DECORATIVE 



CHAPTER XII. 



From childhood to old age, water in its many natural and decorative forms, has an 

 indescribable fascination for the mind. No doubt the reason for this is found, at least 

 to a very large extent, in its variableness. Its surface alters with every shower which 

 feeds it, every change in the sky it reflects, every variation in the breezes which touch 

 its surface, every stage in the changing seasons and every hour of rotating day and 

 night, so that it may be said, with perfect truth, that never do we see it under the 

 same conditions twice and never is its surface the same. 



There is another way, however, in which water appeals to us, and that is in its 

 marvellous facility for adapting itself to its surroundings. On the wild mountain side, 

 it rushes headlong over the rugged precipice with a dull roar which adds to the wildness 

 of the prospect, and, on the other hand, in the peaceful meadow, it flows still and 

 silently, its surface perhaps scarely ruffled by passing breezes and in perfect harmony 

 with browsing kine and gently waving reeds. 



It is only when man, neglecting the lessons of Nature, tries to reproduce her in- 

 comparable beauties on a mean scale by feats of obtrusive engineering, that water can 

 fail to please. Here we may take our first and most primitive rule for its use in our 

 gardens, never to belittle Nature by feeble imitation, but where the conditions will not 

 allow of the introduction of water, shall we say, on its own terms and among purely 

 natural surroundings, to treat it in an honestly and confessedly conventional manner, in 

 keeping with the rest of the scheme and in scale with the whole, whether it be as the 

 lordly canal before a renaissance mansion or the quaintly detailed bird-bath before a 

 cottage window. 



We need never fear that, in training it to conventionalized uses, we shall destroy 

 its charm. In whatever way it is employed, where it rises or falls it will provide a 

 brilliant high-light, where it lies still, a deep mysterious shade, and where it ripples over 

 a shallow place, the very essence of joyous life ; at all times a sensation of coolness and 

 freshness and a temptation to rest. 



Although many, perhaps most, gardens have to be content without water in any 

 form, it may be questioned whether they are really complete without it, if only a small 

 pond, reflecting and blending, in thousands of beautiful ways, the hues of flowers, foliage 

 and sky, at the bidding of every passing breeze ; or but a swamp pool, hidden away in 

 cool, fern-embowered shade and fringed with luxuriant masses of bulrush, iris and sedge. 



In devising the form in which water shall be introduced into the garden and the 

 design of its receptacle, there is a vast range for the exercise of the imaginative and 

 creative faculties. 



Water's 



fascinating 



qualities. 



175 



