THE DECORATIVE TREATMENT OF WATER. 



Moats. 



Bathing 

 ponds. 



Their construction is very much the same as that for a large fountain basin, and 

 whether they have a bottom of puddled clay or concrete will depend very much on 

 local circumstances or their size and whether the aquatic plants are to be grown in pots 

 or not. Illustration No. 248 shows a very useful shape and its main proportions. 



For water lilies, a depth varying 

 from twenty to thirty-three inches 

 is most suitable, but calla, sedges 

 and iris must be arranged with their 

 crowns only two or three inches under 

 water. Illustration No. 252 shows 

 how both classes of plants may be 

 accommodated in a long and narrow 

 pond by recessing the sides and 

 keeping the recesses shallow, while 

 in illustration No. 251 will be seen a 

 pond, the corners of which have 

 been roughly walled round with 

 stones to form a shallow portion 

 filled up with good stiff soil. 



While all lily ponds must be 

 beautiful during the Summer months 

 when they are adorned by flowering 

 aquatic plants, there is danger of 

 their becoming uninteresting in the 

 Winter when the plants are dormant, 

 unless this drawback is guarded 

 against by designing them so as to 

 be interesting in themselves. It is 

 for this reason that a piece of choice 

 bronze or lead statuary should al- 

 ways be introduced somewhat in the 

 manner of the boy and dolphin 

 shown in the photograph of the lily- 

 pond designed by the Author for 

 Sir William Lever, with or without 

 the stepping stones for reaching the 

 plants shown in the same illustration 

 (111. No. 275). Another suitable sub- 

 ject is given in illustration No. 250). 

 The moats still to be found sur- 

 rounding some ancient manor houses 

 and the larger historic country seats, 

 offer splendid opportunities for the 

 cultivation of aquatic plants along 

 their margins. That shown in the 

 plan of the gardens at Little Onn 



Hall, Staffordshire (111. No. 405), does not surround the house, but some old monastic 

 ruins in the grounds, and the accompanying foliage, water, ruins, and ancient fish-stews 

 together make a most delightful composition. 



Wherever a stream of clear cool water flows through a garden, it may with com- 

 paratively little expense be dammed up or diverted, as shown in illustration No. 253, to 



FIG. 250. STATUE FOR A LILY POND. 



188 



