I just cut back my pickerel rush, but if I drop it to the bottom will it rot because it has hollow stems?..should I have just left it as it was?..help!..lol;)

You can put both plants in a heavy covering of coarse mulch. You can just leave the mulch exposed to the weather. Some people use leaves but I find they pack down too much. Sandy

Sorry I missed this earlier. I cut my pickeral rush to about 3" above the pot and sink 'em to the bottom of my 28" deep pond. As long as the pond doesn't freeze solid they should be ok. In the spring I found mine come back quicker if I bring them right up to the surface early on and then sink them to ~3" over the pot once the growth starts and the water warms up.

Thanks for the answers people!;)...although I just read somewhere not to sink pickerel rush, if it works for you, I'll do it. I've got lots of frogs and I wanted to sink it if I could to possibly give them another place to hibernate.
Thanks again!!
Lance

I am also concerned about the care of my aquatic plants which presently are on the shelf of the pond. There are 3 hardy waterlilies, a pickerel rush, 4 irises, a few others. As the pond is only 8 feet x 10 feet and 2 feet deep, not a lot of room is there on the bottom; also, there are 10 tadpoles and about 11 fish which share the pond. Do I lower all of them to the bottom or can I leave any of them on the shelf. Does the water evaporate during the water? Need help with your advice......

Just so people know, another method for storing water lilies is to remove pot from pond, remove tuber from pot, clean off soil, dry a day or so, wrap in paper towel and then a ziploc bag and store in a fridge crisper. This has worked great for me for a few years now. Of course, the sinking to a deep area of the pond sounds easier (but I don't have a deep area).

Also, just to let you know that I have tried overwintering my mini-cattail as well as juncus spiralis completely outside the pond. That is take the pot out of the pond, dig a hole in a flowerbed on the northeast side of the house and sink the pot up to the rim and fill in around the pot with loose soil. You may mulch with peat, leaves, and pile snow once you get snow. One year I was too late and just threw the pot of mini-cattail in the shed. Believe it or not, it survived -35C temperatures (though I'm sure it was warmer than that in the unheated shed which is right against the house.

Glen

This may be a weird thought but if I lower the pots of waterlilies to the bottom of the pond, will the tadpoles be in danger of enough space to live throughout the winter. There isn't a lot of room in the bottom and it too will be difficult for me to lower these plants. What do you recommend? There are 10 tadpoles and b/c they are black, it is also difficult to spot them.