ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES OF THE GARDEN 173 



CONSTRUCTION 



Pool walls (Fig. 141) may be constructed of brick or concrete. 



Brick walls should be one and one-half brick thick, coated on 

 the inside with a Portland cement mortar in which some water- 

 proofing should be incorporated. The bricks should be laid in a 

 waterproofed cement mortar. 



Concrete walls should be six inches thick, consisting of five inches 

 of reinforced concrete and a one-inch finish coat. A waterproofing 

 material should be incorporated both in the general mix and in the 

 finish coat, or a damp-proofing and bonding paint applied to the 

 rough surface before the finish coat is applied. 



Pool bottoms will depend on the size of the pool and the char- 

 acter of the soil. They should have a base of cinders or crushed 

 stone, to prevent heaving, on which should be laid a slab of five 

 inches of waterproofed reinforced concrete with a finish coat of one 

 inch. If concrete walls are to be built the reinforcing iron should 

 be long enough to turn up. 



POOL COPING 



The coping may be of good hard brick laid on edge, or on what 

 is called row-lock fashion; this is much to be preferred to the cut 

 limestone or cement coping. 



The gray sandstone (Fig. 140) to be had in the vicinity of Phila- 

 delphia is an excellent stone for this purpose, using either dressed or 

 selected flat pieces, laid quarry face, uniform thickness, using one 

 through cross stone alternately with two pieces showing a joint 

 through the center. 



The coping or curb should never stand more than four inches 

 above the surrounding grade; the closer the coping level is to the 

 garden grade the more pleasing will be the appearance. 



A sod edge extending to the pool has a softness and a natural 

 appearance which have much to commend it. When a sod edge is 

 desired the side walls of the pool should be beveled back to give as 

 much depth as possible to the soil around the edge for the proper 

 support of the turf. Under some conditions boulders around the 

 margin are pleasing, particularly when the position is somewhat 

 shaded, and ferns and other shade enduring plants may be planted 

 between the boulders. 



