Low Watermilfoil: A Delicate Native for Your Water Garden
If you’ve been dreaming of adding a touch of aquatic elegance to your garden, meet low watermilfoil (Myriophyllum humile) – a charming native plant that’s perfect for water features and wetland gardens. This petite perennial might not be the showiest plant in your garden, but it’s got character and some serious ecological credentials that make it worth considering.
What Exactly Is Low Watermilfoil?
Low watermilfoil is a delicate aquatic forb – basically a non-woody perennial plant that loves to get its feet wet. Also known by its synonym Burshia humilis, this native beauty produces feathery, finely divided leaves that create an almost ethereal underwater display. The leaves are arranged in neat whorls around slender stems, giving the plant a distinctive bottle-brush appearance that’s quite charming once you get to know it.
As a perennial, low watermilfoil will return year after year, making it a reliable addition to your aquatic landscape. Don’t expect towering heights – this is definitely a low profile plant that stays modest in stature, living up to its common name.
Where Does It Call Home?
This native gem has quite an impressive natural range across northeastern North America. You’ll find low watermilfoil naturally occurring from southeastern Canada down through much of the northeastern and upper midwestern United States. Its native territory includes New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in Canada, and states like Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
If you live within this range, you’re in luck – you’ll be supporting local ecosystems by choosing this native species over non-native alternatives.
A Water Baby Through and Through
Here’s something fascinating about low watermilfoil: it’s classified as Obligate Wetland across all regions where it grows. This means it almost always occurs in wetlands and truly needs consistently moist to submerged conditions to thrive. This isn’t a plant you can stick in your regular flower bed and hope for the best – it’s a committed aquatic species that knows what it wants!
Why Consider Low Watermilfoil for Your Garden?
While low watermilfoil might not win any beauty contests, it has several qualities that make it an excellent choice for the right gardener:
- Native plant benefits: Supporting local ecosystems and wildlife
- Specialized niche: Perfect for water gardens, bog gardens, and rain gardens
- Low maintenance: Once established in the right conditions, it largely takes care of itself
- Ecological value: Provides habitat for aquatic wildlife and helps with water filtration
- Unique texture: Adds delicate, feathery texture to aquatic plantings
Is It Right for Your Garden?
Low watermilfoil is ideal if you have or are planning:
- A water garden or pond
- A bog garden or wetland restoration project
- A rain garden in consistently moist areas
- Natural swimming pools or constructed wetlands
However, this plant isn’t suitable for traditional landscape beds or containers unless you can maintain constant moisture or submersion. It’s definitely a specialist!
Growing Conditions and Care
Low watermilfoil thrives in USDA hardiness zones 3-7, making it quite cold-hardy for northern gardeners. Here’s what it needs to be happy:
- Light: Full sun to partial shade
- Water: Consistently moist soil to shallow submersion
- Soil: Tolerates various soil types as long as they stay wet
- pH: Prefers acidic to neutral conditions
Planting and Maintenance Tips
Getting low watermilfoil established is fairly straightforward if you have the right conditions:
- Plant in shallow water (up to a few inches deep) or saturated soil edges
- Space plants according to your desired coverage – they may spread naturally over time
- Minimal fertilization needed – wetland plants are typically adapted to lower nutrient conditions
- Monitor for spreading if you want to contain it to specific areas
- Winter care is minimal – the plant will naturally die back and return in spring
The Bottom Line
Low watermilfoil isn’t for every garden or every gardener, but for those with water features or wetland areas, it’s a wonderful native option that brings both ecological value and delicate beauty to aquatic spaces. While it may not be the star of the show, it’s the kind of supporting player that makes the whole ecosystem work better.
If you’re passionate about native plants and have the right growing conditions, low watermilfoil deserves a spot in your aquatic garden. Just remember – this is one plant that really, truly needs to keep its feet wet!
