“Don’t try to span the entire water with one bridge, Mrs. James. When Ames gets the marsh all cleaned out and it is dry enough for us to work in, we will mix the concrete and make a few islands in the lake. The largest one can be in the direction of the widest diameter of the lake, which is near the roadway that passes the place. Our bridge will run from here to that island. Then from the other side of that island we will build another smaller bridge to span the distance to an island nearer the other side, but further down near the dam. Then a third bridge can span that water from the island to the opposite shore. What do you think of my suggestions?”
“Oh, perfectly fine, but think of all the work in making the islands?” said Mrs. James.
“No more work than if you had to construct three solid piers for the bridge if you spanned the entire width of the lake. The concrete base we use for the islands will not have to be molded or clean-cut, you know. It will be poured on the floor of the marsh first then the thicker concrete will be piled on top of that when it is hard. We will embed rocks in this second layer so the mass will harden together and form as fine a foundation as one can want. In the crevices of the rocks and all over the concrete foundation, we will throw the rich soil you are planning to prepare, and in this we can plant our bushes and flowers.
“On the smaller islands we will not have room for bushes or shrubs, but the ferns and water plants can grow there. Besides, a planting of cat-tails in the soil around the islands will make them look much larger than they really are, and still show glimpses of the water glistening through their stalks.”
“Dear me, I’m so glad you came to advise us, Mrs. Tompkins, that I want to hug you for it!” exclaimed Norma enthusiastically.
The two women laughed and Mrs. James added: “Norma was so keen about having temples and seats and Japanese lanterns that I felt sorry for her disappointment. Now she can have them all and more, too.”
“I wanted to have those cute little dwarf pines in the stone jars on the bridge, you know, like they have in pictures, but Jimmy said the stone objects cost too much,” explained Norma.
“Let me tell you right here that the crooked little pines and cedars that you see growing in or near the water in the finest of Japanese gardens are not planted in the water nor in the soil of the water garden. They are planted in large galvanized or other metal buckets so they will be waterproof, and these pails are sunken into the ground, or hidden by reeds and ferns that grow up about the outer edges of the pail to screen it. The water generally reaches up to within an inch of the top of the pail so that the plant and the soil it is in never get wet from the lake. Quite often, the pails holding the trees are placed in the jardinieres of concrete, but do not show from the outside. They can be easily lifted out and given the care they need, and then replaced again. If they were planted right in the concrete posts they could not be taken out and attended to as they require it.”
“Then we can get some metal pails and have trees growing on our bridge, too!” declared Norma eagerly.
“You can buy some of the ordinary stable pails that Si keeps in stock. They are large and heavy and will never rust,” said Mrs. Tompkins.