soil and then fill in the area around them with soil until the base of the plant is securely buried.  If you purchased your plants from a garden center they may already be in plastic, permeable containers. If this is the case, you can move on to the next step. You can find plastic planters and organic gardening soil at most garden centers. The gravel will help weigh the plant down and stabilize it. It will also help keep your water from getting muddy by creating a barrier between the pond water and the plant’s soil. Larger rocks can be used as needed to keep plants submerged. Deep water plants, like the cattail, can sit on the bottom of most ponds as long as they are set less than 1.5 feet (0.46 m) deep. Submerged and emergent varieties generally do well with 3–5 inches (7.6–12.7 cm) of water above the tops of the pots. Surface-cover and bog plants generally enjoy being only 1–2 inches (2.5–5.1 cm) from the surface. You can set your plants down in their pots, right into your pond.  Use flat rocks or bricks to raise plants up if the pond is too deep for your plants to sit at the right level. Floating planters can help keep emergent and bog plants perfectly positioned. They also can help turn any pond plant into helpful surface coverage. A pond garden is something you can eat, but it can also be a charming addition to a garden, deck, patio, or sunroom. For a striking display, place the tallest plants, like cattails, in the center of the pond with lower-lying, surface-cover plants around the outside. An alternative arrangement is to place taller plants along the back of the pond with shorter plants along the front edge. This layout works well if your pond backs up to a fence, wall, or patio edge.