brown water from peat

by jg
(Dayton, OH)

I have not yet put plants in my new pond, but was told to use sphagnum moss, then pebbles on top of the soil of the lilies so the soil wouldn't sift into the pond. Will sphagnum cause brown water also?? It is the the stringy-pale tan colored type, NOT the powdery dark brown powdery peat moss you get for planting the garden. Hopefully someone will reply quickly before I make a mistake using the wrong thing; I don't want to put off planting the lilies any longer than I have to.

Doug says that yes indeed, peat will cause small ponds to turn brown. I have no idea who told you to put peat on top of the pot and weight it down with rocks. That's the first time I've ever heard that bit of advice.

Normally, we use a heavy clay soil (no peat) to plant lilies and then only use rocks if we have large fish in the pond that like to dig about in the soil.