Planting pond plants

[joeyt66]

I went out to a pond/swap near my house and decided to grab a few things for my new pond. I got some cattail grass, and a couple lily pads. Now when i put them in the pond do i have to put soil in the bucket as well to keep them rooted? What other tips can you give me on planting. Pond is 8'x8' 14 inches deep. Sunlight till about 1pm then shady. Any info would be great

[Fishnut]

Definately, they have to be rooted in some kind of soil and basket.  There are some good pond soils out there but I have no experience with any of them.  My koi root up and/or eat everything I put in there except for the odd floating plant.

[Anja]

Something to anchor them, so they don't just float up. I haven't tried aquatic soil, mine just root in gravel and are fine with that.

[Cbellehumeur]

i used i water basket/pot and lined it in burlap and put a very small amount of clay/soil on the roots and top it with gravel. the gravel help contain the soil and works as a weight. the burlap also keeps all the soil clay mix in the pot. aquatic soil is supposed to work well i just did mine the cheaper easier way and it works fine.