What is aquascaping?

The new gardening trend you need to know about. - by Laura Barry

Looking for a new and interesting way to not only challenge your green thumb abilities, but to display your plants? Then we have the gardening trend for you. Aquascaping is the art of building underwater landscapes in bowl or tanks. These aquatic gardens can then be displayed in your home, and potentially even house fish.

What you’ll need:

A large tank
An LED over-tank light
A little bit of underwater plant knowledge
Aquatic plant substrate
Decorative landscaping objects

Plants that can grow underwater:

Amazon sword
Anubias nana
Java fern
Java moss
Dwarf baby tears
Water wisteria
Rotala Indica
Ludwigia repens

How to arrange your aquascape

Start by pouring a layer of aquatic plant substrate, such as Flourite Dark premium natural substrate for the planted aquarium, in the bottle of your tank, enough to root the plants in.
Use a ‘carpet’ plant as your base – something than can grow across the bottom of the tank like a seagrass or moss.
Add decorative objects that will create a ‘landscape’, such as driftwood, rocks, pebbles or sculpture that won’t suffer any chemical changes underwater.
Plant large, colourful and bold aquatic plants around your landscape.
Place an LED light above your tank to ensure the plants get enough light.

You might also like:

How to grow plants in water

3 ways your plants can water themselves

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Looking for some indoor plants that will thrive on neglect? Watch the video below.

Laura Barry

Laura Barry is a writer, bookworm and interior design enthusiast with a love for reporting on all things homes, travel and lifestyle. When not tapping away at her keyboard, Laura can be found making endless cups of tea or perusing the shelves of Sydney’s many bookstores.