Just like with large fountains, a circulating system is necessary for a water garden. Howver, like swimming pools it does not need to create a constant movement of water. Water-lilies will thrive in perfectly stagnant water which has not been changed for months, but it is neither wholesome nor pleasant to allow the same water to remain in the ponds indefinitely. You do need to have some way of running off the foul water and refilling the pond with fresh water.

When you have done your work in creating a pond, you should fill the ponds, mark the water-level, and allow them to stand for a week, noting whether there is any leakage, which would show itself by a drop in the surface level. If all is satisfactory, the water may be run off and the ponds will be ready for planting.

The end of May is the best time for planting the hardy nympheas. The soil may be compost consisting of:

• Pond mud—2 parts
• Loam—1 part
• Leaf-mould—1 part
• Road scrapings—1 part

If the first ingredient cannot be obtained, you can omit it and double the quantities of loam and leaf-mould substituted. A layer of drainage material (broken tile or brick rubbish) should be spread upon the pond floor, on which the compost should be heaped to the water-level height at the points where the plants are to be placed.

The water may then be added and allowed to stand for a couple of days to assume the temperature of the atmosphere. The plants may then be inserted in their mounds, which by this time will have settled down considerably below the water level. The water may be run off and renewed at two-week intervals, or even less often if it shows no tendency to become fouled.

Twice a year the ponds must be thoroughly cleansed to remove decayed vegetable matter, leaves and rubbish which are certain to accumulate at the bottom. The introduction of animal life is useful in restraining undesirable vegetable growth, especially water snails. Goldfish will do well even under somewhat unfavorable conditions of stagnation, and are equally useful for the purpose.

You may wonder whether or not all this trouble is worthwhile for the purpose of growing a few water plants. Indeed, the sight of only three or four good, healthy water-lilies in flower in one's own garden is sufficiently interesting to constitute ample recompense for some small initial trouble and outlay, and the enthusiastic flower lover will not grudge the subsequent labor of tending them.

You can even grow a collection of miniature nympheas in tubs sunk in the ground with most gratifying success. Where space is limited this is the perfect way to have a water garden. The best plan is to excavate a deep hole, say twice the depth of the tub, and to fill the bottom with rubble, so that when the tub is bedded the rim will be just above the ground.

You must make a center bit hole in the bottom of the tub and fit it with a plug long enough to give a good handhold. A piece of perforated zinc should be nailed over the hole at its under side, to prevent coarse debris running through and choking the drainage material below. These expedients, simple enough to put into practice, are all that is necessary to provide for an occasional change of water.

The hard circular outline of the tub is the only objection on the score of appearance. The best way to mask it is to pack some boggy soil around and between the tubs, and to grow small waterside plants in it, which, if suitably chosen, will spread over the rims and hide their outline, without unduly excluding light and air from the water plants.

If possible rain-water should be used. The nympheas particularly are intolerant of hard water. When introducing fresh water it should be run in slowly if it is sensibly colder than the atmosphere, otherwise the plants may be chilled and this will stunt their growth. It is quite easy for the supply to dribble in from a hose with the waste plug loosened to permit the foul water to escape slowly at the same time. Besides the nympheas, there are many other interesting, if not as conspicuously beautiful, plants that you can grow in the water garden.

Calla is perhaps best kept plant in the water garden. The lotus has a rich tropical effect, and is best planted in a tile container as its roots spread through the soil and into the surrounding ground. The English arrowhead is a bold, handsome, and desirable plant. Typha—the reed-mace, (commonly called "bull rush")—is easily established, and the native yellow flag, though only semi-aquatic, will thrive in shallow water on a deep bed of soil.