THE ROCK AND WATER GARDEN.
Late that afternoon, when the girls were engaged with their various
pursuits, Norma called Mrs. James to join her over at the rail fence.
Here the two paced off the strip of ground and tied strings on the
rails opposite which they planned to plant the wild berry and flower
bushes from the woods.
This done, Norma said: “Now let’s go over to the barn yard and decide
where to plant the sun flowers and other bushes from the woods.”
This was finally done, also, and then Mrs. James walked slowly from
the barn to the edge of the tiny brook that ran all along the edge of
the barn yard and found its outlet in the woodland stream. Norma
followed, wondering why her companion paused so often to study the
environment and why she turned to allow her eyes to rove over the
rivulet and its weedy sides.
“I’ve been thinking, Norma, that this unsightly spot on the farm ought
to be redeemed in some way. Not only does this insignificant creek
afford many stagnant places where mosquitoes breed, but the briars and
weeds growing so thickly on its banks keep scattering their seeds
every fall and causing more work for us the following season.”
“What were you thinking of doing with it, Jimmy?”
“Well, I’ve been thinking a great deal of what you said yesterday,
Norma, about wishing to build a rock garden with ferns and plants that
grow well in such soil, and then when you had time to figure out the
plans and cost of building a miniature water garden, you wanted to
take up that interesting work.
“I have always had a desire to build a water garden, too, but I never
really got so far as to see it done. I felt the wish to make one
revive the moment you spoke of planning one. And just now when we
crossed this undesirable patch of ground, I started wondering if we
could not divert this stream into something for our garden.”
“Oh, but I had no idea of having my water garden over by the barn
yard, Jimmy,” exclaimed Norma, greatly disturbed. “I wanted it to be
on the front lawn, or near enough to the house so we could all enjoy
its refreshing looks whenever we passed by it or sat on the porch.”
“That is my intention, too. I want to find out the source of this tiny
creek, because it must have a source somewhere, you know. I do not
remember any brook or water passing over the main road in front of the
house, do you?”
“No, but we may have overlooked its being there. There may be a large
drain pipe under the road, to conduct the creek from one side of the
road to our side. I’ll go and find out.”
“We’ll both go and see just where this water has its birth. Now that
I’ve given a thought to it, I’m as curious as can be, to locate its
origin,” said Mrs. James.
So the two hurried past the house and out to the road. Here they
walked for some distance past the corner post of the farm-line, but
could not find anything that might possibly be a spring or creek that
would finally form the tiny rivulet they were investigating.
So they retraced their steps and again reached the little ford over
the barn yard lane, where the stream crossed.
“We’ll have to break our way into this jungle of shoulder-high weeds
and briars, if we expect to find the source of the creek,” remarked
Mrs. James, pinning her short skirt tightly about her and beginning to
bend down the weedy stems that obstructed the way.
Norma followed closely in her tracks and after a slow progress through
the stubborn undergrowth, the two came to a spot almost opposite the
house, but about three hundred yards away from it.
“Why, the creek turns sharply towards the house here, Norma, but the
jungle spreads further afield,” said Mrs. James, as she turned to the
left to follow the stream.
They now reached a point in the course of the creek that was not a
hundred feet away from the front corner of the house, but the reeds
and briars had always hidden the small stream winding its way through
the jungle. Mrs. James was elated at discovering a natural supply of
water so near the front lawns and stepped out to proceed, when
suddenly her foot sank in a soft bog.
“Oh!” exclaimed she, quickly pulling her foot out and stepping back.
Norma was just about to advance, but she, too, jumped back to avoid a
collision.
“What is it—a water snake?” called Norma anxiously.
“No, a mire. I went right down in a marsh. But it is not possible to
determine how large an area the mire covers, because the undergrowth
is so dense. Let’s go back and try to enter the place from the
front-lawn side.”
So the two hastened back the way they had come, and tried to continue
their investigations from the front lawn side of the briar patch.
The two stood on a slight elevation of ground at the front corner of
the lawn, where stood a group of giant pines which had done service as
silent sentinels for more than a century. They made one of the
artistic scenic effects on the farm, with their wide-spreading limbs
tipped with flat fans of aromatic green shading the lawn and road.
