Forty-Third Year 
Lakeview Ponds, Mt. Airy, Cincinnati— 1892-1935 
25 
Planting and Culture of Water Lilies in Pools 
W ATER LILIES will bear many large flowers or a few 
smaller ones In direct proportion to the amount of sun¬ 
light, the amount of growing space, and the richness 
of their soil. Lilies grown in tubs or small boxes will there¬ 
fore be somewhat dwarfed. Water lilies are easier to grow 
than roses and many other garden plants. In the first place, 
after planting they need no further watering—and the elimi¬ 
nation of that requirement will save much labor. 
AQUATIC PLANTS are subject to few insect pests, but if 
aphis is noticed, a quick remedy is to wash them oil' the top of 
lily leaves and other plants with a hose and force down the 
overflow pipe to the sewer. A healthy condition in the pool is 
maintained by keeping the water clean and the level fairly 
constant. At times green scum may appear, and a good remedy 
is to let the pool overflow slowly for several hours through a 
coarse strainer or with strainer removed if only larger fish are 
present. If any caterpillars or leaf worms are noticed they 
should be picked off the plants. Do not drain the pool more 
than twice a year—Spring and Fall. 
HARDY WATER LILIES can be planted from the middle of 
March until September in our latitude, and even later in South¬ 
ern States. TROPICAL WATER LILIES in our latitude should 
not be planted in pools until end of May when the weather is 
settled and the water is about 70 degrees. If planted earlier 
and chilled they will be set back several weeks in their 
growth. Hence we do not ship Tropical Water Lilies to 
Northern States until the end of May. Orders to Southern 
States can be made a few weeks sooner. Other than this, 
TROPICAL WATER LILIES are planted like Hardy Lilies, but 
they are treated as annuals, to be replaced yearly, unless win¬ 
tered in a conservatory. 
HOW TO PLANT WATER LILIES 
First remember—Never allow aquatic plants to become 
dry. When lilies are received they must be placed in water 
or covered -with wet burlap. Try not to allow the leaves to 
wither. In planting, place the tubers with the growing crowns 
even with the surface, and cover over with soil. It is not 
necessary to drain the water from a pool to plant the lilies, 
as this is never done in commercial propagation, nor is it 
hard to insert the roots under water. 
Each box, or the part of pool filled with soil, should be 
covered with a layer of sand 1 inch thick so as to keep the 
w'ater clean and prevent fish from disturbing the plants. 
Follow this practice in planting all sorts of aquatics which 
grow in soil. 
The most satisfactory method of planting in larger pools 
is to install a box for each plant. These boxes should be 
from 14 x 14 x 8 inches to 24 x 24 xl2 inches deep. If water is 
more than 30 inches deep, the boxes should have a tight bot¬ 
tom and be raised on stones so that the crowns of lilies are 
not more than 8 to 12 inches under water when pool is filled. 
(We list two sizes of Water Lily Boxes on Page 26. They are inex¬ 
pensive and very serviceable.) About 6 to 8 square feet of water 
surface should be allowed each Hardy Water Lily and 8 to 12 
square feet for each Tropical Lily. 
In smaller pools a space, say, 4x5 feet, can be parti¬ 
tioned off with a board wedged tightly; or a brick wall one 
brick wide and four courses high can be laid. This pocket 
can then be filled with soil and will support four or five 
lilies nicely. The entire bottom of a small pool can be filled 
with 6 inches of soil, then tamped and covered with 1 inch 
of sand, if it is desired to have a lot of plants. 
In natural ponds, simply press the roots into the soil 
and then cover lightly with small flat stones to anchor until 
the roots take hold. Allow six to eight feet diameter for each 
lily, and if you do not wish them to mingle too closely, give 
each species a considerable area to itself. 
SOIL TO USE 
All aquatic plants like a rich loamy soil with clay base. 
