Most people will have seen a picture like the one above. Its a nice drawing.
Marginals at the edge, floating-leaved plants in deeper water and submerged plants in the middle.
This is how people who write books and guides think ponds should look: it rarely occurs in the real world.
Yellow Iris gowing in a garden pond (phtographed today in Oxford)
Here’s a typical example of the way nature doesn’t imitate art: a garden pond with no plants at the margin because of the steep sides and the stone edging.
Instead the marginals are growing in the deepest water in the centre of the pond.
Most people will have seen similar examples themselves and wondered why they aren’t shown in books.
PS Diligent searchers of the web will, I am sure, be able to locate the original of the drawing above.
