46 
House & Garden 
The formal pool invariably calls for a formal setting. Here the wide concrete coping 
forms an integral and important part of the design 
THE FINAL TOUCH TO THE LANDSCAPE SCHEME 
Is Supplied by the Water Feature, Be It Pool or Fountain, Stream 
or Lake — Suggestions for Planning, Construction and Care 
ROBERT S. LEMMON 
“ AND when you have left the desert, 
JTV and come again to the fresh green 
of the river valleys, the last thing to which 
you grow accustomed is the sound of run¬ 
ning water/’ 
The last thing and, it might be added, the 
most welcome and soothing and wholly re¬ 
freshing thing. In the glaring heat of the 
cactus country one misses keenly 
the softening effect of water in 
the landscape. By day, at least, 
the desert lacks intimacy, and 
when the reason is analyzed it is 
found to lie largely in the ab¬ 
sence of flowing streams. For 
whether in Nature's gardens or 
in our own small imitations of 
her handiwork, water as a purely 
esthetic feature fills a place 
which no other one element can 
hope to attain. 
There is no need here to dwell 
upon this humanizing influence 
of water in our gardens—our in¬ 
terest is centered rather on how 
it can be brought to serve our 
needs. The running brook ad¬ 
mits of the greatest variety of 
effects, perhaps, but for com¬ 
paratively few of our gardens is 
it available. Most of us must 
of necessity turn to the various 
forms of pools and pond-like water gar¬ 
dens. In the planning, making and care of 
these are certain well-ordered rules. 
Formality and Naturalism 
Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of 
water features: the formal and the natural¬ 
istic. The first may take one of several 
A cross-section of the concrete lined pool shows the 
sloping arrangement of the soil and the partitions to 
hold it in place 
forms, such as the fountain basin pure and 
simple; the lily pool of regular contour, 
round, oval or rectangular, placed usually 
at the intersection of the garden axes; and 
the geometrically accurate pool whose pri¬ 
mary purpose as a mirror of the surround¬ 
ing trees and architectural features is served 
without the use of any water plants. 
It is not my purpose now to 
take up in any detail the subject 
of garden fountains and their ac¬ 
cessories, as these fully deserve 
an article all to themselves. To¬ 
day one can find in the open 
market all manner of fountain 
designs especially executed for 
garden use, and the only con¬ 
fronting problem is the selection 
of that one of them which will 
harmonize best with the planting 
scheme in general, and the exact 
location in particular. 
All of these fountains, of 
course, have one point in com¬ 
mon : they call for a source of 
supply which has enough force 
to cause the water to flow from 
the opening provided for it. 
Provision must also be made to 
carry ofif the surplus water while 
the fountain is in operation. In 
some cases this overflow can be 
