The Water GardenWater gardens are a popular way to garden. Suddenly, you're opened up to an entirely new line of plants and pets (fish). As a hobby, it's addictive. It can seem pretty intimidating, though. After all, you just wanted to try it and there seems to be hundreds of websites that will sell you everything… Do you need it all? I've compiled a bit of information that should start you off on the right foot. 
TIPIf you have runoff from your lawn going into your pond, you could have extra fertilizer running into it which would promote algae. If you have chemicals (herbicides) on your lawn it goes without saying that this will be toxic to any life in the pond.Plant a buffer area around your pond, it will catch some of the runoff from your lawn. Another alternative is to change the grade so that not as much of the runoff gets to the pond. If you want fish and plants, a balanced ecosystem is your best defense against algae and other problems. To get a balanced ecosystem, you should plant a mix of plants: marginal, submerged, and lily-type aquatic plants. Bog plants are a nice transition between marginal plants and the rest of the garden. Always check to see how deep the plants should be planted -- You can then create shelves in the pond to support the plants at just the right level. Marginal plants are planted with their roots in the water, but the rest above the water. Example: Cattails, Arrowhead, Pickerel Rush Submerged plants are vital to preventing algae because they feed on what algae feeds on -- therefore if you have enough, it uses the algae food and you get less algae. Plant a variety. Submerged plants seem to be the hardest to find. They aren't as flashy as the other plants, but they are vital to a balanced ecosystem. If these plants are kept in baskets, they won't become invasive. Consider one for every nine square feet of pond. Lily-like aquatics shade the surface of the water and can help to keep the water cool. Never shade more than 70% of the surface, but do plant a good variety. They'll provide cover for fish, too. Bog plants are a nice way to transition between the pond and the rest of the garden. Iris Versicolor is a beautiful, natural plant for Wisconsin. Many pond sites on the web promote fertilizer for the plants, but algae loves this fertilizer, too. You can purchase barley straw which will use the nitrates that algae feeds on. Just make sure to remove it before it decomposes.
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