Ducks and home water gardens

Hello everyone
Looking for some wisdom regarding ducks and a home garden, more specifically water Lillie's. April is coming up and I'd love to buy a few ducks for my daughter around Easter. We have a great water garden (approx 12'x8' 4 feet deep) in our backyard with a water fall. My husband keeps a few types of hardy water Lillie's in it that bloom etc and are gorgeous. How does everyone think the ducks and water Lillie's will mesh? Will the ducks destroy his Lillie's? Thanks so much

Brit,
I am no expert on ducks.. I am not certain that ducks would up root and eat the lilies but it is a possibility. It may depend on how they are potted and the depth..
I gave up on water lilies in my pond because the koi tare them up.
I know that the geese here in south jersey love to uproot the cranberries in the bogs here so they can eat the roots...
Hopefully someone else here can give you better advice. I would go with it and see what happens because more than likely the ducks aren't going to stay there forever and lilies are replaceable.
Tim

Thanks for your reply Tim. Yeah I'm still up in the air about it. Afraid they'll have a field day and eat up all our pads and beautiful blooms. Then again they may not even bother them. Think it may also depend on what I'm feeding them. If I keep them plenty full chancing are slimmer they'll find our Lillie's appetizing.

Hope there are some other that can share.

Thanks again Tim!!!

Don't know if they eat lilies or not, they will make a mess of the water if it is a small pond.

I thought about that as well. It's a decent size pond (12x8) or so and 4 to 5 ft deep. Also has a pump filtering the water continuously then a small waterfall. Was only thinking of getting 2 or 3 ducks.

You guys think they'll still turn that into a muddy mess lol? I wouldn't know, so all of everyone's input is great!!

That is a decent size pond and it's pretty deep. Deeper than an average koi pond... And considering I don't think the ducks will spend ALL of their time in it, and they will eventually go off to find a bigger pond and other ducks... It may be ok. Do you have a filter? I run a sand pool filter with my pond a couple hours a day during the season to help with all the fish and frog muck.

Back to the lilies... Again I'm not a "duck guy" but I don't think they would eat the leaves or flowers, I would be more afraid of them uprooting the rhizomes and eating the roots.

Come to think of it.. If you had enough lilies and maybe some other water plants, they would thrive off of the muck.

Yes a few ducks would destroy your pond and yard in short order.

Plant your lillies in water soil in wide Pots or containers and 6 inches deep then cover with pepples.  The ducks won't be able to eat the lillies, but they will eat the leaves and flowers.

If you use some metal stakes or wood you can create a little fenced in area in the pond.  This will protect the main plants and only let the ducks get to the edges.

Be careful what materials you use for the fence - no sharp edges or you can injure the ducks.

Google water lillies and duck ponds.  There are a lot of helpful sites