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| More Pool Designs |
Clay puddling, I am glad to report, is an art in pool construction that
went out with handlebar mustaches and high-wheeled bicycles. It
never was much of an art, in my opinion, but I don't think any discussion of pool building would be complete without some mention of
it, for it was one of the pioneer techniques of water gardening.
Puddling with Clay
The builder of a clay-puddled pool first made a concave excavation,
sloping the sides carefully at an angle of not more than 40 to 45 degrees. He then lined the concavity with a 6- to 8-inch layer of the
coarsest straw he could find. On top of the straw he put a 6-inch layer
of clay, which he moistened and tamped down into the straw as tightly
as possible.
All the clay-puddled pools I have seen required a constant trickle of
water into them to make up for that lost by seepage. Spring or stream
water, always 15 to 20 degrees colder than still water warmed by the
sun, maintained a pool temperature too cold for good frequently too
cold for any water-lily growth. A trickle piped into the pool from a
household water system would be even colder, and expensive to boot.
The clay linings of these pools attracted crawfish as spilled molasses
attracts flies. After a couple of them had burrowed through the pool's
lining, many a pool enthusiast in the old days discovered that overnight
his beautiful water garden had become just a mud hole, so to remain
until he patched the holes and refilled the pool.
Clay-puddled pools are now blessedly of the past, and good riddance. Any structure that will enable a couple of crawfish to ruin a
man's whole summer just isn't practical enough to bother building.
Dew Ponds
Natural dew ponds, also known as cloud ponds and mist ponds, are
near-miraculous works of nature. They just happen, sometimes, in shady
places that remain constantly damp, even in hot, dry weather. The mystery of them is their principal fascination. They have no apparent source
of water, and yet they thrive, their cold, clear waters never seeming to
diminish.
A few English water gardeners with plenty of time and even more
patience have been able to construct them and make them work. An
artificial dew pond is built, much as a puddled-clay pond, although on
a much smaller scale. The layer of straw that goes into the excavation
is much thicker, perhaps a foot or more of it. The clay lining is tamped
in upon the straw in the conventional way.
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