H2 GARDENS PAST AND PRESENT 



This type of gardening may be discussed under 

 two heads first, the use, after natural methods of 

 lake, pool, or stream and their banks, for the 

 grouping of water-loving plants for pictorial effect. 

 Secondly, the artificial tank, which can range from 

 the costly canal of the stately formal garden to 

 the modest barrel sawn in half which in certain 

 positions makes no bad receptacle for the smaller 

 growing water plants, and which gives its owner 

 every whit as much pleasure. 



It is not the object of the present pages to give 

 many gardening details. There are plenty of 

 sources whence these can be obtained with the 

 very latest practical advice. It is intended rather 

 to offer suggestions and helpful ideas which may 

 fit in with the wants and wishes of those who desire 

 to make their gardens a source of individual recrea- 

 tion and delight. Therefore I am not now going 

 to describe the method of puddling a pond or alter- 

 ing the course of a stream, or even of planting the 

 roots of water lilies in baskets, and slinging them, 

 weighted, into position in the bed of some quiet 

 backwater or pool. All these things can be better 

 learned from a practical man on the spot. I would 

 rather tell of some water or water-side gardens 

 which exist or might exist, here and there, in the 

 fitting precincts of English country homes. 



The first that comes to mind belonged to a 

 homely garden which, except for a narrow strip 

 on the far side, was bounded by a shallow but 

 living brook which never ran dry. Half copse, 

 half meadow, and only a few yards in width, this 

 little belt of waste ground gave opportunity for 



