Kingcup (Marsh Marigold)

Kingcup before repotting

Whilst it is very good at keeping the water in, the brown plastic pond lining is not in the least bit attractive so our aim is to put plants wherever the liner is exposed.

The beauty of pond plants is that they not only look nice but they help to clean the water,  provide the frogs, newts and other creatures somewhere to hide, and the Wagtails and Finches love being on and amongst them.  We brought a  few plants from our small old pond into our bright and shiny new pond in the courtyard, but due to priorities elsewhere on the old farm the plants were neglected resulting in them becoming extremely pot-bound.

Potbound Kingcup

Of the three plants we moved the Kingcup is our favourite, with its yellow flowers reflecting joyfully in the pond, so we concentrated our efforts on rescuing it.

The Kingcup is such a wonderful plant that The Royal Horticultural Society has given it its prestigious Award of Garden Merit (AGM).  I can understand why as it takes quite a bit of punishment and yet still manages to look fantastic, so it would certainly get a garden merit award from us!

Kingcup roots being gently removed from pot

Extracting the plant from the plant pot was the first job. This was tricky as roots had not only grown through the holes in the base of the pot but also the mesh holes around the sides. However with some careful cutting of the pot we were able to break it away from the root ball without too much damage and tease the roots from the holes. As the root ball was enormous we decided to split the plant into smaller sections.  Looking for the natural groupings of stems we took a spade and sliced through the root ball giving ourselves four healthy looking smaller plants.

Kingcup split into 4 for repotting

Kingcup in reclaimed terracotta ridge tile

As we did not have any aquatic plant pots we decided to plant the Kingcups in upturned ridge tiles. We have a large number of old and broken tiles from the restoration of our roofs so we are always looking for new ways in which to use them.

Reusing these tiles fits in with our ethos of using as much material from the farm as we can and gives us a buzz knowing that we have saved some money and reduced wastage.

Reflection of barn in pond with plants in reclaimed terracotta tiles

Arranging the tiles in the pond we can see another benefit to using the old ridge tiles; with the water level so low they look a lot nicer than the plastic pots.

Over the next couple of weeks (or maybe sooner) we will repot the other plants, including the Greater Pond Sedge, into terracotta tiles so that the whole side of the pond will be covered.