Mesh baskets for pond plants?
Hi WWM crew, thanks for your past advice.
<Howdy>
I have two ponds with water lilies and a few other plants.  What is your opinion on using a mesh baskets?   Some people say that it leads to healthier plants since the roots have easier access to nutrients in the water, but I have also heard that the soil just leaches out into the pond in a very short time.   What is the truth?
<I have seen and on a few occasions used these, but by and large am not a big fan for exactly the reason you state... they leak whatever mix of soil et al. is in them. Consider the circumstances that these plants live in "in the wild"... no mesh baskets, no ready flow of water through their root areas. Bob Fenner>
Thanks.  Jeff