Floating Pond Plants

Floating Pond Plants for Shade and Natural Filtration

Floating pond plants drift freely on the water surface, providing natural shade, absorbing excess nutrients and adding visual interest without the need for pots, soil or planting shelves. We carry water hyacinth, water lettuce, frogbit, duckweed, fairy moss, water velvet, floating fern and others that thrive in koi ponds and water gardens. These fast growers pull nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients directly from the water, nutrients that would otherwise feed algae blooms, which makes them a natural filter for the pond.

Benefits of Floating Plants

Floating plants do more than look good. Their trailing roots give beneficial bacteria surface to grow on and give fish fry a place to hide. The leaves shade the water, cutting the sunlight that drives algae growth and helping keep the pond cooler in hot summer months. In koi ponds, they give fish cover and a place to rest near the surface. Water hyacinth and water lettuce are especially good at taking up nutrients.

Lily-Like Plants

A few plants in this collection grow differently. Water poppies, floating hearts and snowflakes, Japanese pond lily (Nuphar), water hawthorn, mosaic plant and water clover root in a pot of soil and send their leaves up to float on the surface, the way a water lily does. They shade the water like free floaters, but they stay where you set the pot.

Managing Floating Plants

Most floating plants grow fast in nutrient-rich koi ponds, which is exactly why they clean the water so well. Left unchecked, though, they can cover the whole surface, blocking light and cutting down gas exchange. Thin them regularly so they cover no more than about 50 to 60 percent of the surface; the extra plants make good compost. Koi often eat the roots, and a floating plant island keeps the roots out of reach and the plants out of the skimmer. Our planting instructions cover true floating plants and how to pot the lily-like ones.

Water hyacinth, water lettuce and salvinia are prohibited or restricted in a number of US states and can't be shipped everywhere. Check each product page for current restrictions before ordering, and never release floating plants into a natural waterway.

Floating Plants in the Water Garden

Combine floating plants with oxygenating plants that work below the surface and hardy water lilies for a planting that works from the surface down. Floaters are a natural partner for algae control products, using up the nutrients that fuel green water. Koi may nibble the roots, so add enough plants that grazing doesn't outpace growth. Browse all pond plants for every species we carry. Floating plants work especially well alongside koi fish in established, well-filtered ponds.

Plant orders over $99 ship free; lotus ship separately at a flat $18. Contact our team for floating plant recommendations and availability.

Related Categories

Pond Plants · Oxygenating Pond Plants · Algae Control · Hardy Water Lilies · Koi Fish