“From this slight knoll, the ground slopes naturally to this
depression that is now covered with that tangled undergrowth,” said
Mrs. James, pointing generally at the area under discussion. “You can
see that the ground rises very gradually from the depression until it
is on a level with the main road again. From the spot where I went
down in the marsh, over to the property line of our farm, is more than
a hundred yards across, and it is all such a jungle that no one ever
bothered to investigate the possibilities of doing anything with it.
At least, that is what I think, because this place has been
uncultivated for years, as one can see.”
Norma listened intently and followed with her eyes, the various
directions pointed out, but wondered what could be done.
“Now I am almost convinced that that creek finds its source somewhere
in that bog. I believe that the spring we will discover there is not
only the cause of that bog and the rank growth of weeds and briars,
but it also furnishes the tiny stream of water that trickles past the
barn. If this is so, Norma, then our hardest problem is already
solved. In building a water garden the question of water supply is the
greatest thing.
“One can run a pipe line from the house to any locality, and one can
divert a nearby stream into a pool, and then lead its overflow away
again, but that means a lot of work and expense. If we can find that
the spring is located in, or near, this depression of ground, we not
only have solved our difficulty of water supply, but we also have a
natural pool formed by this slight hollow that is nicely graded all
around to form the banks of our lake.”
“But, Jimmy, those roots will grow up again even if we cut off the
tops of the weeds, and the bog will be horrid if it is underneath our
pool,” was Norma’s disappointed reply.
“We’d have to get help and dig out the roots to prevent their decaying
when under water. And we’d have to clear out the boggy ground and dig
down until we struck solid earth again; then leave that for our basis
to build on,” explained Mrs. James.
“Do you think Sam can do all of that? I know you and I could never
accomplish it alone,” ventured Norma.
“I would have Mr. Ames go over the area and tell us what he thought of
it. He can give us an idea of what it will cost to clear out the
jungle, and clean up the bog from the bottom of the depression. If it
does not cost too much, I think I will start the work at once.”
“It would be just wonderful if we could make our dreams of a water
garden come true this year. I was afraid I would have to wait for next
summer before I could try anything so elaborate,” sighed Norma
delightedly.
“Now that we know where the creek starts, Norma, suppose we walk
around by the road and climb the fence to get into the fringe of woods
on the other side of this area. I’m curious to find out if this
depression extends far across to the other boundary line of this farm.
I only hope it does, for that will give us a wonderful expanse of
water to plan for, and the spring can fill it just as easily as if it
were a tiny little puddle. The height of the dam we will have to build
at the far end of the depression, will be determined by the depth of
the water we wish to have in the lake.”
“Oh, Jimmy! Will we have a real dam, too?” cried Norma.
“Of course! That is what will back up the water and fill the
depression. If there is no dam, the water will go right on running
away as it now does.”
The two now started for the road in order to gain the far side of the
briar area, but Frances was seen coming from the barn in the
automobile. They reached the gateway about the same time and Mrs.
James asked: “Where are you going, Frances?”
“Over to Dorothy Ames’s to see if she can come over and advise Janet
about some pigeons. Dot raises them, you know, and we want her to find
a suitable place for Sam to start the cote.”
“Then I wish you would stop at the other Ames’s farm and see if Mr.
Ames is home. If he can come over for a half hour, I’d like very much
to ask him about some work to be done here,” said Mrs. James.
“I’ll not only stop and ask him, but we’ll stop and bring him back
with us, if he can get away,” agreed Frances.
While the two were waiting for Frances to reappear with Farmer Ames,
they talked eagerly of the lake they could already visualize in the
place where bog and weeds now stood.
“If we build a dam, Jimmy, that means we will have a water falls, too,
doesn’t it?” was Norma’s eager question.
“Yes, and I will want a bridge, too, over the lake.”
