So Hoiv to obtain it. 



Such beds are excellent for water lilies and other strong growing 

 plants. The whole of the pond bottom should have a final 

 harrowing, and be sown with grass seeds. In many cases the grass 

 will produce a paying crop, and should be cut when ready. In 

 some, it may be cut two or three times with advantage, and when 

 no longer available for this purpose, a flock of sheep may be 

 turned on to it for a short time, to crop it close. In this way a 

 fairly good sward will be produced. 



When the pond is ready for refilling, which is best done in 

 the spring, the bottom outlet should be closed, and, as the water 

 rises, suitable aquatic vegetation should be planted at its margin. 

 The object of this is to ensure the plants being submerged without 

 loss of time. Aquatics rapidly shrivel, and become more or less 

 injured if allowed to dry, or if exposed to wind or sunshine whilst 

 out of the water. This may not necessarily destroy them, but 

 care should be taken to avoid such occurrences. As the water 

 continues to rise more planting should be done, and in this way a 

 pond may be successfully stocked with a sufficient quantity of 

 aquatic vegetation of the right kind. 



The same soil does not suit all plants. Some will grow 

 readily in a sandy or gravelly bottom, whereas others will not 

 succeed at all under such conditions. There are many ponds 

 which have sufficient good soil left in them, even after being 

 cleaned out, to do without much further preparation in the way of 

 carting in additional earth. In many cases, however, it is not so, 

 and this is one of the causes of failure I have met with. I have 

 seen ponds with nothing but a mass of stones, many feet or even 

 yards in depth, covering nearly the whole of the bottom, and in 

 such ponds it is impossible to grow a sufficient crop of vegetation 

 without first making proper beds for the reception of the plants. 

 When the pond is nearly full the marginal plants should be put in, 

 that is such as grow in very shallow water, or perhaps above 

 water-mark occasionally. 



Where new ponds have to be made their construction can be 

 carefully studied, and the land that is to be presently covered 

 with water used to the best advantage. Sometimes it is needful 

 to make them by digging, sometimes by means of an embankment, 

 or by a combination of the two. This must depend a great deal 



