Top Eight Oxygenating Water Garden Plants

Fish and other aquatic life, just like all other animals, breathe oxygen. However, fish do not breathe atmospheric oxygen like terrestrial creatures. Instead they extract disolved oxygen from the water with their gills. Oxygenator water garden plants are used in backyard ponds to increase the amount of disolved oxygen in the water. This increases the overall health of your water garden and its inhabitants. This article covers the top eight oxygenator water garden plants for backyard ponds.

Water Garden Plant - Water Starwort

The starworts come from a family of water garden plants that incorporate about twenty-five species. Most come from southern Africa and do well in temperate locations. While some varieties have thread-like leaves on long stems, other boast star-shaped bunches of leaves that float on the water.

Water Garden Plant - Hornwort

This is a very hardy water garden plant that can tolerate shade. It grows in dense clumps of dark green, skinny leaves. It can be grown anchored to the mud or pond substrate or left to float on the surface.

Water Garden Plant - Elodea

This common pond plant looks a lot like the hornwort with the narrow leaves in dense spirals around each stem. There are both hardy and more delicate varieties.

Water Garden Plant - Water Violet

While the foliage of water violet is attractive, the real attraction to this pond plant are the tall stalks of flowers that appear in summer. Each stalk, which can grown up to a foot tall, holds small white and yellow flowers.

Water Garden Plant - Anarchis

This plant can be rooted in the pond substrate or left to float freely. It has long, bright green stems with feathery leaves surrounding them. Anarchis is one of the most commonly used oxygenating water garden plants.

Water Garden Plant - Milfoil

One of the most popular types of milfoil is the Parrot's Feather variety. These bushy plants have feathery tips which raise themselves over the surface of the water. Some milfoil plants grow completely out of the water and climb over rocks or logs at the edge of the water garden.

Water Garden Plant - Pondweed

Pondweed have relatively large, curved leaves that come in colors ranging from bright green to reddish brown. Unlike many other oxygenating water garden plants, they do not have long stalks.

Water Garden Plant - Water Crowfoot

This is one oxygenating water garden plant that is not totally submerged. It grows flat leaves that float on the surface of the water as well as skinny leaves that grow on the submerged stems. Water crowfoot has white and yellow flowers in the summer. It spreads rapidly in full sun.