A more dwarf, running bamboo, the robust rhizomes and root system of the Giant Leaf Bamboo are often used pond-side for stabilizing soils and keeping pond and stream edges in place. It is incredibly shade-loving and makes a wonderful companion plant to larger, feature pond-side plants like Japanese Maples or bananas. 

A bamboo plant that is useful for its edible shoots and extremely hard culms, the Stone Bamboo is a wonderful choice when you're wanting to add evergreen color to your pond while preventing erosion. The Phyllostachys Angusta is very upright, creating a yellowish green wall perfect for creating a screening effect around the pond. Running bamboo will not grow through water so the pond will act as a natural barrier, meaning that the sides that do not touch the pond will still need bamboo rhizome barriers or root pruning to keep them in control. 

A tall and very tropical choice for a big plant with a relatively small footprint, meaning that the Ghost Bamboo is wider on top than it is on the bottom. This makes it easier to add companion plants that will also prevent soil erosion around the pond and add variation to the types of plants being grown in your garden or landscape. 

A lovely and upright culitvar of elephant ear that can be planted directly in the margins of your pond. It grows and spreads quickly given enough water and nutrition and its bulbs and roots are solid and reach right into the sides of the pond to keep itself, and the soil, in place. 

A big plant with a big rhizome and big roots, the Thai Black Banana is a gorgeous specimen that, given the right environment and plenty of nutrition, produces edible fruit. A wonderful choice for a fish or duck pond as it can fertilize itself with the water filled with the waste products of the animals and help to keep the water clean while giving the pond some shade, giving you a lovely canopy to sit beneath during the hot summer months, and locking the pond's edge in place with big roots and old banana leaves.