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Planning Your Garden

this means he would obtain a piece of running water (A), and a piece (B) more or less stagnant, but not so stagnantasto require any special device for changing it. The depth need not exceed eighteen inches. The island C would be useful for treatment with bold waterside plants, and the margins of the backwater and pond could accommodate others of less sturdy growth. Clear spaces should be left for access to the water's edge and to permit of the plants being seen. A small collection of dwarf hybrid nympheas may be established in the pond B and in the backwater, with which might be associated our common native pond lily. Other plants may be added if space permits, including such interesting subjects as the pickerel weed, the flowering rush, and water buttercup. Typha and swamp mal- low might be planted along the fence line at B.

Irises will thrive at the margin of the water, as well as such favourite flowers as phlox, trollius, spirea, and a host of others. With very little trouble in the making and common-sense management, a piece of water of this kind could be made a source of perennial interest. When all is complete and the plants are established it would only remain to keep the entrances clear and to remove all rubbish which might find access to the water. No deciduous trees or shrubs should be placed near the water, for reasons already explained.

A water system of this kind might be wedded to a rock garden with a good effect.

In excavating the water bed the sides should slope gently to the edge, or trouble will ensue by the banks breaking away and fouling the water. This also ensures that the soil is water-logged for some distance from the water's edge, and is therefore in a condition for supporting a colony of semi-aquatic plants.

When a stream intersects the garden, a rather more ambitious effort is possible.