“Oh, how lovely! Maybe we can build a bridge like I’ve seen in
magazines, where the large estates have landscape gardeners beautify
the grounds. I’ve seen Japanese gardens with the loveliest bridges and
islands in the lakes! I’d like a bridge with stone lanterns and
Japanese idols and temples on it.”
Mrs. James laughed. “I’d like them, too, but I will be contented with
a rustic bridge of cedar, for the time being. We may be able to have
the upright posts heavy enough to hold up an iron lantern on its top,
but the temple and little gods are out of the question, because they
cost so much in the city.”
“Another thing, Jimmy, we can transplant lots of wild fruit and berry
bushes from those woods on the other side of the fence, and grow them
in groups on the banks of our lake. And we must group rocks in such
places where they will be most effective, and then plant the fern and
plants that will need moisture and shade. Oh, it will be perfectly
lovely when it is finished!”
When Frances brought Farmer Ames back with her, the experienced man
heard Mrs. James’s plans and wishes to start a lake. At first he
laughed heartily at such a suggestion, but the more he looked at the
disgraceful briar patch and thought of the beautiful spot a water
garden would make, right there he changed his laughter to serious
ideas.
“The old tenant never tilled that ground because it was so boggy and
he claimed it was sour. So he just let it go like this, all the ten
years he lived on the farm,” explained Mr. Ames.
“One thing I want you to find out now, is this: Just where is that
spring located, and how much muck will have to be dug out before you
strike hard ground to build on,” said Mrs. James.
“I kin tel you that in a very short time. I’ve got on my rubber boots,
so I kin plunge right in now,” agreed Mr. Ames.
So he thrashed down the reeds and briars in his way and went into the
marsh. The two anxious watchers on the high ground could see that his
feet sank to a depth of about ten inches, or more. But that did not
say that he had struck solid hard ground. He might have to dig out
another six to ten inches of muck soil before solid earth could be
reached.
Finally Mr. Ames shouted to the anxious gardeners: “I’ve struck the
spring itself! Here’s where it bubbles up.”
“It’s almost in the middle of the area, isn’t it?” called Mrs. James
delightedly.
“Yeh, and it makes quite a little way for itself until it gets clogged
with dirt and tangle of debris. Then it spreads all over the place and
causes the bog. It looks like an easy job to clean out a little ditch
to run the water along to the creek, until we are ready to flood the
whole area,” said Ames.
He prodded about some more and then he came out again. “I should say,
Mis’ James, that that fixin’ ought to be right easy.”
“You do! How far over can we extend the water?”
“The land doesn’t begin to rise again until you get close to the
fringe of bushes, over there—this side Natalie’s fence.”
“Splendid! Just what I hoped for!” cried Mrs. James, clasping her
hands eagerly.
“And how far down past the house can we run it, Mr. Ames?” added
Norma.
“Well, up hereabouts, where the roadway drops down to this hollow, it
will be wider than down by the house, you know. In plain words, the
head of the lake would be about where the fence divides the land from
the main road. It will sort of round itself off before it gets to the
clump of pine trees, and on t’other side it will round quite sharp
instead of having any corner where the side fence joins the front
fence of the property lines.
“Right across from the lawn to that side will be the widest part of
the pond, and from there down to the end of the briar patch it will
gradually narrow in until it reaches the place where you intend having
the dam set,” Mr. Ames explained.
“How much work will it be to cut down the jungle and dig up the
roots?” asked Mrs. James anxiously.
“If you mean for me to do it, I could start in with your man Sam to
help me and clean off the weeds and the roots in about two days’
time.”
Norma could hardly believe it, but she said nothing, for Mrs. James
was speaking again. “And then how long do you suppose it will take to
scrape off the bog and muck and reach hard pan?”
“Umph! That’s not easy to figger on, ’cause some of the bog might be
made by deep roots that hold on for dear life to the soil underneath.
But Sam and I ought to be able to clean out the stuff in another two
to four days—all depends.”
“We’ll do it, Mr. Ames! Even if I have to pay for the work out of my
own money—we’ll have this lake without any delay. I wish you’d come
and start work to clear the weeds just as soon as you can,” declared
Mrs. James.
