SLIDESHOW

Acontainer water garden is a perfect, low-maintenance plant vessel for homeowners or apartment dwellers.

The water adds a cool, refreshing element. The floating plants provide color and drama. Fish can even survive nicely if the container is large enough and appropriate plants are chosen.

Time-crunched gardeners will love the simplicity -- add water once a week and feed the fish daily. Container water gardens also are much less expensive and more environmentally friendly than digging up the yard and installing pumps, filters, plastic and stone for a lawn pond.

We asked landscape contractor Kathy Wulf, owner of Green Leaf Gardens in Richmond, to show us how to assemble a container water garden.

Container: a 10-gallon pot. The container had a drainage hole, which Wulf plugged with a rubber bathtub stopper. She sealed around the plug with silicone caulk and let it set several days before adding water.

Plants: One water lily (for drama); one 5-inch potted marginal (found at the edge of a pond) such as Acorus; one 5-inch potted oxygenator (for fish), such as Hydrocotyle; and one floater (to prevent algae), such as water hyacinth. Garden centers usually keep water plants grouped in one area.

Other materials: Water; aquarium gravel; bricks (to place on the container bottom and raise the potted plants to different heights); goldfish (optional); AquaSafe water treatment (if you include fish)

Cost: About $180 Plug the drain in your container with a rubber stopper. Seal around the hole with silicone caulk. Once the caulk is set, fill the container halfway with water. If you're going to add fish, be sure the water is treated with a conditioner that neutralizes chlorine and heavy metals. Put a small amount of aquarium gravel around each plant in its pot. This will keep the soil from floating to the surface once the plants are immersed in water. Place potted plants in the water, with taller ones at the edges. Use bricks as pedestals to achieve desired heights. Finish filling the container with water. Add floating plants, such as water hyacinth, that don't need dirt. If you want to add fish, wait several days. Take a sample of your water to be tested at a pet or aquarium store. Place the container in a site with filtered sun and afternoon shade. "It's a delicate balance -- getting enough sunlight for the lilies but not too much heat for the water," Wulf said. Contact Julie Young at (804) 649-6732 or jyoung@timesdispatch.com.