VII 



LANDSCAPE TREATMENT OF LAKES 

 AND PONDS 



The pond in Central Park is close to the 59th- 

 Street entrance near Fifth Avenue; it lies thirty 

 feet below the surface of the street and is long, 

 winding, and narrow. Much of the effect of this 

 sheet of water was increased by piling on the pre- 

 cipitous shores on the northwest side quantities 

 of the earth excavated from the lake, which was 

 probably originally only a stream. On the south- 

 east side the ground was graded more gradually 

 in order to carry a walk along the borders of the 

 water and further to give more suitable planting- 

 space for the large trees between it and the street. 

 On the high rugged promontory to the northwest 

 were planted large trees to increase further the 

 eflfect of height. This ruggedness and picturesque- 

 ness are made more noticeable by the way the lake 

 is led to wind and lose itself behind the promon- 

 tory, terminating at a grassy slope or dell which 

 completes the picture. 



To the northeast, at a narrow part of the lake, 

 a bridge spans the water. It is built of large 

 bowlders of native stone, with the joints so made 

 as to hide the cement. The weather-beaten sur- 

 faces are exposed and there is very little sign of 

 the tool on the bridge except where a bluestone 

 coping finishes the top surface of the balustrade 



[29] 