“Can you spare Sam all day tomorrow, if I come over to work?” asked
the farmer.
“Yes, not only Sam, but Norma and I are going to help in this work.
Perhaps some of the other scouts will join us, and every one can find
something to do in the clearing of the place. While you are throwing
out the muck, I intend to convey it to places conveniently near where
it can be well mixed with manure and be ready to spread out on the
floor of the pond as soon as you are ready for it. Yes, you come over
in the morning, and we will be ready for you, Mr. Ames,” said Mrs.
James.
That evening the scouts sat under the group of pine trees listening to
Mrs. James describe her vision of a water garden. Each one had
something to say, and every one wanted to help with the interesting
development of the lake. So the work was detailed off in order to give
every one a certain contract to fulfill.
There were large and picturesque rocks to haul, to pile up or group,
in order to add to the natural beauty of the garden. Frances suggested
a way to haul these rocks.
“We’ll get a chain and tackle from Ames and fasten the fingers of the
clutch about a rock. The chain can be hooked to the back of the car
and then I’ll drive while the rock is being dragged along the road to
the lakeside.”
“You’ll have a dreadful hard job dragging an uneven rock over the dirt
road. It will gouge up the ground and half bury itself all along the
way. It would be much easier if we could wheel the rocks in some way,
instead of dragging them over the road,” said Janet speculatively.
“Maybe we can borrow that old truck from the station man, at Four
Corners, and hook the handle to the automobile and just pull it along
with the rocks on it,” ventured Norma.
“That’s a good idea! I’ll drive in first thing in the morning and get
it. Si Tompkins will ask the man for me. We won’t hurt it any more
than trunks and ploughs and other things it has to move from the
baggage cars to the farmers’ carts,” said Frances.
“Oh, no one will worry about hurting it,” laughed Natalie. “It is in
such a battered state that nothing more can injure it.”
“Well, that’s settled, then. Some of you scouts will see to it that
the rocks are delivered on the shores of the lake,” said Mrs. James.
Then she went on: “Some will have to dig up the bushes and young trees
in the woodland stretch, over on the other side, and carefully
transplant them in suitable pits dug to receive them on the shores of
the pool.”
A group of scouts was told off for this work and Janet with a number
of friends were ordered to bring well-rotted cow manure from Ames’s
farm and mix it with the soft muck which would be cleared out of the
hollow. Small heaps of this mixture would be left at intervals all
around the lake, so it could be readily shovelled back and spread out
to form a rich soil under the water where water lilies, Egyptian lotus
and iris could be planted.
“Another task that must be attended to is the carting of nice white
sand to the fence line in front; so it can be used when the lake
bottom is all finished. The sand must be spread out about an inch in
depth, all over the compost soil, to keep the water clear. I’m going
to hire Ames’s cart and farm horse to do this work. The sand from a
pit half a mile down the road is just the kind we will need, so a few
of you scouts can drive there and attend to this branch of work,” said
Mrs. James.
But the majority of the scouts were chosen to help work on the
clearing of the land. Not only were they willing to drag away the
tough roots of old nettles and reeds, but they offered to help dig out
the bog and carry the muck up from the hollow to heap it where Mrs.
James would designate.
When Hester Tompkins went home that night and told her parents of the
plan to turn the wild briar patch into a water garden, they thought it
was splendid, and offered to assist in the work in any way Mrs. James
needed them. So the next morning found Mrs. Tompkins ready to go with
Hester to walk to the farm and begin to work for the future lake.
Mr. Tompkins had no trouble in borrowing the heavy truck from the
baggage office at the station, and when Frances started for Green
Hill, pulling the truck behind the automobile, several of the natives
stood laughing. But the store keeper suggested a better way to help
than by standing there laughing at nothing.
“I say! we husky men pitch in and help them gals root up the rocks
they want for their garden. We all own crow bars, and we know how to
handle a rock, so let’s pitch in, says I, eh?”
