GARDEN POOLS
With the revival of old-time garden features that has been brought about
through interest in floriculture, fascinating specialties have been
evolved. This is particularly true of the garden pool which lends itself
to almost every kind of setting. It is no new idea, this introduction of
pools into even small gardens.
The ancient Egyptians had great reverence for pools and we read of their
interest in bringing into life the sacred Lotus, giving it a prominent
place in their gardens. This may be better known to moderns as "the rose
lily." In the early days it was used for religious purposes and was a
prominent feature in their festivals. It was also used ornamentally for
feasts where the walls were decorated with the beautiful blossoms that
were repeated in the centerpiece for the elaborately-spread table. Not
content with this use for decorative purposes, it was made in forms of
garlands that were thrown over the shoulders of the assembled guests
while wreaths of the same flower crowned their brows, great care being
taken that a bud or cluster of blossoms was placed in the center of the
forehead.
Ever since that period, we read of the constant introduction of water
into gardens of every clime. While pools were not commonly used during
the Colonial period, they have to-day, with the coming in of the formal
and Italian gardens, grown to be one of the most interesting features.
The form and the immediate surroundings have been carefully thought out
and depend upon the type and the shape of the whole plan.
When the mercury registers at ninety and the whirling dust rises in
clouds, parching one's throat as it settles like a dingy pall on
sun-burned grass and drooping foliage, it is a pleasure to come suddenly
upon a pond where over-hanging plants cast lengthened shadows far over
the surface. They shelter the waxen lily cups that gleam like pearls
against a background of dark green pods--a perpetual joy and delight to
the eye.
There is no doubt but water, be it large or small in area, holds a
charm for us all. How much more if it is inhabited and made beautiful
through the use of aquatic plants and fish. These scattered apparently
carelessly over the surface of the water add much to its
picturesqueness. This is particularly true during the season of bloom
when we find varied colored cups, resting on saucers of green, lifting
their heads above the surface as if in delight with their surroundings.
Surely when you view a pond such as this you will find a double delight
in watching a flutter of wings, a hopping about on the plants and glad
dipping of little bills and uplifting of heads. These are the birds that
form a part of garden life and who are attracted here by the flowers and
the chance of a bath. Splashing and sparkling in the sunlight, they dive
into the water below, drying themselves on the large pads that float
artistically on the surface. Over yonder is a large gray cat bird
calling to its mate. We can but note the fine proportion, the poise of
the black head and the beauty of the satin gray coat which is pruned by
the hour. There is the Indigo Bird, a delightful symphony of blue and
cinnamon red. He sits swinging on a lily while his musical note comes
to our listening ears. The Ruby Throated Humming Bird swings
noiselessly over the pond, dipping his long beak here and there to
gather honey from the wide-open flowers.
It depends upon the size of the pool, the shape and the finish as to the
planting. It is a great mistake to have it so thickly over-spread with
leaves that no water is visible. A good rule to be observed is
two-thirds water and one-third lilies. This gives a chance to watch the
gold fish darting in and out for food. For a small beginning of a water
garden, why not try a pocket in the rock? It is a very easy matter to
arrange for lilies in a case like this. All you have to do is to cement
the hollow, put in your loam and plant one or two roots. It is these
diminutive water gardens that attract the birds more than the large
pools, and they form a charming vista in the garden scheme. Little
pockets of earth can be made to surround them, and here we can plant
rock-loving plants that will give a touch of picturesqueness to this
cunning little scheme.
The shape of the garden determines that of the pool. A square garden
demands square treatment in the lay-out of your design. A round garden,
to be correct, should have a circular formation for the planting of
your lilies. Then, too, the treatment of the planting should be
determined by the formality or informality of the plan. Great care
should be taken that they are not aimlessly placed but form a part of
the design. Any attempt to digress from this rule is fatal for correct
composition.
Great attention should be paid to the margin. It should not be stiff and
formal; it should rather be broken here and there, so that there will be
open spaces showing between. Copy nature in this treatment and you will
not go far astray.
In order to make this pool successful, one thing should never be
forgotten and that is that you are dealing with sun-loving plants to
whom shadow is objectionable. There is another reason why the sunshine
should fall unobstructed on the pond and that is that it shows
reflections that are effective, and bring cheer to your garden plot.
Many people consider that stagnant pools should not exist, as they are
mosquito breeders. They do not realize that the stocking of pools with
both fish and plants, carefully carried out so that they are properly
balanced, results in the water never being putrid but remaining fresh
and sweet, making a delightful water garden that is healthful and not
malaria breeding.
There are two essentials if you wish your idea to be successful; first,
that the bottom be water-tight and second, that it be proof against
frost. While these two things are easy to accomplish, yet many people
fail in them. Cement is the only proper material to be used for
foundation. Some people have an idea that puddled clay is cheaper. It
may be if properly handled, but great care has to be taken that it is
thoroughly puddled or it melts away and your work has been for naught.
