}`HPLASErJ}.mt 10 .hm 3 .h1Grayson Enterprises Ltd. First NA Serial Rights .h214 April 1991 Copyright 1991 .h3Page #. 1018 words .LS2          WATER GARDENING FOR THE FOX VALLEY Written by June Grayson       If you think that only millionaires can afford their own   water gardens, think again. According to Robert Steinbach, owner   of The Aquatic Nursery, Elgin, you can create a water garden this   summer with a spade and rake, a twenty dollar bill, and a few   hours of your time. Then spend the rest of the summer lounging   in a comfortable garden chair enjoying your own "waterfront"   property.   π03  Š Professor Steinbach is a practicing biologist and instructor   of biological sciences, zoology, and botany at Elgin Community   College, who, by his own admission, has had a 40 year obsession   with aquatic biology. "Even as a little child, I could spend   hours lying beside the creek behind my home, playing with the   snails, and watching the fish shimmering among the water plants."  As soon as he was 10 years old and able to "rebel," he insisted on spending his Sunday afternoons at the Shaw Gardens   in St. Louis, while the rest of his family paid obligatory visits   to elderly relatives. This internationally-famous, 79-acre   botanical garden was donated to St. Louis by Henry Shaw, a Victo  rian gentleman who transplanted English and European ideas of   aquatic gardens to the United States.  Unlike other men, who have to give up memories of   "snips and snails and puppy dog tails" for adult realities,   Mr.Steinbach has been able to parlay those childhood pleasures   into a permanent way of life. About the only things missing   these days are the puppy dog tails.  He majored in biology at Southern Illinois University and   earned his Master's degree at Florida State University. Since   then, he has studied alpine lakes, peat bogs, swamps, rivers, and   even roadside ditches throughout the United States and Puerto   Rico to discover how to create an ideal balanced aquatic environ  ment without the use of harmful chemicals or mechanical enhance  π0- Šments. The Aquatic Nursery, a consuming hobby as well as a   successful sideline business, is the result of those studies. He has installed a miniature version of the same ecological   system in the Elgin Community College greenhouse where fish swim   in water that's always clear, purified not by harmful chemicals   or conventional filters, but by aquatic plants that flourish from   their steady diet of fish waste.  Mr. Steinbach teaches in the morning and evening, leaving   his afternoons free to work in his almost one acre of connecting   backyard pools. As soon as the ice breaks in the spring, he is   busy propagating the fish, snails, and aquatic plants that have   wintered over in his ponds and which his customers will buy all   summer.  Every spring, Mr. Steinbach mixes four truckloads of dirt   with special fertilizers to create his own potting soil, the   exact formula of which is his proprietary secret. "I have an   English friend who takes three years to raise a water lily to   selling size. Using my techniques, I can obtain the same growth   in three months."  The yearly buying frenzy begins on Mother's Day and contin  ues throughout the summer when customers come from as far away as   Indiana and Wisconsin for professional advice and supplies. His   wife Jackie and children Natalie and Nathan assist him on busy   days.   π0-  Š Once you have installed your own aquatic garden, it won't   need much maintenance. "The trick is to have the right   balances," Mr. Steinbach explains. "People don't believe me   when I say we have no mosquitoes. The fish eat the mosquito   larvae and the algae. The plants provide oxygen for the fish.   Snails and dragon flies fill their special ecological niches.   You don't even need an electric pump unless you want to create a   waterfall or fountain."  You can have a water garden even with out a backyard. "Grow   a lotus plant with pink, yellow, white, or red blossoms in a   half-barrel on your patio," Mr. Steinbach suggests. "Drain the   pot in the fall and store the root in the basement until spring."  There is only one contraindication to a water garden.   "Little children and water don't mix," cautions Mr. Steinbach. "A   toddler can drown in water only a few inches deep."   „„  Aquatic gardens are nothing new, of course. Water lilies   are indigenous to practically every country in the world, includ  ing Siberia. You can even find common water lilies growing   beside the Fox River.  Archeologists have discovered that the ancient Egyptians   cultivated water lilies on the shores of the Nile River. Petals   of lilies and lotuses were buried with the Pharaohs. Water   flowers served as design motifs in art and architecture.  „„    „„  Credit the Victorians with the modern resurgence of interest  π0-  Šin aquatic gardening. Thaddaeus Haenke, European botanist,   discovered the amazing and gigantic Victoria amazonica in South   America in 1801. Thomas Bridges brought its seeds to English   gardens in 1846 and a British botanist, John Lindley, named the   plant for the beloved English Queen Victoria, thus insuring its   success. American travelers to England brought seeds back home.   By the turn of the last century, every important public and   private park in the United States had to have its own water lily   garden. Also around 1900, Claude Monet, the famous impressionist   artist, created the most famous lily pond of all time on his   four-acre estate 50 miles northwest of Paris. He immortalized his water lilies in the famous series of paintings, Decoration   des Nympheas. You can see some of his water lily paintings at   the Chicago Art Institute. Closer to home, St. Charles has its own water lily artist.   Ann Schuster uses the blooms from her two small ponds as inspira  tion for her work. "Water gardens are so relaxing. You don't   need an ocean or a lake; a two-foot pond is big enough. I love   to hear the water during the day and the frogs at night."   „„  Why have a water garden? "In one word: tranquility," Robert   Steinbach says. It's nice to know that something so precious can   be found in our own back yards.  #####  π0-  Š To start your own water garden, call Professor Steinbach at   708-742-2579. Or visit your own local garden supply nursery.   Many garden stores are now stocking the materials for water   gardens because of the ever growing interest in water gardening.  #####