If this can be procured from a garden or meadow no fertilizer 
is needed. A good soil can be prepared by taking the top 4 
inches of sod from a pasture, breaking it up well and adding 
one-fifth well rotted cow manure. If rotted cow manure can 
not be obtained, bone meal can be used, mixing in proportion 
of one pound of bone meal to each box of soil 2 feet square 
by 1 foot deep. Soil in lily boxes should be changed every 
two years. One pound of bone meal or fertilizer can be added 
to each boy every year to produce growth; however, you will 
have more and larger flowers by buying fresh young plants 
every few years. 
Water lilies described as “Prolific Growers” or “Vigorous 
Plants” can use from 2 to 4 cubic feet of good soil per plant. 
If you give them less they will bloom and leaf in a smaller 
way, but the small and medium types of lilies are best for 
smaller spaces. 
Most water lilies do best if started in shallow water 
(3 to 5 inches) until they begin to leaf nicely. Then raise 
the water level or lower the boxes so they have 8 to 12 inches 
in Summer. Any hardy lily or hardy aquatic will survive 
the Winter if ice and frost do not get at their roots. Hence 
for Winter lower lily boxes under ice level or protect pools 
with boards so that very little ice will form. 
WINTER CARE OF POOLS 
Most people now' leave their Goldfish outdoors all winter. 
When pools are well built as described on page 4 there will be 
no danger of them cracking from freezing. However, it is a 
good idea to cover your pool with boards and leaves, to protect 
it from the very severe weather. When this is done, very little 
freezing takes place. 
Hardy water lilies and hardy pool jilants should be moved 
to deep water for the winter and will come through safely if 
no ice reaches to the top of the boxes so that the crown of the 
plant is not frozen. Dead leaves, etc., should be removed from 
the lilies and kept out of the pool during the winter. Also 
inspect the water level when pool is covered for any length of 
time. If you decide to drain the pool for the winter the drain 
should be left open, the pool filled with leaves and covered with 
a few boards. 
WINTER CARE OF GOLDFISH 
When pools are drained for the Winter, the fish may be 
w'intered in a large aquarium or in tubs covered with wire, 
and kept in the basement near a window. If tubs are used, 
a good idea is to have a hole in the side of tub about four 
inches from the top, to allow the water to overflow and to 
have a petcock to spray a small but continuous jet of water 
into the tub. Never use a new galvanized tub, as the poison 
given off by new’ galvanizing will kill the fish. A wooden 
tub or used wash tub is satisfactory if thoroughly cleaned, 
and if there is no trace of soap, or other foreign matter. 
Goldfish will stand wintering in the larger types of pools 
or ponds if they do not freeze to a depth greater than ten or 
twelve inches and if there is at least twelve to eighteen inches 
of water beneath the ice. In our locality ice on pools varies 
from two to six inches, and seldom is any thicker. During 
long periods of solid ice it will be well to open a hole about 
two feet square to allow some aeration of the water. Inspect 
the pool from time to time to be sure it has plenty of water. 
Your customary Fall feeding can be given through the ice 
three times a month during Winter if a lot of fish are known 
to be in the pool. If only a few fish are in the pool and 
there are some plants, lilies, etc., only feed lightly about 
twice a month. This is a precaution, as it is better to have 
the fish slightly hungry than to foul the water. Fish are 
quite inactive when they “hibernate” in cold water and do 
not need much food. They become more active as the water 
warms, and when it gets to be about sixty degrees, along in 
April, they begin to think of spawning, and will want some 
Water Hyacinths. 
This sectional 
drawing shows the 
construction of a 
well - made rein¬ 
forced concrete pool 
for lilies and Gold¬ 
fish. The Ledge can 
he constructed on 
one or more sides 
of the pool, depend¬ 
ing on effect de¬ 
sired. It is built to 
accommodate the 
floating plants 
(Water Hgacinths. 
etc.,) and the shal¬ 
low water plants 
(Cattail. Pickerel 
Rush, Water Canna 
etc.). Where no 
ledge is provided, 
soil boxes, buckets, 
etc., pro perl g ar¬ 
ranged. will give a 
good effect. 
