JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  14,  1904 
O 
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Water  In  Garden  Scenery. 
London,  in  Ins  Inilky  and  now  venerablo  “  Ency- 
clopanlia  ot  Gardening,”  lias  headed  one  section  of 
the  work,  not  very  lengthy,  thus,  ”  On  Oper.ating 
with  Water,”  which  may  .seem  of  do.nhtfnl  mean’ '■g 
for  the  can  and  the  ho.se  are  in  daily  rw].ii^ir.'.on, 
watering,  indoors  and  ont,  being  one  of  iho  mat¬ 
ters  needing  the  gardener’s  constant  attention. 
Certainly  in  some  of  the  months  of  1903  he  often 
had  to  operate  with  water  in  another  way  alto¬ 
gether,  the  object  being  to  remove  an  exce.ss  of  it 
from  beds,  paths,  and  lawns. 
Bnt  ■what  London  discourses  upon  in  tins  section 
is  the  emploj'inent  of  water  tor  scenic  or  orna¬ 
mental  effect,  which,  in  his  time,  perhaps,  was 
deemed  of  more  importance  than  it  is  at  present. 
Flowers  were  comparatively  dear  in  Geoi’gian  days, 
and  since  then  the  number  of  species  and  varieties 
has  greatly  increased,  .so  that  the  specialities  oi 
beds  and  borders  receive  notice  rather  than  its 
general  appearance,  frequently.  Water,  writes 
JiOndon,  is  ‘‘a  material  of  a  captivating  descrip¬ 
tion  ”  as  it  occurs  in  Nature,  hence  it  has  fit¬ 
tingly  a  place  in  Art,  when  a  garden  is  operated 
upon.  It  was  thought  a  great  advantage  to  have 
a  garden  with  one  side  to  a  river  or  stream,  espe¬ 
cially  if,  from  its  position,  the  plants  and  trees  were 
reflected  on  the  water.  Also,  a  stream  usually 
.served  the  purpose  of  a  wall  or  fence,  and  it  gave,"  by  dipping, 
an  unlimited  supply  of  .soft  water,  mostly  clean. 
It  was  doubtless  from  our  Dutch  friends  that  the  fashion  of 
cutting  a  short  canai  coming  out  ot  a  river  into  a  garden,  -was 
sometimes  adopted ;  usually  a  row  of  trees  was  planted  on  eacli 
side.  An  instance,  formerly  -^vell  known  to  liondoners,  Avas  to 
be  .seen  in  the  old  garden  of  Chelsea  College,  on  the  Thames 
bank.  Occasionally,  Avhen  the  garden  was  big  enough,  people 
contrived  Avhat  is  called  a  runlet,  a  little  stream  forming  a  half¬ 
circle,  floAving  out  of  the  main  stream  and  back  again,  crossed 
by  tiny  bridges.  When  thei'e  Avas  less  drainage  of  the  land 
than  there  is  now,  many  gardens  of  size  Avere  found  to  contain 
springs,  Avhich  AAOuld  either  supply  a  pond  or  form  a  little 
stream  to  run  aAvay  and  empty  itself  someAvhere  neai'.  Strolling 
amongst  the  market  gardens  Avest  of  London  forty  or  fifty  years 
ago,  one  often  came  upon  a  little  rill,  rising  in  the  clay  oj- 
gravel,  and  Avinding  its  Avay  to  the  liver. 
