How do you overwinter plants that are in the pond?

Plants currently in the pond are parrot's feather, water fringe, minature water lily, water lettuce, fairy moss, primrose creeper and water milfoil. I also have some goldfish that i know can overwinter in the pond. It does not freeze solid in the winter here in Australia. My area is zone 8.



How do i overwinter the plants?



With the submerged plants do I just cut some stems and put them in a bucket with mud on the bottom and put it in the basement where it gets no sunlight?

Or do i just leave the submerged plants in their pot and in the following spring leave it the way it was without cutting?



What do i do with the water fringe and water lillies?

Since the lily pad and water fringe are hardy, do i leave it in the pond and in the following spring cut all the leaves off to encourage new growth?

How do you overwinter plants that are in the pond?
We made a mesh cover - wooden frame and covered with the thick green plastic mesh sold for climbing plants.

When leaves start falling, I have a large piece of fruit cover mesh which I lay over the top (and hold in place with clothes pegs!); this catches a lot of leaves to prevent them falling in the water.

When the very cold snaps arrive here in the Midlands, UK, I have a similar size piece of large bubble wrap, and whenever frost is forecast, put that on the frame (again clothes pegs). It's easy to unroll once the sun is up or temperatures have risen. The water never freezes, the pond and contents have light and I never remove any plants.
Reply:Many people remove them for the winter and some do not. I am one that does not.

I cut everything back in the late fall parrot feather included and it returns in the spring. You will find that the water lillies grow back larger and more profusely the older they get. I'm in zone 6b and my parrot feather doesn't flourish until the start of summer. The Irises, pickerel, dwarf cattails,dwarf papyrus, creeping.

golden jenny, they all return and they winter in the pond. The exception is water hyacinth. I have found that by hiding my water hycinth behind some of the marginals they will grow better and then start the spread otherwise the koi eat the baby white roots and hinder good growth.

Another first for me is my water lillies became unpotted but rooted in the Schultz aquatic soil and are flourishing . Koi are destructive .The goldfish are just fertile. I have to find homes every year.

My hobby
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your question.
Reply:I had a water garden in KC, MO for 10 years with all kinds of plants and lillies..I deadheaded and that's it.I let the pump run through some of the cold weather,knocked a hole for the fish when it froze over....it was 1 foot deep on one side and 3 feet deep on the other and about 7 x 9 in size , I stair stepped on one side to put the plant pots on the ledges.......sometimes it would be frozen over with a small hole for weeks,not always.....I don't remember losing anything.....I am not sure about your plants and zone but it sounds like it's warmer than here.If it does't freeze over there.....I would ask your fellow water gardeners in that area to be sure...... my water lillies escaped the pots and had a rootball with soil and did great too.....