Gardening in California 



CHAPTER XV. 



PONDS, LAKES AND THE WATER GARDEN. 



WHERE grounds have the required space, water effects 

 should be introduced, nothing in nature being more 

 brilliant in its effects than water, whether in motion, 

 tumbling in creek-form, which perhaps is the most striking of 

 all, or in repose in pond or lake. 



The size or extent of the body of water should of course be 

 in proportion to the extent of the improved grounds. A glimpse 

 of a river or creek in the background gives a wonderfully grand 

 finish to an ideal landscape, while a modest water-effect in pond- 

 shape adds a charm to the smaller garden or grounds such as 

 nothing else can possibly give. 



In very few places are fine water-effects more appreciated 

 than in the middle and southerly counties of California. This 

 is accounted for by the great lack of rain during several months 

 of the ordinary year, say from April to October, when the whole 

 State from Butte to San Diego is dry, brown and dusty, and, 

 consequently, the pleasure from the prospect of a gushing foun- 

 tain or a running creek or river is greatly enhanced, such a water- 

 effect, in fact, being a positive relief to the eye. Every village 

 and hamlet should have its fountain-basin, as well as its drinking- 

 place for horses and dogs, filled with clear water, for practical 

 use and as a pleasing and effective ornament. 



Before making an artificial pond, first decide upon the site, 

 the size, the shape which it may assume, the depth of water and 

 the mode of construction. The proportion of water-effect in the 

 garden-plan should be, as nearly as possible, one in ten; for 

 example, in a garden of four acres, from one-quarter to one-half 

 an acre should be water. 



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