Add a bit of whimsy to your yard by building a water garden

A water garden is a great way to fill out your garden space with unique features and water plants.

Whether you want your garden to look like a Monet waterlily painting or you just love the cool, reflective surface of a pond, these basic water garden steps will get you there. Then, you can customise with colourful waterlilies, lotus flowers and your favourite pond-loving fish!

The benefits of having a water garden

Your garden’s ecosystem will gain great benefits from a lily pond, and it’s those floating pads that do most of the work. They provide shade, cover and UV protection for fish and tadpoles.

The pads add oxygen, regulate water temperature to prevent algal growth, and their filters absorb the excess nutrients that feed algae.

Birds, lizards, dragonflies and damselflies are attracted to lily ponds, creating a lively and vibrant environment.

This beautiful reflective space will give you ideas galore for your own backyard water garden.

(Photography: Brent Wilson)

Visit Austral Water Garden at 1295 Pacific Highway, Cowan, NSW from Mon-Sat, 9-5pm.
Get inspired by Austral Water Garden

How to build a water garden

Building a water garden only requires a couple of steps – the main thing that’s difficult is waiting for your water to be purified!

Here’s what you’ll need and how to create your own water garden in the backyard:

small water garden in large plant pot with larger pond behind it — (Photography: Brent Wilson)

Gather your supplies

Large container, 300mm deep minimum, without drainage holes
Fresh water
Water conditioner and beneficial nitrifying bacteria
Honey blue-eye fish (Pseudomugil mellis)
Potted aquatic plants, including waterlily, Vallisneria aquatic grass and native water reed Baumea juncea
Gravel

Step 1

Fill a container with water and make it fish-safe by waiting for a day or adding tap water conditioner. Also add nitrifying bacteria.

Step 2

Gently add the fish.

tiny fish in pond — (Photography: Brent Wilson)

Step 3

Cover the soil in the plant pots with gravel to keep the soil in place.

Step 4

Gently position the Vallisneria, Baumea juncea and waterlily in place.

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green water grass being placed into pond garden — (Photography: Brent Wilson)

Plants to add to your water garden

Hardy ‘Somp Tuo Sa’ waterlily (Photography: Brent Wilson)

Hardy waterlily

Nymphaea

Hardy or European waterlilies can be grown in all climates, as long as they have at least 5 hours of sun every day.

Lightly fragrant, these water beauties will bloom from October to April, opening in the morning and closing as the sun goes down.

Tropical ‘White Delight’ waterlily (Photography: Brent Wilson)

Tropical waterlily

Nymphaea

Tropical waterlilies thrive in warm weather conditions and bloom from December to June.

They have a more extensive colour range than that of hardy waterlilies, and can bloom from blue all the way to bright pink and orange. In the tropical waterlily family, there are day bloomers and night bloomers!

Lotus plant

Nelumbo nucifera

The lotus flower looks similar to a waterlily, but it’s the large seedpods that distinguish these interesting water plants.

Their colours are pink, white and yellow, and they bloom between December and April.

Garden editor & horticulturist Jenny Dillon Garden editor

Jenny Dillon is the garden editor of Better Homes and Gardens. She studied horticulture and landscape design at the world-renowned Ryde Horticultural College to solidify her appreciation of gardens, stemming from having grown up in regional and rural New Zealand, where agriculture and horticulture is a way of life.

Writer Rachel Iorfino Senior content producer

Rachel Iorfino is a senior content producer for Better Homes and Gardens who specialises in gardening and lifestyle content. With a Bachelor's degree in English and Visual Arts under her belt, Rachel excels in storytelling through her writing and content creation. Rachel is known for her love of native plants and flowers, and will always recommend an Aussie alternative to installing a turf lawn in your backyard!

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