Improving Community Ponds with Native Plants
As a result, ponds that should be attractive
and functional become costly environmental
problems. A costly environmental problem
is how Oak Court Association in
Sarasota County viewed one of their ponds
for twenty years. During that time, they
spent thousands of dollars repeatedly replacing
their pond’s littoral shelf planting.
The littoral shelf is the shoreline or shallow
area around the edge of the pond. Littoral
zone plantings are critical in protecting
water quality, controlling erosion and providing
habitat for all kinds of wildlife in and
out of the water.
The most common reasons that littoral
shelf plantings fail include improperly designed
pond bottoms that drop off steeply
rather than providing a natural gradual
slope, construction-compacted soils that are
too hard for small plants to root in and improper
plant selection. Poor existing water
quality and the overuse or misuse of fertilizers,
herbicides and pesticides can also harm
or destroy plants. Oak Court Association
couldn’t identify the source of their prob-
Many Florida
Water quality
neighborhoods and
urban areas developed
since the 1980s feature
artificial ponds that store
and filter rainwater coming
off roofs, driveways,
roads and elevated lawns.
Unfortunately, many
of these ponds are not
created or managed in a
way that mimics natural
wetland ecosystems.
PHOTO: FANN
The worst practice: grass to the water’s edge. This
is a recipe for disaster as fertilizer and other inputs
applied to the grass will leach into the water. Probably
grass clippings from mowers will make their
way to the water also, a no-no for protecting water
quality. The fountain looks pretty but don’t be fooled:
it will not improve your pond’s water quality.
8 | GUIDE FOR REAL FLORIDA GARDENERS FALL 2018 FANN/Florida Association of Native Nurseries