Which plants should I add to a wildlife pond?

Use a mixture of plant jobs rather than filling the pond with one fast-growing species: submerged cover, upright stems, floating leaves and flowering marginals.

The RHS gives hornwort and water starwort as underwater cover for larvae; water iris as stems for emerging dragonflies and damselflies; waterlilies or water hawthorn as floating resting and shading leaves; and flowering rush, lesser spearwort and marsh marigold as pollinator-friendly marginals. Choose only plants suited to your water depth and the eventual size of the pond.

Plant most bought aquatics in baskets with aquatic or loam-based compost. Do not use rich multipurpose compost or garden soil in the water. Quarantine new purchases where practical because invasive plants can arrive as fragments mixed with another plant.

Native plants are useful, but the RHS notes that some non-native ornamentals also provide habitat. The essential checks are suitability, vigour and legal status. Never take plants from the wild or dump unwanted plants into another water body.

Buy for the space you have

Measure the shelf depths and read the plant's label before buying. A plant for 5cm of water is not interchangeable with one for a deep basket. Check its mature spread as well as its height; the RHS warns that some otherwise useful aquatics become too vigorous in small pools. Start with a few plants and allow room for growth. Keep their names and labels so an unfamiliar shoot can be identified later. Thin ordinary excess growth gradually and leave it beside the pond briefly before composting it.

Sources

• RHS: wildlife ponds — accessed 14 November 2026.
• RHS: choosing pond plants — accessed 14 November 2026.

More from Pond Setup Guide

Use plants for a wildlife pond and how to build a wildlife pond. Oxygenator, marginal and aquatic basket are defined in the pond glossary.