July, 1918 
41. 
graving of the surrounding trees and of the 
sky above. Keep the surface of such a pool 
clear, then, and its concrete boundaries pro¬ 
nounced and unmasked by growing things. A 
central fountain may be included or not. 
Less severely plain, and therefore of wider 
appeal, is the concrete pool where Nymphaeas 
or others of the water-lily tribe spread their 
pad-like leaves and strikingly beautiful blos¬ 
soms. This is the pool for ninety out of every 
hundred formal gardens, for it possesses many 
of the good features of the first type along with 
a greater adaptability. 
Any formal or semi-formal pool must be 
concrete lined, using a mixture of one part 
Portland cement, two parts clean, sharp sand, 
and four parts gravel. Provision for supply 
and outlet pipes must be made before the con¬ 
crete is applied. The work should be done by 
someone thoroughly familiar with the mixing 
and habits of concrete, for remember that what 
is needed is a lining which will be water-tight 
and strong enough to resist the effects of freez¬ 
ing weather. If water plants are to be used, 
the soil for them may be added afterward. 
The various types of formal fountains, ped¬ 
estal bird baths, etc., may be dismissed with a 
few words. They are obtainable in a wide 
variety of shapes, sizes and prices, from the 
manufacturers who specialize in work of this 
sort. As a general thing, the manufactured 
bird baths are practical, and birds will pat¬ 
ronize them if they are properly located. A 
few, however, are entirely too deep for anything 
less amphibious than a duck—and wild ducks 
are not usually listed among the common gar¬ 
den birds. The robin, thrush, catbird, wren or 
other insectivorous bird which you may expect 
to come to your bird bath likes to take his 
drink or his tub comfortably; he prefers a 
shower to a plunge, and he cannot swim. 
Therefore the water at the edge ought not to 
be more than j/ 2 " deep, and it should shelve 
off gradually to 3" or 4" at the center. 
Informal Work 
A great many of our flower gardens are en¬ 
tirely too informal to support a water feature 
which is anything except naturalistic in effect. 
The irregular pool which seems to have “just 
grown there” is the thing for them, or the nat¬ 
ural stream if you are so fortunate as to possess 
one which may be made a part of the garden 
scheme. The Japanese have perhaps advanced 
further in informal water gardening than any 
other nationality, and we could do worse than 
copy some of their principles. 
If it is a question of a pool, be sure that its 
margin shows no sign of artificiality. Often 
it is possible to use “puddled” clay to make the 
excavation water-tight, thus eliminating the 
concrete lining. This leaves a natural soil 
margin which may be planted with ornamental 
grasses, iris, cardinal flowers, etc. Should the 
use of concrete be unavoidable, screen the edges 
with alyssum or other low-growing plant so 
that the water and the land growth will meet 
without a noticeable line of demarcation. 
Should a flowing stream be at hand, either 
already traversing the garden area or capable 
of being made to do so by a deflection of its 
natural course, you may indeed count yourself 
fortunate. Think of the possibilities of little 
waterfalls and pools, of tiny rapids, of sunlit 
banks gay with forget-me-nots and fragrant 
with mint, of shaded nooks where wild ferns 
may overhang the water and mosses cover the 
rocks with green and gold and red. To treat 
such a stream formally, to hem it in between 
stiff banks of stone and close-cut turf, would 
be a crime against the Gods of the Garden. 
And now just a few lines about aquatic 
planting in general. Do not overcrowd, 
whether you are putting lilies in a pool or 
edging the water with terrestrial plants. 
Enough of the water should always be ex¬ 
posed to dominate the situation. The flowers 
are merely its setting, its decorations; for, as 
I said before, it is the water itself which is 
the real attraction. 
Levick 
Another view in the Mellick glacial garden shows a series of deep, naturalistic pools connected by tiny trickles of water over 
the gray rocks. This particular setting is one which few amateur gardeners would care to attempt because of its magnitude and 
intricacy, but it illustrates admirably the effectiveness of informal water gardening. C. W. Maredydd Harrison, landscape architect 
