"rob.smith4" wrote in message
...
Hi my pond is not enormous and the lillys I have in the pond are huge,and
they are starting to take over,can these be cut back without killing them
all together,finding it more and more difficult to see my fish at all.
=======================================
You can't really cut them back or they suffer. Just remove the outer
yellowing leaves. I have the same problem in my ponds. The lilies get
HUGE! Last weekend we cleaned out my smaller 800 gal pond and I removed
about half the lilies to kiddy pools - to give away. I love that mini water
lily from Wal-Mart as it blooms constantly and is less than 2' across. It's
perhaps 18" across. My best bloomers, the yellow lilies, can spread to 6
and more feet across. I gave away a white lily a few years ago that just
about covered 1/2 the pond surface by itself.
--
Carol....
~~~~~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Fri, 06 Aug 2004 17:16:49 GMT, "rob.smith4"
wrote:

Hi my pond is not enormous and the lillys I have in the pond are huge,and
they are starting to take over,can these be cut back without killing them
all together,finding it more and more difficult to see my fish at all.


You could remove some. I try to keep at least half of the water
surface cleared, but that seems to be a never-ending chore. I add the
plants to a compost pile. I must have removed elodea, azola, and
parrot feather by the ton. The fish love it and seem to spawn more
often with plants.

If you haven't been doing so, pinch off the older yellowing or tattered
pads, anything that looks ugly. This will open up space and actually give
you healthier growth. Next spring plan to divide half of them. ~ jan

On Fri, 06 Aug 2004 17:16:49 GMT, "rob.smith4" wrote:

Hi my pond is not enormous and the lillys I have in the pond are huge,and
they are starting to take over,can these be cut back without killing them
all together,finding it more and more difficult to see my fish at all.


~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

I just read that the tropical night bloomer "Emily Grant Hutchings" can be
planted in an 8 or 10 inch pot to reduce the size of the leaf spread without
sacrificing flower production. Perhaps reducing the size of the pots may
improve your situation? I have no personal experience trying this and read
about it in the Perry Slocum and Peter Robinson book, "Water Gardening-Water
Lilies and Lotuses." They are well known in the water garden industry.

There are many dwarf cultivars that are naturally small in leaf spread.



From: "rob.smith4"
Organization: ntlworld News Service
Newsgroups: rec.ponds
Date: Fri, 06 Aug 2004 17:16:49 GMT
Subject: Pond plants taking over help

Hi my pond is not enormous and the lillys I have in the pond are huge,and
they are starting to take over,can these be cut back without killing them
all together,finding it more and more difficult to see my fish at all.

I just read that the tropical night bloomer "Emily Grant Hutchings" can be
planted in an 8 or 10 inch pot to reduce the size of the leaf spread without
sacrificing flower production. Perhaps reducing the size of the pots may
improve your situation? I have no personal experience trying this and read
about it in the Perry Slocum and Peter Robinson book, "Water Gardening-Water
Lilies and Lotuses." They are well known in the water garden industry.

There are many dwarf cultivars that are naturally small in leaf spread.



From: "rob.smith4"
Organization: ntlworld News Service
Newsgroups: rec.ponds
Date: Fri, 06 Aug 2004 17:16:49 GMT
Subject: Pond plants taking over help

Hi my pond is not enormous and the lillys I have in the pond are huge,and
they are starting to take over,can these be cut back without killing them
all together,finding it more and more difficult to see my fish at all.

Do you remember what the name of that one is? I have a couple of
minis I got at Wal-Mart last year, and they've never bloomed.

Thanks,
Mary

On Fri, 6 Aug 2004 15:51:34 -0500, "~ Windsong ~"
wrote:

I love that mini water lily from Wal-Mart
as it blooms constantly and is less than 2' across.
--
Carol....

"Marizel" wrote in message
...
Do you remember what the name of that one is? I have a couple of
minis I got at Wal-Mart last year, and they've never bloomed.

Thanks,
Mary
==============================
No, I don't remember the names of the lilies I bought there. I do know most
lilies need a lot of sun and fertilizer to bloom well. The will not bloom
unless they get the sun they need no matter what fertilizer you use. I use
Rose Spikes broken into 3rds. Each lily gets a 1/3 of a spike when blooming
slows but not after Sept 1st. I plant them in large plant baskets lined
with any kind of non cotton fabric and a clay soil covered with pea gravel.
--
Carol....
"A good friend will come and bail you out of jail...but, a true friend
will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!" Let's do
it again."
~~~~~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~