This summer I learned 1st hand how great a pond can look with enough
plants. I have a top and bottom pond. The top pond is sparking clean
and covered in lilies. The bottom pond is so full of algae you can't
hardly see the fish. The only difference in the ponds is that the top
pond has enough plants and there is only one lily in the bottom pond.
The koi just uses plants as a snack in the bottom pond. It took me a
while to figure out the right number of plants for my pond. I can
across these suggestions and wanted to pass them on. Here's the
numbers for each kind of plant based on common sizes of ponds. 4'x6'
1 Lilly, 5-8 bog plants, 3 floaters, 24 submerged plants. 6'x11' to
11'x11' 2 lilies, 9-13 bog plants, 6 floaters, 44 submerged plants.
11'x11' to 14'x16' 3 lilies, 10-15 bogs, 8 floaters, 90 submerged
plants. 16'x10' to 16'x21' 5 lilies, 13-18 bog plants, 12 floaters,
160 submerged plants. 21'x21' to 26'x 26' 7 lilies, 20-28 bog plants,
15 floaters, 200 submerged plants.

Aquatic plants can be used in birdbaths and fountains as well. Any
floating plant or submerged plants works well. There are even dwarf
waterlilies that can be used in very little water. Visit
http://www.richdeer3.com/site/1566246/page/720126