Discover the Beauty and Role of Native Aquatic Plants – in Your Own Pond

Discover the Beauty and Role of Native Aquatic Plants – in Your Own Pond

by | Apr 8, 2016

A stand of purple wetland plants called "False Dragon Heads (Physostegia spp.)

A stand of purple flowers called “False Dragon-Heads (Physostegia spp.) growing along the St. Marks River. They are behind a stand of pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata) that has not yet bloomed. Photo: Judy Biss

This is the time of year when gardens burst forth with lush green growth and colorful flowers.  With a little planning and management, your backyard pond can also put on the same show each year and fight unwanted pond weeds at the same time!

Fish and farm ponds are abundant in the Florida panhandle.  Most are two acres or less and are used for producing catfish, bass, and bream; for recreation and wildlife viewing; for fishing and swimming; and for irrigation and livestock watering.  Ponds play an important role in various aspects of agricultural production and rural life, and for that reason, maintaining their ecological health is critical to their many uses.

Managing aquatic plants is one important component of pond ownership.  If you are a pond owner, you have probably seen and read many articles related to controlling and removing aquatic weeds.  Just as in terrestrial gardens, there are a number of non-native (and sometimes native) plants that can become quite weedy and problematic in and around your pond.  Hydrilla, water hyacinth, torpedograss, Chinese tallow, alligator weed, and the tiny water spangles (common Salvinia) are just a few examples that plague our waterways and shorelines.  But, controlling and removing weeds is only part of the bigger picture of pond management.  Planting native wetland plants is another ecologically important and aesthetically enriching management tool as well.

By establishing beds of healthy native plants, you are also fighting against weedy non-native invasive plants through competition for space.  Some other benefits of native aquatic plants are they act as a barrier, filtering fertilizers such as nitrogen and phosphorus from runoff, and they help control erosion.  Also, because native plants are adapted to our local environments, they are generally easy to grow, and most require little or no extra water or fertilizer.

Below are a few guidelines to follow if you are considering the use of native aquatic plants in your pond.

Know Your Plants:

Depending on the type, aquatic plants generally grow in three forms.  Emerged, like maidencane or bulrush, submerged like coontail and southern naiad, and floating, like the tiny free floating duckweed, and spatterdock and fragrant water lily which are rooted with floating leaves and flowers at the water’s surface. There are many good UF/IFAS publications and online resources for aquatic plant identification.  Some are listed at the end of this article.

Plan Ahead:

Some questions to ask are, what is the primary use of your pond?  Is it wildlife viewing, swimming, fishing, irrigation, etc.?  The answers to these questions will help you determine how much of your pond and shoreline will be planted, and what types of plants to use.  For example, if you use your pond for fishing and irrigation, you should leave some areas of the shore unplanted and mowed to allow for access, and you should not plant submerged plants that may clog irrigation intakes.  On the other hand, if your pond is primarily for attracting wildlife, you can plant most of the shoreline including some types of submerged aquatic plants.

Right Plant Right Place:

You may have heard this Florida Friendly Landscaping term before, as it holds true for any garden including aquatic gardens.  Choose plants that grow best in the water depth and planting “shelves” you have in and around your pond.  By “shelf” we are referring to the slope of your shoreline.  Is it a gradual, gentle slope into deeper water, or is it steep and abrupt?  Also, become familiar with seasonal changes in your pond’s water depth, as it may affect the plants you select.

Prepare For Maintenance:

Just like a vegetable garden, your newly planted aquatic plants (especially those that are emerged) will need attention in the first year or so of establishment.  Remove dead plants and weed out unwanted plants.

Where to Purchase the Plants:

For a list of Florida native plant suppliers, visit the Association of Florida Native Nurseries (AFNN) Please Note: collecting wild plants in Florida is subject to various regulations and may require permits!  Visit this website for details on wild collection – Florida Plant Collecting and Transport, Regulations and Permitting, University of Florida Herbarium

Here are some helpful resources used for this article with more detail on establishing aquatic plants around your pond.

 

 

Celebrate Gopher Tortoise Day – April 10

Celebrate Gopher Tortoise Day – April 10

by | Apr 8, 2016

This gopher tortoise was found in the dune fields on a barrier island - an area where they were once found. Photo: DJ Zemenick

This gopher tortoise was found in the dune fields on a barrier island – an area where they were once found.
Photo: DJ Zemenick

The state of Florida has designated Sunday April 10 as “Gopher Tortoise Day”.  The objective is to bring awareness to this declining species and, hopefully, an interest in protecting it.

 

During his travels across the southeast in the late 18th century, William Bartram mentioned this creature several times.  As he walked through miles of open longleaf pine he would climb sand hills where he often encountered the tortoise.  These turtles do like high dry sandy habitats.  Here they dig their famous burrows into the earth.

 

These burrows can extend almost 10 feet vertically below the surface but, being excavated at an angle, can extend 20 feet in length. There is only one entrance and the tortoise works hard to maintain it.  Field biologists have been able to identify over 370 species of upland creatures that utilize these burrows as refuge either for short or long periods of time. These include the declining diamondback rattlesnakes, gopher frogs, and the endangered indigo snakes, but most are insects and small mammals.  Because of the importance of the burrows to these species, gopher tortoises are listed as keystone species – meaning their decline will trigger the decline of the others and can upset the balance of the ecosystem. Gopher burrows can be distinguished from mammal burrows in that they are domed across the top but flat along the bottom, as opposed to being oval.  The width of the burrow is close to the length of the tortoise. When danger is encountered the tortoise will turn sideways – effectively blocking the entire entrance.  Though there are cases of multiple tortoises in one, the general rule is one tortoise per burrow.

 

Tortoises are herbivores, feeding on a variety of young herbaceous shoots, and fruit when they can get find them. Fire is important to the longleaf system and it is important to the gophers as well.  Fires encourage new young shoots to sprout.  If an area does not receive sufficient fire, and the ground vegetation allowed grow larger with tougher leaves, the tortoise will abandon their burrow and seek more suitable habitat – which, especially in Florida – is becoming harder and harder to find.  They typically breed in the fall and will lay their 5-10 eggs in the loose sand near the entrance of the burrow in spring.  In August the hatchlings emerge and may hide beneath leaf litter, but will quickly begin their own burrows.

 

This tortoise is only found in the southeast of the United States and it is in decline across the region. They are currently listed as threatened in Florida but are federally protected in Louisiana, Mississippi, and western Alabama.  They are found across our state as far south as the Everglades.  There are several reasons why their numbers have declined.  Human consumption was common in the early parts of the 20th century, and still is in some locations – though illegal.  Some would, at times, pour gasoline down the burrow to capture rattlesnakes – this of course did not fare well for the tortoise.  A big problem is the loss of suitable habitat.  Much of upland systems require periodic fires to maintain the reproductive cycle of community members.  The suppression of fire has caused the decline of many species in our state including gopher tortoises.  These under maintained forest have forced tortoises to roadsides, power line fields, airports, and pastures.  In each case they have encountered humans with cars, lawn mowers, and heavy equipment.  Keep in mind also that our growing population is forcing us to clear much of these upland habitats for developments where clearing has caused the burial (entombment) of many burrows.

 

This is a unique turtle to our region and honestly, is a pleasure to see. We hope you will take the time to learn more about them by visiting FWC’s Gopher Tortoise Day website, enjoy watching them if they live near you, and help us conserve this species for future generations.