The  Avater  of  the.se  rills  Avas  apt  to  be  rather  hard,  even 
Avhen  it  reached  the  Thames  ;  but  of  course  both  gardens  and 
.streamlets  haA^e  been  SAvalloAAed  by  modern  progress.  But  the 
Thames  still  exhibits  on  its  banks  numei’ous  private  gardens 
in  Middlesex^  and  Surrey,  yet  of  the  suburban  .streams,  Ave 
believe  the  XeAv  Iliver  beautifies  most  in  its  course  from  the 
pretty  village  of  AniAA-ell  to  Islington,  though  feAv  may  be  of 
great  extent.  Several  of  the.se  gardens,  one  at  Biverhead,  for 
instance,  are  quaint,  and  in  the  olden  style  familiar  to  our 
Georgian  ancestors.  There  is  another  of  AA’hich  I  have  heard, 
but  not  seen,  rather  higher  up,  AA’hich  is  almost  illusti'ative  of 
the  seventeenth  century  mode,  its  chief  features  being 
preserved.  " 
Spring  Gardens,  Charing  Cross,  is  a  place  knoA\n  by  name 
all  over  the  Avorld,  and  it  reallv  had,  formerlv,  a  spring, 
accounting  for  the  name.  Over  in  Surrey,  at  Vauxhall,  Avas 
another  Spring  Garden-  in  fact,  there  Avere  several  of  these 
public  gardens,  having  springs,  large  or  small,  much  patronised 
dni'ing  the  Stuart  period  and  after.  We  ask,  therein  lay  tlie 
popularity  of  these  sjirings  A\ell,  a  di'auglit  of  pure  AA  ater 
AA'as  not  alAA’ays  obtainable  by  London  citizens,  and  then,  some 
of  these  springs  Avere  reputed  to  have  medicinal  virtues.  Pio- 
bably  a  fcAv  of  the  springs  of  old  London  AAere  slightly  saline, 
and  othei's  contained  traces  of  iron.  A  spring  cotild  be  made  to 
serve  various  pui  poses  in  a  garden  ;  thus,  by  banking  it  up,  a 
small  cascade  or  Avaterfall  Avas  contiiA'ed.  If  the  spi'ing  had 
good  force,  its  Avater  might  be  throAvn  up  as  a  fountain,  falling 
pond.  One  laA'ourite  deA’ice  AA’as  to  have  a  series 
of  bttle  ponds  in  a  garden,  joined  by  narroAV  chaAinels,  aa  hicb 
AAere  likely  to  be  trajis  if  a  stroller  did  not  look  out.  Alany 
jionds  in  our  modern  gardens  are  fed  by  one  or  more  small 
springs,  and  the  aa  ater  geiuM  ally  becomes  soft  enough  to  Ik' 
utilised. 
recent  AA’et  season  aa  as  that  ponds  partly 
f('d  by  rainfall  unduly  inci’eased  their  dimensions,  the  excir-s 
spreading  over  adjacent  ground.  It  is  a. notable  fact  that  the 
gi eat  rainfall  has  also  opened  up  in  irardeiis  and  fiidds  spriuos 
that  had  been  long  dry.  Henry  VIII.  is  stated  to  have  had  in 
his  garden  at  Xonesuch  a  fountain  made  to  resemble  a  pyramid, 
around  Avliich  AA’ere  ananged  a  numb('r  of  small  birds'.  AA’hich 
Exotic  ferns  at  Royal  Botanic  Society’s  Show. 
squirted  Avater  from  their  bills.  Fountains  of  the  .sort  familiar 
to  us  did  no  doubt  exist  centuries  ago,  but  they  Avere  less  fre¬ 
quent  than  jets  or  columns  of  Avater.  Hoav  the.se  Avere  managed 
is  uncertain,  Avhere  the  Avater  could  not  be  brought  from  a 
height  above  the.  garden.  The  machinery,  Avhatever  it  Avas, 
must  have  been  kept  going  by  manual  labour.  Various  Avere 
the  devices  in  Avhich  Avater  served  to  startle  or  amuse  garden 
.strollers.  Stone  or  copper  figures  of  satyrs  and  nymphs  Avere 
placed  about.  From  an  aperture  in  the  statue  Avater  flowed 
into  a  cup  held  by  the  hand  of  the  statue,  and  ran  doAA  n  to  a 
receptacle  beneath.  Then  they  had  the  heads  of  lions  or 
dragons,  Avitli  Avater  issuing  from  the  open  month.  A  faA’ourite 
contrivance  Avas  to  have  a  tap  hidden  under  a  board,  so  arranged 
that  if  a  person  stepped  upon  it,  AAater  Avas  squirted  over 
him  or  her. 