Most of the men had heard of the scouts’ farming and other work at
Green Hill and every one wanted to inspect the place and see what
these girls could do, so they agreed to join Si Tompkins and help
collect the rocks for the garden. Had it not been for the strength and
experience these men had to pry the rocks out of their resting places
and remove them to the water garden which they were meant to beautify,
it is doubtful if the girls could have finished that work quite so
speedily.
When Mrs. Tompkins reached the house at Green Hill, she was welcomed
by the girls because they knew she could advise them in many ways that
would help the work along faster and better.
As Mrs. James led the way to the briar patch, Mrs. Tompkins said:
“Have you planned to have a Japanese garden, or just a pool?”
“Norma said yesterday, how she would love to have a real Japanese
water garden similar to those she has seen in magazines. But I told
her we could not afford the money for the decorative lanterns, and
temples and seats such as a Japanese garden called for.”
“Why, they won’t cost very much extra—only for the cement, you know,”
said Mrs. Tompkins.
Norma and Mrs. James gazed in surprise at their visitor and Norma
said: “What cement do you mean?”
“Why, the cement for the concrete. And the work is so interesting,
too, you ought to try it before you count the cost.”
“You don’t mean that we can _make_ the temples and other objects?”
exclaimed Mrs. James.
“Of course! You didn’t mean to hire them made, did you?” was the
lady’s retort, as much surprised as her two hostesses.
“I never dreamed of it! I don’t know a thing about concrete,” was Mrs.
James’s dismayed answer.
“I’ll show you. As long as you are going to build a dam to back up the
pond, you may as well order a few extra bags of cement and build your
seats and bridges and other things so they will last.”
“I thought I would try and have some sort of a bridge of rustic wood,
but I was pondering how to erect the pillars or posts so they would be
firm and strong enough to hold up the span,” said Mrs. James.
By this time the three reached the edge of the area where Ames and Sam
were already ditching a narrow outlet used to drain the marsh of the
spring water. Mrs. James pointed out where she wanted a bridge to be,
and Mrs. Tompkins nodded, then suggested:
“Don’t try to span the entire water with one bridge, Mrs. James. When
Ames gets the marsh all cleaned out and it is dry enough for us to
work in, we will mix the concrete and make a few islands in the lake.
The largest one can be in the direction of the widest diameter of the
lake, which is near the roadway that passes the place. Our bridge will
run from here to that island. Then from the other side of that island
we will build another smaller bridge to span the distance to an island
nearer the other side, but further down near the dam. Then a third
bridge can span that water from the island to the opposite shore. What
do you think of my suggestions?”
“Oh, perfectly fine, but think of all the work in making the islands?”
said Mrs. James.
“No more work than if you had to construct three solid piers for the
bridge if you spanned the entire width of the lake. The concrete base
we use for the islands will not have to be molded or clean-cut, you
know. It will be poured on the floor of the marsh first then the
thicker concrete will be piled on top of that when it is hard. We will
embed rocks in this second layer so the mass will harden together and
form as fine a foundation as one can want. In the crevices of the
rocks and all over the concrete foundation, we will throw the rich
soil you are planning to prepare, and in this we can plant our bushes
and flowers.
“On the smaller islands we will not have room for bushes or shrubs,
but the ferns and water plants can grow there. Besides, a planting of
cat-tails in the soil around the islands will make them look much
larger than they really are, and still show glimpses of the water
glistening through their stalks.”
“Dear me, I’m so glad you came to advise us, Mrs. Tompkins, that I
want to hug you for it!” exclaimed Norma enthusiastically.
The two women laughed and Mrs. James added: “Norma was so keen about
having temples and seats and Japanese lanterns that I felt sorry for
her disappointment. Now she can have them all and more, too.”
“I wanted to have those cute little dwarf pines in the stone jars on
the bridge, you know, like they have in pictures, but Jimmy said the
stone objects cost too much,” explained Norma.
“Let me tell you right here that the crooked little pines and cedars
that you see growing in or near the water in the finest of Japanese
gardens are not planted in the water nor in the soil of the water
garden. They are planted in large galvanized or other metal buckets so
they will be waterproof, and these pails are sunken into the ground,
or hidden by reeds and ferns that grow up about the outer edges of the
pail to screen it. The water generally reaches up to within an inch of
the top of the pail so that the plant and the soil it is in never get
wet from the lake. Quite often, the pails holding the trees are placed
in the jardinieres of concrete, but do not show from the outside. They
can be easily lifted out and given the care they need, and then
replaced again. If they were planted right in the concrete posts they
could not be taken out and attended to as they require it.”
