Adding Water lillies to a fresh water pond with natural springs feeding it

by Dave
(Golden, CO)

We have a neighbor who has water lilies in their pond and she stopped by and asked if we wanted water lilies for our two ponds. Our main concern is that the water lillies will take over the pond and then we will no longer see any water, just the lillies. We live in the foothills outside Denver at 8800 feet. What should we know before we decide to put any water lillies in our pond? What should we be concerned about?

Doug says that if the water is cold - you may not have too much of an issue - they prefer warmer water. If they do grow excessively, then you simply dig some of them up. Or you control them by pulling up the extra growth you don't want.

As for what you need to know - if you like then - go for it (you can control with a bit of effort) but if you don't want to be bothered controlling the growth and you like the look of your pond, then I'd pass on the plants.

Me? I love waterlilies because they're really easy to grow - plant and ignore. But they do spread if happy and do require some cleaning (and will die in winter to leave organic matter on bottom of pond)

Not sure if that's what you need to know but hope it helps a bit.