This is the time of year when we long for gardens that require no hoeing, weeding, or watering. The answer is a water garden. So why not make plans for one?
Even the simplest kind can be a spot of beauty. Cool and sparkling, it is refreshing to look at. Keep that in mind when deciding the location —place it where you can see it from the windows of the house.
Cost? Maybe Nothing
If the material at hand is used, the cost is practically nothing. Wood or metal tubs, hardwood barrels, discarded bathtubs, or any leakproof container (except copper or new wood) at least two feet across and a foot to 18” inches deep may be used.
A hardwood barrel sawed in half makes two separate water gardens, or they may be placed side by side and used as one unit. Select a sunny location because most water plants require sun.
Sink the container just deep enough to leave the rim two inches above soil level, preventing surface water from flowing in when it rains.
You can either plant your lilies right in the soil at the bottom of the pool or put them in small containers you sink in the pool. If the planting is directly in the bottom, spread six or more inches of good rich soil.
Set the water plants into this and pour an inch layer of sand over the top to keep the pool looking clean.
Add Water With Care
Take care when filling with water not to disturb the soil and sand. If wooden receptacles are used, there will be some leakage for a few hours until the boards swell and become water-tight. Keep the water level fairly constant by adding water when necessary.
Use rocks and small plants to hide the rim. Low sedums are good. Perhaps you can locate the pool where a background planting is already in place.
If not, try viburnums, mock-orange, lilac, euonymus, spiraea, shrub roses, yew, arborvitae, or hemlock.
Let Some Water Show
Avoid overplanting a water garden. If a half barrel is used, one water lily and a couple of water plants will be ample.
A great deal of the beauty lies in seeing the sparkling water reflecting plants like a mirror. For extra color, add a few goldfish.
Even simpler and just as cool and interesting are bird baths. I used to think these needed to be several feet high to keep the birds safe from cats.
Then I noted that after each rain, birds never went to an elevated birdbath I had but flocked to each little puddle in the raveled driveway until the water seeped away.
Now I have several containers set in the ground extending about an inch above soil level. The containers are filled with gravel to within two inches of the top and kept filled with water.
Many more birds come now. Catbirds, brown thrashers, orioles, meadowlarks, red-winged blackbirds, robins, and sparrows splash in the sunken baths.
Marsh-marigold blooms happily beside one of them, for the birds, with their splashing, keep the soil moist, and when I fill the containers, I deliberately let them run over.
Combine Flowers and Birds
I had a clump of red-orange umbellatum lilies for several years behind one of the birdbaths. The blossoms perfectly matched the cardinal’s brilliant coat as he splashed in the water.
One fall, when blue Salvia farinacea was blooming nearby, a flock of bluebirds stayed for several weeks. They made a delightful study in blue as they came to the water and flew among the azure flowers.
For more ideas about adding the sight and sound of water to your garden, see page 15. Also, I recommend the book Garden Pools, Water-Lilies, and Goldfish, by G. L. Thomas, Jr., published in 1958 by D. Van Nostrand; $5.95.
44659 by Olga Rolf Tiemann