The  French  or  Dutch  introduced  to  us  sheaves  or  fans  of 
Avater,  by  Avhich  balls  Avere  kept  in  motion.  Against  a  boundary 
AA’all,  in  some  of  the  Stuart  gardens,  they  had  a  hill  or  slope 
of  rocky  fragments,  doAvn  Avhich  Avater  Avas  kept  sloAvly  trickling. 
In  roclvAAork,  hoAvever,  as  described  by  Georgian  gardeners, 
AA  ater  seldom  appeared  ;  the  mounds  Avere  generally  large,  with 
ti’ees  or  shrubs  on  the  upper  portion,  and  herbaceous  plants 
))elo\\’. 
After  his  investigations  amongst  ornamental  garden  ponds, 
Loudon  came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  should  ahvays  be 
lined,  but  many  people  did  not  tiouble  to  do  this.  Some,  how¬ 
ever,  did  line  their  ponds  Avith  tiles,  .slabs  of  .stone,  or  even  with 
lead.  He  recommends  that  the  sides,  also  the  bottom,  should 
be  covered  Avith  tenacious  clay,  Avhich  has  been  Avell  Avorked 
before  it  is  laid  on,  and  afteiAA-ards  compacted  by  beating. 
Upon  the  bottom  gravel  should  be  .sprinkled,  and  a  feAv  stones 
added  for  the  benefit  of  the  tenants  of  the  pond,  if  any.  The 
beautiful  effect  of  a  pond  or  lake,  .so  he  thinks,  depends  largely 
upon  the  arrangement  of  its  margin,  Avhich  should  have  a 
variety  of  plants,  but  not  too  many  ;  and  rushes  or  others 
groAving  in  the  Avater  ought  not  to  extend  far  beyond  the  edge. 
Too  much  shade  from  trees  or  shrubs  is  a  disadvantage  to  some 
jAonds  or  lakes,  thoAigh  Avood,  he  says,  cannot  be  spared  from 
the  .scene.  Aai  island,  stuck  bv  itself  in  the  middle  of  a  pond, 
is  objectionable.  Loudon  indicates  the  faults  of  the  ponds 
AA’hich  used  to  be  common  in  kitchen  gardens,  and  Avhich  Avere 
made  the  receptacles  of  any  refuse. 
Pond.s  in  old-stvle  gardens  Avere  often  fi.shponds,  caip  and 
tench  being  favourites,  and  people  occasionally  angled  foi’  them, 
putting  their  captures  in  again,  at  least  .sometimes.  XoAva- 
days  a  pond  may  be  the  home  of  a  variety  of  aq'Aiatic  insects, 
some  of  AA’hich,  in  their  mature  .state,  may  help  to  adorn  the 
garden  or  devour  other  insects  harmfid  to  cidtivated  plants. 
The  voracious,  curiously  masked  grubs  of  the  larger  dragon  flies 
may  be  jjiovided  Avith  a  sufficiency  of  food,  and  quitting  the 
pond  AA’hen  winged  to  float  in  the  summer  sun,  and  prey  npo’i 
smaller  species:  or  Ave  may  rear  the  graceful  ‘‘demoiselles”  of 
1  the  same  family,  and  the  brief-lived  May  flies.  Upon  the  sui’- 
face  might  run  the  lanky,  active  “  Avater-measurers.”  or  tlu' 
.  pretty  AAhirligig  beetles  could  perform  their  evohitions  Avith 
I  othei’  aquatic  beetles,  though  it  may  be  scarcely  po.ssible  to 
alloAA’  the  AAater  tiger  or  Dytiscus  to  have  full  range  though  his 
movements  a'-e  amusing.— Vl.  K,  S.  C. 
