HOME GARDENS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 42, 17 January 1949, Page 7

HOME GARDENS

(By J. W. Goodwin, N.D.H. (N.Z.), F.R.H.S., Massey Agricultural College.) THE GARDEN POOL A formal or intormal pool will almost invariably become the centre of attraction. Even with a small pond a wealth of material may be grown. The initial cost need not be high, whilst maintenance is always light. No other garden feature provides so many interesting subjects for nature-study by young or old. The balance of nature is obtained by the use of fish to control mosquitoes and duckweed; oxygenating plants add oxygen to the water to the benefit of gold fish; floating aquatics provide shade, and their roots a spawning ground for fish; water snails are the scavengers which feed on decomposing leaf and blanket weed. A completely balanced and well managed pool is crystal clear, enriched with flower and foliage, and a mirror of reflections. Plan Carefully Informal pools may be nicely placed at the foot of the rock garden or in a shallow depression in the lawn. They are most suited to natural surroundings and very much out of place when close to the house or in informal or paved areas. The size of these ponds may range from large areas of sheet water in a meadow down to a tub in the corner of the flower garden. The latte-’ may be ,20 inches, or less, deep, and should be set in the ground to within a few inches of the rim. This may hold one of the smaller types of waterlilies and a few smaller subjects. The edges may be camouflaged by using a few moisture loving plants such as higo iris, senecio clivorum,, astible and hemerocallis (with evergreen foliage). Niceties of Construction The first point is to arrange for the supply of water to and the drainage of water away from the pond, and both should be well hidden. The best method is to construct the pond with a deep central area about 20 inches deep and allowing or four inches of Soil this would give us 16 inches above the plants. A marginal area 10 inches deep would allow for four inches of soil and six inches of water above the plants. The edge of this trough should reach to four or five inches from the surface and would prevent soil from washing away. The cement shortage has pre-or-dained that many ponds should be sealed with clay and excellent pools may be made with this material. Suitable, clay is plastic to work in the hand and free from material of a gritty nature. The pool may have a natural clay bottom which may be used providing loam soil is not allowed to become mixed in. Excavations should be deep enough and wide enough to allow for three inches of clay or more if it is really available plus three or four inches of loam for planting in. The pool is much easier to seal if the sides have a slope of between 45 and 60 ' degrees,. and we need these shallow margins in any case The clay should be spread over the surface about two inches thick, rammed firm and sprayed with a hose to moisten it thoroughly. The bottom may be tramped and raked to 'a fine paste and more clay added and the process repeated. The sides must be packed with the head of. the rake and smoothed with the back of the shovel or a plasterers’, trowel. It should not be allowed to become to wet or the valuable fine particles will be washed to the bottom of the pond. Once the first layer has become plastic the remainder of the clay may be added and worked to a smooth finish. The pool should then be filled by placing the hose end in a sack to prevent disturbance of the clay.