Yes, thx river and spring areas arevsafest for water quality. But Gunnera are not that fussy. I've seen many Gunnera doing quite well around ponds in our wet (= rain flushing) PNW area. I've also grown G. tinctoria in the ground in average soil with no bog. But even here in our moist environment during the summer the huge leaves on my 8-9' teenage plant would lower each afternoon towards the ground. A the plant looked water stressed each summer afternoon in a partial shade location. A larger 11 to 12' plant would thus edge burn before I got home from work to water! When we kayak Lake Washington the Gunnera growing there (mostly G. manicata), in yards boardering the water, keep their leaf turgor and have no leaf edge burn. Landlocked and wanting that effect more secure I decided that the next one I grew it would have a kiddy pool or other significant backup water source buried under it. Our is Gunnera bog pit ground water is not connected to the slow rain flushing fish pond. Our bog pit more rapidly drains surface and near subsurface water that a pond. The top 1' (20%) flushes because is only lined below. I did the perc test to make sure. Also a second 2' x 2' deep soil connected water outlet is to Canna / Hedychium side to help ensure that the surface ground water drains over time. The point of the test is to determine best hydrology balance and give simple low effort hydrology control if needed to balance it. If the bog pit proves too wet over the summer I will dig on down hill side to lower the burried liner there. If it needs different adjustment in wet versus dry seasons a gate divider can be slid into place there (eg 2' x 1' board). The attached Japanese Iris bog is similarily being tested and adjusted this year The Iris are about 12" tall now. Gunnera growth is in action now. It started with green Gunnera "leaf hands" reaching for the sun rays. When a volcano like mound of leaf mulch lifted upwards a couple feet I removed the leaves and saw them. Gotta love this monster species for drama alone! Below is the newly planted Japanese Iris Bog just before ground freeze late last fall. It connects to the Gunnera hydrology plan. The moist Iris zone is ~2.5' deep and average 3'+ wide. The tench shaped bog was again lined in bottom 1.5' with a pool like plastic liner. The bog has 50% compost. the Hydrangea paniculata 'Fire & Ice' root pit above to the left of the Iris is not lined. Some of the Siberian and Japanese Iris planted here are shown below (bed order is taller Siberian Iris nearer the Canna). The colors contrast with our warm color Cannas, which are up to 8' tall. These are some of the varieties both in that bog area and seen behind them in beds running along the sides and back of the 15' long fish pond. Our most stunning canna is perhaps Tropicanna = Durban = Phason. The tallest a German? hybrid variegated leaf Canna 'Stuttgart'. Canna 'Cleopatra' a Chimera plant living together in leaves and flowers with it's miracle mutant partner is shorter than the Arian giant, is also pretty hard to ignore. Hosting some valuable plant collection favorires, there's understandably some careful hydrology design to this test area. The Iris Bog liner does not connect pooled bottom water directly to the Canna / Hedychium area. The subsurface water drops into the deeper Gunnera Pit. If the average moisture balance is too dry in any area I can dig the edges down 12" and add an edge liner runner. The overall test starts as best guess, but is easily adjustible. If is stays too wet and goes too stagnant a hole(s) can be punched into the bottom (slowly adding them) as needed. If the Canna / Hedychium area stays too wet, I can seperate it from the Gunnera as much ad needed by digging in a slotted liner or adding in a season adjustable gate. As the moist Canna / Hedychium test zone hydrology is adjusted then proves out, I can accordingly lower the plant density and use excess plants to populate new 2nd generation moisture beds. That's the plan anyway. (My professional background is science research with microbes, plants and environmentally related tops. I love doing fun home tests like this! When a test "fails" one quickly gain solution ideas. And it can often be adjusted to soon prove out. If not adjust the plants varieties or specices tested.) Our front yard is white different. The photo below show it currently during Spring warm up phase. The Red Crown Imperial Fritillaria near the turn in the walkway are not open yet. But their skunky scent contrasts the ~115 Hyacinths, 1/3 of which are open here already. The right central photo drift of Daffodils are Mt Hood currently doing their amazing magic trick of morphing from a smaller yellow/white flower (foreground) into to large full creamy white (background). These were planted at different times last fall and will synchronize by next year. It shifts visually in late Spring-Summer-Fall to a hydrangea floral backdrop with perennial Liatris and Japanese Wildflower upper bed meadow like runners. They are in light pink and white tones to add a moongarden night element. And they actively sway with breezes adding motion to the sound of two timber bamboo behind them added for movement and sound effects (we get a lot of breeze activity through here). And yellow dwarf fragrant Daylily and red Crocosmia flairs along the driveway to drive our visitors, family and hummingbirds wild. Our main design theme is actually NO LAWN GRASS cutting and be glad for it visually. Was easy to tak my wife into it. I do all the msin design and garden work. She cuts the grass.

Here's a rundown of best way to overwinter gunnera, got this from a local nursery (the best, Hughes Water Gardens in Tualatin, Oregon - outside Portland). Make a chicken wire circle screen around the plant, allow about a foot out from the plant crowns and if possible a foot above the plant (once the leaves have been cut off). Cut off the leaves, many folks use the leaves to cover the crowns from water but I use my leaves (leaf-casting). Once the leaves and stems are cut down and the wire fence is in place, dump your tree leaves into the circle and over the tops of the plants. I use maple leaves as I don't have to worry about creating a nursery for black walnuts, horse chestnuts, etc. (I have tons of garbage trees around). I load up the leaves and tuck them lightly in around the plant crowns. I continue tossing leaves on top until I have at least 6-12" on top of the crowns. I usually put some sort of wire mesh across the top just to make sure the leaves don't blow out. When I put the leaves on I don't use wet, mushy ones that are already heating up as a compost but allows some air in the batch. In the Spring, I can pull off a some of the top layer and the leaves of the plant will simply start pushing through all the maple leaves. When I know that frost is past, I pull back the maple leaves to allow the gunnera leaves to come through. I usually leave most of the maple leaves in the "pit" as they will continue to compost down. I've never had any problems with any kinds of bugs on this plant, at worst I get horse chestnuts falling and tearing the leaves (limited places to grow him) and too much hot afternoon sun. to handle both of those problem, I erect a tent around the plant with a type of shade tarp that shelters the plant through summer. As for ideal growing conditions, I sunk a huge plastic tub ito the ground (with a single small hole) and used half potting soil and half manuere on it. This way I can water the gunnera and he can sit in water and my trees don't suck it all up. they do love the water and while they have some resistance to cold (Ireland has a problem with these being invasive), it's just not an evergreen. I hope that info helps some folks. If well cared for, each year the plant will come back with slightly larger leaves so consider him an investment in your garden. great plants and thanks to Hughes for the writeup, mine have been doing great now going on 4 years! BTW, some plants I have bought before were really lame and didn't survive no matter what I did so the stock you purchase does make a difference. Don't get frustrated if you lose one and you did everything right.

Somebody please help! I planted a gunnera manicata about a month ago, and several of the leaves are starting to turn crispy, dry and white! It looks serious. I have planted it in a spot where it gets direct sun for a few hours per day, then shade the rest of the day. I water it almost every day for about 20 minutes per session. Any ideas? Thanks, -Matt gilhouse

Hi Puiu, the plant needs a wet place, lots of compost and in winter you have to cover it up. After the first frost I fold it's own leaves over the hart of the plant and cover that with lots of leaves from surrounding trees. Oosterholt.