When it comes to the edges of your ponds, what plants have you had success with for a ground cover-type job? I just finished re-doing a 3' section of my pond edge, and would kinda like to have something that would fill in around the terrestrial plants and hide the rocks a bit. I was thinking something like Oregano, but I wasn't sure about any other options (Sedum or other succulents wouldn't work in the planned surroundings). The "mulch" around the pond is orangish-tan gravel.

The section of edging that I re-did currently has some aquatic irises (a red, a white, and a black) in the water, a rock border covering the edge of the liner, and a stand of Crocosmia "Lucifer" bulbs that I just finished planting. I plan on putting some non-variegated Acorus next to the irises (the foliage should be extremely similar to the Crocosmia, so theoretically it should help mask the water's edge), and some Pennywort for in-pond pot cover. I can re-direct some of the Pennywort over and in-between the rocks, but wasn't sure if there was a good companion to the Pennywort, or if it would do just fine if I planted some out of the water.

Thanks,
Mike

Not sure what kind of sun you get in that area or how tall of a plant you are looking for.

A few summers ago my local garden center had sick looking Stepables marked down. They were $2 for a tray of 6. I just bought a bunch of them and plopped them in the ground. I fed them with Plantone and Ironite the following spring. It took a year, but this year they really took off and my pond edges are starting to look the way I envisioned. Here are some pics:

In this pic the white flower is the Stepable, hutchinsia chamois cress, the ground cover starting to bloom to the right and above the white flower is creeping phlox , the flower growing through the creeping phlox is columbine.

I also have red hens and chicks as ground covers as you can see in the middle of this pic:

I wanted to show you this pic because of the Stepable thyme elfin (right under Woodstock) which is growing over and around the rocks of the pond. I just love this for a ground cover because of this. It is filling in between all the cracks and crevices. It hasn't bloomed yet, but when it does it has a pretty blue flower in the spring.

There are flowering Stepables and non-flowering. I attached the link so you can see them all. Happy planting.

Jenny

Jenny - that first pic reminds me of the Candytuft that I've got planted between the pond and patio - it's just a huge sea of white flowers at the moment.

Actually, here's a couple pics to show what's been done. The first pic shows the edge after I removed the rockwork and exposed the liner. This was the lowest point of the pond edge before I started, and it needed a bit of work anyway.

Second pic shows the results of the day's labor. I reinforced the edge with some lightweight concrete blocks (pulling the liner over and burying it behind the blocks) under the rock cover, and each of the white tags is a Crocosmia bulb. We will have to wait and see how many actually come up.

And the last shot is the current work-in-progress. There used to be some huge ornamental grasses around the skimmer that the previous owner had planted (flagstone), but they made accessing the skimmer a lot harder so away they went. I'll be moving the Coral Bells to the front edge of the skimmer and plant some Canna where the C.B.'s are now. The flagstone will also be replaced with a dock cover in the near future, and I've got some red Asiatic lilies that need a new home, so they'll probably go next to the Candytuft where the mound of Coreopsis currently resides. A continual work-in-progress (isn't everything?)

Thanks, all!

I need to weed it.

I love the creeping jenny. I wish I could grow it here.
Renee

Right now, it's mostly a game of Musical Plants while I try to get everything situated, but hopefully things will start blending together and look a bit more cohesive soon.