Cement is the most reliable material if correctly applied. Before
putting it on, the pool should be dug out to the proper depth and size.
It should then be well packed for several inches with broken stone. Over
this should be put Portland cement, using one part of the former to
three of sand. Some people cement it for six inches while others prefer
to use two coats, each three inches thick. It should never be so high
that it will come above the frost line which is two and a half feet in
depth.
Water lilies, as well as all kinds of aquatics, will grow in any kind of
good garden soil; that is, if one-fifth well-rotted manure is added to
it. Possibly this is not to be obtained and if so, a quart of ground
bone allowed to each bushel of soil will bring about the right results.
It should be remembered that the plants should be set out so they will
get the greatest exposure to the sunlight.
[Illustration: A LILY POND THAT FILLS CHARMINGLY A CORNER OF A GARDEN]
We have supposed that you have chosen a spot for your water garden that
obtains the greatest amount of sun, also that it is sufficiently
sheltered from the winds. It has been dug down from fifteen to
twenty-four inches and then carefully cemented. Now you are ready to
plant your pool, the soil being taken into consideration. If, by some
chance, you are not able to secure the kind recommended, it can be made
of three parts rotted sod and one part cow manure. Remember that it
should be thoroughly rotted if you do not wish ferment in the water. Too
many people take little care on this subject and then wonder at the
disappointing results.
Possibly there is no place for your garden pool. In that case why not
use half barrels or tubs? They have the advantage of taking up very
little room, can easily be sunk in the ground and are really well worth
the trial. Nothing should be used that has a diameter of less than two
feet and the greater the surface space the better will be the result.
Tub culture requires two-thirds filling of soil and covering with sand
to have it the right depth. If more than one tub is used, why not make a
rockery between? It has the advantage of making another feature for your
garden, besides adding picturesqueness.
There are two ways of planting as well as two kinds of tubers. They can
be put directly in the soil, or they can be planted in tubs or boxes
that can be sunk, but the latter recommends itself as more practical.
The reason for this is that they are easily removed in winter and the
water is kept much cleaner when the earth is free from tubers. It must
be remembered that each plant requires from eight to nine square feet of
surface room so that it would be bad taste to allow too many for an
individual pool. If you wish, you can make the boxes yourself, using
pieces of board for that purpose.
Next come the gold fish. For a tub, only two are necessary, but for a
pond one hundred feet in diameter, twenty-five should be used. These
fish spawn in June and have been known to breed enough to stock a large
pond. There is an old theory,--doubted by many, that the old fish turn
cannibals and devour their progeny. These people advise the putting of
roots and stock into a tub, this is so the egg may be attached, removed,
and hatched separately. In cases like this the small fish are allowed to
grow considerably before being returned to the tub.
There are two kinds of tubers, the tender and the hardy. The latter
require practically no care during the winter months, that is, always
provided the water is deep enough to allow no freezing of the crown of
the plant. They should be planted about the first of May and both
varieties can be given the same treatment, with the exception that the
hardy variety do best when planted in soil two feet deep and covered
with six inches of water.
All pools should have planting in addition to the tubers of submerged
plants. This is to aerate the water and keep it pure and sweet. The best
kinds to be used for this purpose are Anacharis Canadensis Gigantea, and
Canbomba Viridifolia, ten of them being enough for a large pool. The
former is a giant water weed with dark green ovate leaves and light
stems. It is a quick grower and considered by authorities to be one of
the best oxygenators in existence. The latter, sometimes known as
Washington grass, is also popular. It has brilliant glossy green leaves,
fan-shaped and more beautiful than a delicate fern. In addition to this
why not use the Ludwigia Munlerti, which is one of the prettiest
submerged plants. It shows small ovate leaves that are green on the
upper side and pink on the under. This makes it distinct from any other
aquarium plant.
A great help in the way of nourishment for these water lilies is the
application when first planted or in the early spring of dried blood
manure. The proper way of using this is to broad cast it on the surface
of the water, using one pound to every ten square feet of surface.
Too many people make the mistake of keeping the water too cold. This
necessitates the filling of the pool and the leaving it to grow warm
through exposure to the sun for several days before planting. When
additional water has to be added, it should be some that has stood in
the sun for several days, as cold water injures the growth. The
condition for growth is the same for both the tender and the hardy
Nymphaeas with the exception that the former should not be planted until
after warm weather sets in. It is well, however, to grow them in pots so
that they will be of fair size by June first when the weather has become
suitable for their outdoor existence.
If the pond is to be large, why not use groups, but if small, single
ones will do. For their planting, the hardy variety can be sown in
either fall or spring, as one fancies. They should have a small hole cut
through the shell of each seed with a sharp knife that they may do
better. For the tender kind, do not put them out until they are well
started. They should be sown in pots or pans, covering the seeds with
one-fourth of an inch of sand, giving them a thorough watering and
allowing them to drain for an hour. Then submerge them under two inches
of soil at a temperature of seventy degrees. These can be removed into
separate pots when they have shown two leaves. This kind is very
desirable for cutting, the best for this purpose being the
night-blooming varieties.
