Hi Mike,
Pennywort will grow outside of the pond.
If you have fish in your pond please remember that some plants are poisonous to them so be careful what you plant nearby.
You might also try some Chameleon/Rainbow plant. Some people say it grows just as well outside of the pond too.

Not sure what kind of sun you get in that area or how tall of a plant you are looking for.

I use Waterperry Blue Speedwell, a non-invasive perennial groundcover that tolerates full to part sun. It is a spring bloomer---little blue flowers blooming right now. The leaves kind of remind me of oregano. It is sold in individual pots with the perennials and I have also seen it sold in the flats with groundcovers like "stepables." I would think some of sedums would also work well also.

Hi Mike:

A few summers ago my local garden center had sick looking Stepables marked down. They were $2 for a tray of 6. I just bought a bunch of them and plopped them in the ground. I fed them with Plantone and Ironite the following spring. It took a year, but this year they really took off and my pond edges are starting to look the way I envisioned. Here are some pics:

In this pic the white flower is the Stepable, hutchinsia chamois cress, the ground cover starting to bloom to the right and above the white flower is creeping phlox , the flower growing through the creeping phlox is columbine.

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I also have red hens and chicks as ground covers as you can see in the middle of this pic:

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I wanted to show you this pic because of the Stepable thyme elfin (right under Woodstock) which is growing over and around the rocks of the pond. I just love this for a ground cover because of this. It is filling in between all the cracks and crevices. It hasn't bloomed yet, but when it does it has a pretty blue flower in the spring.

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There are flowering Stepables and non-flowering. I attached the link so you can see them all. Happy planting.

Jenny

Here is a link that might be useful: Stepables

For plant size, I was looking towards a low-growing ( Jenny - that first pic reminds me of the Candytuft that I've got planted between the pond and patio - it's just a huge sea of white flowers at the moment.

Actually, here's a couple pics to show what's been done. The first pic shows the edge after I removed the rockwork and exposed the liner. This was the lowest point of the pond edge before I started, and it needed a bit of work anyway.

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Second pic shows the results of the day's labor. I reinforced the edge with some lightweight concrete blocks (pulling the liner over and burying it behind the blocks) under the rock cover, and each of the white tags is a Crocosmia bulb. We will have to wait and see how many actually come up.

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And the last shot is the current work-in-progress. There used to be some huge ornamental grasses around the skimmer that the previous owner had planted (flagstone), but they made accessing the skimmer a lot harder so away they went. I'll be moving the Coral Bells to the front edge of the skimmer and plant some Canna where the C.B.'s are now. The flagstone will also be replaced with a dock cover in the near future, and I've got some red Asiatic lilies that need a new home, so they'll probably go next to the Candytuft where the mound of Coreopsis currently resides. A continual work-in-progress (isn't everything?)

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Thanks, all!

I used creeping jenny (I think that's what it's called) & it really exploded this year after looking like it suffered this winter (bad winter). I step on it all the time.

I need to weed it.

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Wow, you all have such beautiful ponds. Timbersmith, I love your plant choices. I grow a small variegated ivy, oregano, and zoysia around my ponds, but I have a whole section left unplanted because I can't find the right plants!

I love the creeping jenny. I wish I could grow it here.
Renee

This is just the inspiration I needed. Thanks. Finally finished the majority of rocking the edges. The next step is planting around it. Keep them coming. :)

Thanks, Renee. Last year for me was the whole "learning stage" since I had never had a pond before, so mostly I stuck with hardy plants and whatever the previous owners had chosen. This year I'm getting a bit more adventurous and aiming for a more tropical-ish look.

Right now, it's mostly a game of Musical Plants while I try to get everything situated, but hopefully things will start blending together and look a bit more cohesive soon.