“Then we can get some metal pails and have trees growing on our
bridge, too!” declared Norma eagerly.
“You can buy some of the ordinary stable pails that Si keeps in stock.
They are large and heavy and will never rust,” said Mrs. Tompkins.
“If you haven’t ordered your water lilies, or iris, or the lotus and
cat-tail seeds yet, I think I can get them for you from a gardener
over White Plains way, and save you money, too. He will give me a lot
of plants for nothing, because I’ve given him plenty of valuable
advice for nothing in the past.
“As for the cement—order that from White Plains at once so you won’t
be delayed after the clearing is done. In fact, if I were in your
place, Mrs. James, I’d let Frances drive over and bring back as many
bags at a time as she can comfortably carry in the car. The bags can
be wrapped in paper to keep the car clean.”
“I wish I knew half as much as you do, Mrs. Tompkins, because I’d
think myself something, then,” sighed Mrs. James.
Mrs. Tompkins laughed. “The more you really know, the more you
discover how little you have actually understood. Then the fact of one
human’s insignificance dawns upon you.”
“Well, we sure are glad you gave us all this advice, even if you do
consider yourself an insignificant human,” said Norma in so earnest a
tone that the others laughed merrily at her.
Frances drove Mrs. Tompkins back to Four Corners and got the metal
pails to carry back to the farm. She then wrote down the address of
the store where she was to go for the cement and finally started back
for Green Hill.
Rachel spread a long table, constructed of several boards, placed
across two trestles on the side lawn that evening, and then called
every one to supper. It was her greatest delight to invite company to
dinner or supper and this occasion was an unusual one to treat the men
from Four Corners who had remained and helped with the work all that
afternoon.
Hands and faces were washed at the hydrant where the garden hose was
generally attached. Rachel provided towels and soap for every one, and
a merry group of girls and farmers were soon splashing freely in order
to hurry their toilets and sit down on the boxes that stood in rows
beside the long plank table.
Perhaps it was the feast, or it may have been the merry scouts as they
entertained these middle-aged villagers that made Si Tompkins declare
as they were ready to go home: “Boys, shall we help the gals out again
tomorrer? They’ve got a powerful lot of rocks to haul, yet!”
And that is how the scouts secured such desirable workers in doing the
very heaviest part of the entire work on the water garden.
After the men had gone and the dishes were all in the kitchen, the
girls began to carry away the boards that had been in the cellar and
were used for swing shelves in winter time, Mrs. James remarked to
Miss Mason: “I wonder if goldfish will thrive in such a pond?”
“Why, of course! Didn’t you know that they are an absolute necessity
for the health of your plants and the purity of the water? They eat up
all the insect pests and mosquito larvae that grow on the water. But
you won’t want to place any gold fish in the water until it is all
settled and cleared from the work and soil.”
“Isn’t it funny, Jimmy, how I started out with a meek idea for a
little rookery or a pool garden, and you had such great ambitions that
we adventured into the bog. Now just see what is growing out of our
infant plan! A great pond with islands and bridges and temples and
everything!” exclaimed Norma, her eyes shining.
“We may end by holding a Japanese flower show in the garden this
fall,” added Janet teasingly.
“Not unless my flowers and plants grow better than they seem to at
present. I really suppose they were planted too late to have much
courage this summer, but next year they’ll pay me back,” said Norma.
“You talk as if you liked Green Hill and was coming back!” laughed
Natalie, pleased as could be at the idea.
“Coming back! Of course we are—if Jimmy and you will only let us! You
didn’t think I was raising Susy for you to own next year, did you?”
demanded Janet anxiously.
Mrs. James laughed: “We still have plenty of time in which to discuss
next year, girls, so don’t let us argue about it, at this early date.”