May, 19 21 
33 
6 " or 8" from them, is then 
built of boards. Chicken wire 
should be inserted in the space 
between the earth walls and 
the mould, and the space filled 
with concrete. This work re¬ 
quires no technical skill, and 
can be done by practically any 
“Italian-by-the-day.” The 
bottom of the pool should also, 
of course, be covered with con¬ 
crete, the stones here acting as 
reinforcement. Concrete which 
is not reinforced, or which is 
less than 6" or 8" in thickness, 
cannot be relied upon to stand 
the frost of our northern 
latitudes. 
In making the pool, it is 
well to provide compartments 
in which to plant the lilies. 
They may, of course, be 
planted in soil spread loose 
upon the bottom, but this 
Glass or wooden boxes to hold the soil in the bottom of the pool permit the 
easy shifting of the plants. Varying depths will allow the use of a wider range 
of planting, and a few goldfish will keep the water free from mosquito larvae 
method is less desirable, especially in small 
water gardens, on account of the tendency of 
the plants to spread. It also makes the clean¬ 
ing of the pool more difficult. Wooden boxes 
may be used instead of concrete or stone com¬ 
partments, but they make a rather ungainly 
appearance. In cleaning the pool, however, 
they have the advantage that it is possible to 
move them about. And when the lily pads 
begin to spread, as they do in a wonderfully 
short time, neither boxes nor compartments are 
visible. 
The average water lily requires about ten 
cubic feet of soil. A box or compartment, 
therefore, should be about 3' square and T 
deep, and its top should be about T below the 
surface of the water. Fill it with earth which 
has been thoroughly enriched—about one part 
of well-rotted manure to three 
parts of heavy rich earth or 
humus. Mud from an old 
pond, or leaf mould, will not 
be found to give such good 
results as this combination. 
It is, of course, also possible 
to make a small water garden, 
from which much pleasure 
may be had, from several tubs 
sunk in the earth, the divisions 
between them being hidden 
by water plants. Generally, 
however, the water lily enthu¬ 
siast soon wearies of the lim¬ 
itations imposed by gardening 
on so contracted a scale, and 
either gives up aquatic plants 
altogether, or—which is more 
probable—turns to some more 
elaborate arrangement where 
his plants will show to better 
advantage. The tub garden 
may be made very pretty, but 
is a makeshift, at best, and when a satisfactory 
pool is so easy to obtain, is not, in my opinion, 
to be seriously recommended. 
The best way to secure lilies is to buy the 
plants of a reliable dealer. It is, however, inter¬ 
esting to try to raise one or two from seed, for 
one’s own satisfaction if nothing more. Put a 
few inches of rich earth in the bottom of a bowl, 
(Continued on page 78) 
A border planting of funkias, iris, ferns and ornamental grasses may revealed discovery as one approaches. Water lilies alone grow here 
serve to mask the pool at a distance and add the charm of slowly and there in the pool itself, their pads and blossoms irregularly grouped 
