Water lily dying

Despite having cleaned out the pond completely (because previous water lily died) the same thing appears to be happening again. It is as if something is eating the leaves before they have time to grow. There is a stalk and what looks like a leaf trying to develop but it doesn't and eventually the plant dies. Help!

Doug says that we have to start from the beginning. If a plant is dying, it usually means that it isn't getting the growing conditions it wants (leading to weakness in growth). So you're going to have to make sure the conditions for growth are right (full sunshine, lots of food, clay soils, still water, right planting depth and depth of water etc) as detailed on the pages of this site.

After that - and assuming they're all fine, then I'd be checking for snails or very aggressive fish. Both will do this kind of thing if there are more of them than the pond will tolerate or if they're really hungry.

If no snails or fish - you're breaking a major rule in the growing-conditions department.