The Pygmaea hybrid type and the Laydekri, as well, are desirable for
hardy variety. The former is the smallest water lily in cultivation, a
free bloomer showing white flowers, one and a half inches in diameter,
while the Pygmaea Helvola, yellow in coloring, is very dainty. A
combination of these two colors is always interesting, while if you wish
the latter kind, why not try the Laydekria Rosea, which is a French
hybrid and one of the earliest in introduction. Only a few specimen
plants are found cultivated at the present time. The flowers are of
delicate pink with a deep golden center that deepens into a dark shade
of rose, presenting a novel feature in that it seemingly is one plant
showing different colors. Another variety of this same order is the
Laydekri Lilacea, three to five inches across, shading from rosy lilac
to bright carmine and sending forth a fragrance like a tea rose. The
Sultan is also very valuable on account of its free flowering, the
plants showing never less than six flowers open daily. These are of good
size Solferina red with white shading and yellow stamens. This is very
rare and therefore brings a high price.
[Illustration: THERE IS AN EVER-CHANGING BEAUTY TO A GARDEN WHOSE PATHS
ARE BROKEN HERE AND THERE BY POOLS]
Of the day-blooming varieties, we find the Capensis with flowers of rich
sky blue. This planted in contrast with the Ovalifolia, a new variety
from East Africa, produces flowers eight to ten inches across of deep
creamy white, faintly tinged with blue that deepen until the tips are
a light corn flower blue with sulphur yellow stamens. The charm of this
flower is its petals which are long and narrow, giving it a pretty star
shape.
For the night blooming Nymphaeas, why not use the Dedoniensis, which
throws out large, pure red flowers often showing from twelve to eighteen
blooms at a single time, also the Dentata whose white flowers measure
from eight to twelve inches in diameter and open out horizontally.
Do not forget in your collection to include the Royal Water Lily. Of
these, the Victoria Regia is a well-known species. While the plants are
expensive, the seeds can be bought for a much more reasonable price and
are more interesting as one can watch them from their start until
blossoming. The Victoria Trickeri is also desirable. In good condition
its leaves are from four and a half to five and a half feet across, a
single plant having from twelve to fifteen leaves and producing three or
four flowers in a single week. These flowers are picturesque, being
white at the time of opening and changing to deep rose pink, admitting a
strong fragrance not unlike that of a ripe pineapple.
In addition to water lilies one should plant different aquatics, to
make a variety. There is the Sagittaria Montevidensis, which attains
gigantic proportions, growing four or five feet high with leaves fifteen
inches long, the flower towering above, the foliage white with dark
blotches at the base of each petal. Then there is the Butterfly Lily, a
tender sub-aquatic plant that forms a dense clump three to six feet high
bearing masses of pure white fragrant flowers that look like large white
butterflies borne in large terminal clusters.
The Water Poppy must not be forgotten. It is a very pretty aquatic plant
with floating leaves and large yellow poppy-like flowers, and a
continual bloomer.
The border of the lily pond is of almost as much importance as the
flowers themselves. Iris makes a good setting. Of these, the Iris
Hexagona, or Blue Flag, is interesting from the fact that it is a hardy
Southern kind, showing rich purple and blue with yellow markings three
to four inches across and resembling the costliest and rarest orchid
flowers. The Dalmatica is one of the finest of the German type. It grows
four feet high with exceptionally large flowers of fine lavender, the
falls shaded blue. The Japanese Iris is the grandest of all the hardy
ones and the best are the double varieties with six petals. Kokinoiro, a
rich royal purple with white veining is very satisfactory in growth.
Combine it with the Sano-Watashi, which is white with canary yellow
center, and the Tokyo, a magnificent large, white flower, and you will
find one of the best combinations possible.
Ornamental grasses are very effective for this use. Of these, there are
so many varieties it would be impossible to name them all. One of the
most ornamental kinds is the Zebra grass, which has long, narrow green
leaves, striped white and feathery plumed. Mix it with the Pampas grass
and you will note the artistic result. This grows very rapidly from seed
planted in the spring and is useful for decorative purposes. The Feather
grass, growing two feet in height, fits into this scheme as does the
Tricholaena Rosea, which is rose tinted, making a color scheme when
massed with the other ornamental grasses that is most fascinating.
The form and surroundings of the pool, carefully thought out, make it a
most desirable feature for both small and large gardens, and everyone,
no matter how limited their means, can indulge in one if they wish.
THE SUN-DIAL IN THE GARDEN
[Illustration: GRASSY PATHS LEAD PLEASANTLY TO THE SUN-DIAL]