POOLS FOR DELIGHT 
213 
out runners or creeping root-stalks, which should be severed by a 
slanting, clean cut. If the Lilies seem to produce fewer flowers than 
expected, often the reason is they are planted too deep, or there is 
too much nitrogen in the soil. They should be planted with the 
"crowns” just below the surface of the soil. 
If one wishes to grow several types of aquatics in and around 
the pool, the habits of each of these plants should be carefully con¬ 
sidered, for some like full sun, some require semi-shade, and each 
likes a particular depth of water above its roots. In fashioning the 
pool, this latter requirement may be provided for by the contour 
of the slope of the sides being formed into steps. Sometimes a large, 
flat-topped stone makes an ideal, natural step, on which to place the 
wooden container in which the plant is to grow (for the use of 
metal, particularly copper, is never advised in a pool, because of 
the chemical reactions). Smaller stones encircling the container 
give a further appearance of naturalness. 
Informal pools admit of an infinite number of varying meth¬ 
ods of treatment. In direct contrast, garden pools adjacent to cer¬ 
tain architectural styles of buildings are required to have geometri¬ 
cal, formal outlines. Rectangular, eliptic, oval, round, triangular, 
in fact any precise, mathematically correct shape should be used 
in connection with such special types of dwellings as a Spanish 
patio, an Italian villa, a French chateau or an English manor house. 
A suggested proportion for a rectangular pool is one whose width 
is two-thirds its length. This placed on the lowest level of the 
grounds (always the ideal place for water) may have a "Prim¬ 
rose path” leading down to it, or it may be near the end of a 
shrub-bordered expanse of lawn, broken by the regular lines of a 
few, effectively featured, specimen plants. 
The most artistic selection possible for the pool is in a semi- 
secluded green spot, giving one a thrill of delight on the unex¬ 
pected discovery of it. The gleam of the white, birch-like bark of 
the sycamore and some of the cottonwoods against the deep green 
of cedars lures one toward the spot where their mirrored image 
shows doubly beautiful in the waters of the pool. Reflections of 
green rather than the harsher lines of buildings are always much 
Other Types 
of Aquatic 
Plants 
Contour and 
Design of 
Pools 
The Most 
Appropriate 
Setting for 
a Pool 
