Aquatic Invasive Species & Water Gardens
Mid-Atlantic Panel on Aquatic Invasive Species Logo
This site will help you to properly protect and maintain your water garden to prevent the spread of Invasive Species.
Invasive species commonly appear in water gardens. They are organisms that come from another ecosystem either abroad or from within the country that are moved by artificial means – usually human mediated and are likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human, plant or animal health.
A water garden is fundamentally an outdoor aquarium. The gardener needs to manage the pH, nutrients, and organisms introduced into the system. Just because a plant or animal is invasive doesn’t mean it can’t be ordered and delivered to your door or purchased locally. Unwelcome hitchhikers may also accompany your purchase. Plants and animals known to be invasive or prohibited in the state are often part of plant orders in the water or plant medium or even used for packing.
This presentation is meant to give an overview of the Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Issue as it relates to Water Gardening. The term ‘Invasive species’ carries a particular meaning and set of implications. AIS have specific characteristics that make them a problem, and cause harm that make them worthy of attention. The presentation will touch on how they arrive, and what can be done to prevent their spread. The presentation will also discuss figuring out which species are considered invasive and should be avoided and it will talk about Best Management Practices to protect the local habitat.
The following is a list of references and resources for additional information on identifying aquatic invasive species in your water garden, determining your hardiness zone, finding a local native plant nursery, and more.
This is a How-To Video that will guide you in the process of cleaning plants before adding them to a water feature. This is part of an Extension curriculum designed for the Penn State Master Gardening Program.
Featuring Invasive Species and Their Native Alternatives. This guide, currently available in PDF form only, is intended as a portable reference to accompany you to the garden center. It is designed to help gardeners select native alternatives and avoid plants likely to escape and cause problems.
The following tools are designed to help educators, including Master Gardeners, to teach others about the importance of managing water gardens to prevent aquatic invasive species.
