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| Pools, ponds, and plants |
Pool
A water-lily pool, together with the variety of plants used for decorating
its margin, offers a quick and rewarding means of "landscaping" a new
place. Under fair conditions, a pool of average size can be visualized in
the early summer, constructed, "cured," planted, and brought into full
bloom in four to six weeks. What a refreshing sight a pool is for a family
in a new home while they wait for grass and shrubbery to take hold.
Pools are remarkably varied and adaptive. A "pool" may be a farm
pond, big as a city block, with free-growing species of water-lilies scattered over it like a sky full of stars. In the suburbs or city a pool may
be roughly the size of a living-room rug, a sunken affair of concrete in
the side, front, or back yard; or it may be really tiny, a garden spot
taking up no more room than a lawn chair - a little living bouquet, all
the more beautiful for its small and intimate setting.
A pool in a new landscape can become the center of interest around
which the rest of the garden is designed. A new pool placed in an old
and loved garden will bring added magic by reflecting and complementing the flowers already there. And, speaking of magic, I think a
shimmering water surface set into a garden is the best possible way to
bring a patch of sky down to earth and make it part of the landscape.
From a picture window, a pool of water-lilies is a lovely, refreshing
sight and colorful for a long season. By the strategic placement of a
pool just outside a window, a gardener can bring the beauty and serenity of water-borne flowers right into the house.
The Time, the Trouble, and the Cost
Expensewise, water gardening also is widely varied. With a tub,
half-barrel, or similar container, a man can sink a miniature pool in his
yard - and plant it with practically any water-lily he wants - for less
than he would spend for a new hat. With only average handiness with
tools, he can build a concrete pool big enough for the whole neighborhood to enjoy for as little as fifty dollars.
The maintenance of a water garden requires practically no work at
all. There is no hoeing, no weeding, no watering. Given a fair chance,
water-lilies will not only grow and bloom, they will thrive. There are
few diseases and insect pests that affect them, none that destroys them.
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