Instructions for Building Pools of All Sizes 
How 
WATER PLANTS 
OVERFLOW 
PIPE 
R ( 
ools for water gardening may take many forms and sizes, but all of them 
should, first, of all, be located where they receive plenty of sunshine. Usually lawn and garden 
conditions will require the construction of a concrete.basin for the Pool, which will, according 
to your own preference, take on an informal arrangement resembling the natural pond as to 
shape, or a formal arrangement in round, rectangular or square shape with straight walls. 
Construction of Pools may, when soil conditions permit, be as simple as merely scooping out 
a pond-like area in the ground. The soil must be of such a character as to hold water well. 
Some soils not quite sufficient for this may be made so by lining the scraped-out pool with a 
layer of well-tamped clay. 
All larger Pools should be 24 to 30 inches in depth to allow 8 to 12 inches of good soil in the 
bottom and a sufficient depth of water for growing purposes and adequate winter protection. 
If preferred, large pots, boxes or tubs may be used as containers for soil instead of covering 
the entire bottom of the Pool, which helps keep the pool water clear, and has the further advan¬ 
tage of containing individual plants and preventing overcrowding. Also soil in containers is 
easily fertilized, which is important for vigorous growth. The Pool may well be designed to 
duplicate on a small scale the conditions of lake and pond shores, giving water depths from 2 to 
10 inches where plantings of shallow water growths are desired. 
THE INFORMAL The most popular and pieces to pass through freely. Cover the mesh with another 
POOLS . . . inexpensive Pool, and the 2 to 3 inches of concrete, tamping smooth and then smoothing 
one affording opportu- surface with trowel or block of wood. Cover with building 
nities for the builder to exercise his own tastes paper or damp hay or straw for 12 hours. Apply a thick paste 
of cement and water, painting it on with broom or whitewash 
brush. Recover the work and let it stand for 48 hours. Re¬ 
move covering, fill with water and soak for 2 or 3 days. Empty, 
stirring constantly to wash out all sediment. The Pool is then 
ready for use. 
It is not necessary to provide drainage for Pools, and a large 
Pool without drainage may, instead of being filled and drained, 
be washed out thoroughly with a strong fine 
stream from a hose while brushing sides 
thoroughly with a stiff broom. Bail out the 
water and carefully sweep up and remove all 
sediment remaining. 
THE FORMAL R ect angular, square or 
POOLS . . . round Pools with vertical 
sides are used for formal 
arrangements of the Water Garden. These 
may be built in any soil by excavating the 
desired space and building forms for the 
side walls. These forms may be of wood, 
steel or of galvanized iron sheeting, reinforced 
with wood. Wood forms should be wetted 
before pouring concrete; metal forms wiped 
with oil or grease. Ledges and other elabor¬ 
ations of construction, if desired, must, of 
course, be provided for in building the forms. 
It is good construction practice to make the 
in design, is the informal, or irregularly shaped 
Pool. FIRST, stake out and mark with twine 
the OUTSIDE limits of your Pool. In the 
approximate center of the area outlined by 
the stakes and twine, excavate to a depth of 
30 inches, making the excavation as big 
around as necessary to get the soil shoveled 
out. Then slope the sides at about a 45 de¬ 
gree angle towards this center excavation, 
working outward from this center excavation 
to the outline of twine, letting the bottoms be 
perfectly flat and as large as the area of the 
outline of twine naturally makes it with the 
walls sloping at the given angle. Tamp 
sides and bottom well. Mix a stiff concrete 
with 1 part good cement, 2 parts clean sharp 
sand and 3 parts 3^" to jlT' gravel or cracked 
stone. Mix thoroughly while dry and add 
water just sufficient to make a thick mixture 
that will lie on the sloping walls. Plaster the 
walls of the excavation from the bottom to the 
top with 2 to 3 inches of this concrete. Imme¬ 
diately place wire mesh over the concrete, 
taking care to overlap the mesh on bottom 
and sides by 4 to 6 inches. Be sure the mesh 
is large enough to permit all gravel or stone 
The INFORMAL POOL is shown in cross section drawing below, which illus¬ 
trates sound construction methods. Inlet and overflow connections are not 
necessary unless you want a fountain or running water, but are always convenient. 
ROCK LEDGES 
FOR SHALLOW 
REINFORCING RODS 
OR WIRE MESH 
DRAIN SHOWN FOR CONSTRUCTION 
PURPOSES IF DESIRED --NOT NECESSARY 
COUPLING - UNSCREW 
TO A SUCCESSFUL POOL 
OVERFLOW PIPE TO 
DRAIN POOL 
inside form six inches short of the bottom of 
the outside form so that, when pouring the 
concrete for the walls, it will flow out inside 
and form a lip into which the bottom concrete 
can bind and seal the joint all around. Of 
course the bottom must be poured before the 
outflowing concrete from the wall forms has 
set. Smooth finished walls as described above 
and paint with cement paste. Reinforcing of 
the concrete in walls and bottom with wire 
mesh as described above, or with light rein¬ 
forcing steel, is desirable to avoid possibility 
of cracking from frost. 
The labor and expense of building forms 
may be dispensed with in firm soil by exca¬ 
vating at first only the width of the walls and 
using the trench thus cut for forms. Firm soil 
carefully cut and smoothed will give a smooth 
inner wall. After the walls have set in this 
procedure excavate the interior and construct 
the bottom, taking care to seal the joint be¬ 
tween bottom and side walls carefully to pre¬ 
vent leakage. A paste of pure cement and 
water should be painted over the joint be¬ 
tween bottom and sides when the finish sur¬ 
face is applied. 
SIDE WALLS should be at least six inches 
thick and bottoms may be 4 to 6 inches thick. 
Many finishing treatments for the top edges 
and borders of formal Pools are possible and 
should be decided upon before construction is 
started. Brick trim should, of course, be set 
in place as soon as the walls have been poured 
so that it will set thoroughly in the concrete. 
THE WORLD'S LARGEST 
