PLANTING THE POOL IN 
NATURE’S MANNER 
ROBERT WHEELWRIGHT A. S. L. A. 
Small Naturalesque Pools — Making them “Belong” 
Wherever Placed — Suggestions for Practical Construction 
Editor’s Note: — Readers of Mr. Wheelwright's recent article (in our May issue, pages 175-179) 
will follow with interest this further exposition of his beliefs, acquired and crystalized through long 
actual practise in the art of landscaping, and their application to the placing, planning, and 
planting of pools. 
ffiUI^VOOL is an indefinite term that may include a body of 
I m -1 water even l ar g e enough to classify as a pond. The 
shore-line of a lake in the mountains is irregular and 
lATTTJ broken, the shores are rocky or precipitous; in a broad 
rolling .country the shore is gently curving with grassy banks 
and swampy margins. These are the laws of nature, the primary 
ones to be observed in making an artificial pond, even when the 
pond is reduced to a miniature; and if we must have a rocky 
pool in a flat country, let it have an artificial setting that is ap- 
propriate. The fundamental principles of design hold good on 
matter what area the body of water may cover. 
Informal landscape design is, in general, of two distinct 
types. The first is the closest possible imitation of nature as 
found in the immediate locality. It is rustic in the true sense 
of the word and should so resemble nature that its man-made 
character is not apparent. The second type is in a greater or 
less degree exotic. It may be a skillful reproduction of natural 
conditions, but of some other locality; it may be under a state 
of cultivation that differentiates it from any natural landscape 
or from the immediately surrounding landscape; or it may be 
any combination of these factors. This is the type that we 
commonly see and associate with all kinds of modern small- 
town development, to describe which the term “suburban” is 
often used, in distinction to “rustic” as applied to the first type. 
Informal pools fall readily under this same classification, but 
rarely do we find a truly “rustic” pool unless we break down 
the line of distinction and allow the inclusion of a few exotic 
plants. A small pool usually offers an opportunity to grow at 
least a few plants that we greatly desire and which are not 
easily grown anywhere else. Quite a number of exotics can 
thus be introduced without destroying the “rustic” character, 
but the bounds are easily overstepped. 
Whatever classification we may use, the naturalesque pool 
requires, for its construction, a knowledge and an appreciation 
of both geology and horticulture, almost keener than for any 
other feature of informal landscape design. Formal pools 
require no such knowledge, as they are of necessity merely 
geometrical designs. An almost indispensable feature in the 
formal garden, the popularity of the formal pool has made us 
forget the charm of the naturalesque. Moreover, there still 
lingers in our memories, the nondescript pool of mid-Victorian 
days, which may have settled a prejudice deep in our minds. 
An only son died, and his mother’s country place was adorned 
with a pool built, 1 am told, in the shape of the son’s heart. If 
this be true, either someone had no sense of drawing or the 
son had remarkable vitality to have lived at all! Perhaps, as 
it is symbolic, this pool should not be brought into a discussion 
of naturalesque treatments; but it comes to my mind as an 
abhorred example of the informal pools of an earlier generation. 
Located on a sloping lawn where no pool could occur by any 
chance freak of nature, the irregular line of its stone rim is ugly 
and meaningless and no amount of planting could disguise its 
artificiality. My recollection is that it lacked the usual cast- 
iron fountain, but even without that adjunct it remains typical of 
its kind; marking the utmost swing of the pendulum from harsh 
formality, a swing that carried informal design so far as to let 
people forget that the curves of nature are never meaningless. 
The art of landscaping had deteriorated to a point where a 
sinuous curve meant nature reflected and was, therefore, 
considered beautiful no matter how or where used; an ugly 
symbolism had replaced realism. 
A POOL and its margin are never in themselves a finished 
unit. Their entire surroundings must also be considered at 
the same time. A naturalesque pool planted with exotic 
plants would appear almost as artificial in our native wood- 
WHERE MAN AND NATURE WORK IN HARMONY 
The process of construction is clearly shown in the right-hand photograph and the standing figure furnishes a clue to the scale of operations. 
This picture was taken in July; and by September of the same season the camera reveals the finished product as presented at the left 
354 
