By Ralph and Liz Schumacher

The Green Scene 

August 1988

Perhaps even more than large estates small private gardens benefit greatly from the addition of water. A well landscaped pool can provide a special center of interest, sound, motion, summer cooling a habitat for different plants or fish and we hope the romance of a unique setting. 

Water can be used in many ways in the garden from streams and ponds to waterfalls, fountains or small tub gardens.  Since no small garden can get all these effects from water you must pick what is most important to you.  One of the easiest, least expensive ways to add water to your garden is to install a fiberglass pool. Pools are relatively low maintenance and may be the only form of gardening where doing less makes you more successful.  Care, however, must be taken with the design and installation to get the desired formal or natural effect.

selecting style and scale

A formal pool is easiest to plan because it does not pretend to be anything but manmade.  You will want to place it where it will add the most to your pleasure in the garden.  The strong lines of a horizontal, geometric shape are most effectively set off by a vertical line of a wall, specimen plant, ornament or fountain that stops your eye by the softening of plants creeping over the edges.  Edging is easier with regularly shaped bricks, tiles or stones in a scale corresponding to the size of the pool.

 An informal naturalistic pool looks unplanned but requires more effort to design and plant.  The location must follow the rules of nature: find a spot where water normally collects.  The shape should be curved and irregular to mimic a natural pool.  The edging should also be irregular to be convincing.  

The scale of a water feature should more than likely be larger than you originally think.  In a formal pool the coping will cover part of the water surface and in a natural pool the edges become covered with plants.  If a fountain is planned, the height of the fountain spray should be at least twice as wide as the height of the fountain spray to minimize water loss from splashing and should be even larger if the pool is located in a windy area.  Plan as large a pool as space, grade and finances allow.  

Decide at the start whether you want fish and water plants.  Blooming water lillies require at least five hours of sun.  Consider mature size as well as the initial size of plants when placing them. You'll enjoy the pool more if it is accessible by a pleasant path or readily visible from an indoor or outdoor sitting area.  The most successful pools are easily seen from indoors.  You may also want to light the water so you can enjoy the pool at night.  A site near the house is also close to an existing electrical source, which is another advantage.

materials you'll need

Fiberglass is an excellent material for a pool.  It is considerably less expensive than concrete, more durable than either concrete or plastic and is easy to install. Fiberglass pools are available in more than 35 shapes and sizes from 2 feet in diameter up to 13.5 feet long.  Shapes include round, rectangular, kidney, and a variety of free form shapes that defy description.  The maximum available depth from most suppliers is 18 inches, as zoning laws usually require pools deeper than 2  feet to be fenced as a safety precaution.  The deeper the pool the better it is for fish.  Water temperatures change more gradually and complete freezing is less likely.  Built-in shelves at various depths allow placement of potted aquatic plants, which provide a third dimension.  Pools come in deep blue, beige, brown and aqua colors; a dark color looks cleaner, reflects light and enhances plants better than lighter colors.

If you want water movement, a pump should be based on how high you want to pump the water and how heavy the column of water will be. You should be able to circulate the entire volume of the pool water through a filter once every two hours.  A pump can pump 100 gallons of water an hour one foot high or 50 gallons of water three feet high. The specifications for each pump are usually printed on the box.  There are 7.5 gallons of water to a cubic foot so you can calculate how many gallons of water your pool holds - or better yet, ask the pool supplier.  It is a good idea to buy a slightly more powerful pump than you need because if you forget to clean the filter, the water flow slows down appreciably, which won't happen with a stronger pump.  If the water flow is too strong, use restictor clamp on the plastic tubing that connects the pump to the source of the water motion.  If you do use a pump, you must install a ground gault interrupter in compliance with the current electrical code.  An important safety feature, a ground fault interrupter shuts off the current if there is a short circuit.

marking the site

Once you've selected the site, the pump and the pool, mark an area following the perimeter of the pool so you'll know where to dig.  The excavated area should be at least a foot wider than the pool, so you can move the pool around to level it, and slightly deeper than the pool depth.  Remove any sharp stones, Indian arrowheads, etc. from the bottom of the hole and line the hole with at least one inch of sand or newspapers.  Adjust the sand or newspapers to make a level footing for the pool.  Set the pool in the hole and make sure it is level either by adding a small amount of water to the pool to see if it uniformly covers the bottom or use a carpenter's level front to back and side to side.  The top of the pool should be just above ground level to prevent ground water and dirt from washing into the pool. Once it is level and the right heigh, replace the soil as you fill the pool to equalize the pressure on the sides of the pool and to help keep it in the right position.

Before placing the edging, position any pump or underwater light wires so that they will be concealed by whatever you are using to cover the edge of the pool. You want the pump to be as inconspicuous as possible, so place it where you see it the least. A pump will recirculate the water for a fountain, bubbler, or waterfall and will also pull water through a filter to trap debris and maintain water quality.  For the most efficient filtering, place the pump as far as possible from the source of the water motion.  Also remember that water lilies like quiet water so keep the water motion away from them.

Edging can be permanent as with concrete coping or bricks cemented into place or more flexible with stones simply placed to cover the fiberglass edge.  Don't forget to keep the edging in scale with the size of the pool and keep the long axis of each stone running in the same direction.

Pools rarely look good without surrounding plants to soften the edges. Use some repetition in the planting to create a continuous form.  Don't use this area to show off every exotic plant in your collection. Keep plantings low around a small pool and be sure to allow for the plant's ultimate size. It is better to create a landscape design with the plants around the perimeter of the pool or bog plants in pots than with floating or rapidly spreading water plants, which won't stay where you put them. A rich green background shows off water motion more effectively than a light background and gives substance to the design.  Choose the color of your water plants to compliment the surroundings and be sure that at least 1/3 of the water surface is kept clear of plants so you can enjoy the water.

fountains

Many types of fountains can be attractive in the pool.  Fountain heads create a variety of water patterns and sound, fom a gentle bubbling to a dramatic splashing.  Piped statuary in concrete, lead or bronze includes small animals, lillies, or other flowers, classical figures, and abstract forms.  Select these carefully to help create the mood you want.  The setting, the plants and the fountain should all compliment eachother.  

A fiberglass pool is a low maintainance addition to the garden, but some regular care is needed. Remove leaves that fall into the pool because they can decay and alter the natural balance needed by any fish.  Once a year the pool sould be cleaned thoroughly, washing out the bottom of the pool, but not removing the algae on the sides of the pool. Clean pump filters weekly or whenever the water flow diminishes.  In a purely decorative pool without plants or fish where appearance is the only concern, chemicals such as Physan may be used to greatly slow the emergance of algae. If fish are to be over-wintered in a fiberglass pool a small heater may be needed to keep a hole in the ice for several of the coldest weeks of the year.

Having told you all this.  I'd like to say that we put our fiberglass pool in by ourselves, with the exception of the electrical outlet, 12 years ago long before we knew any of this infomration.  Maybe we were just lucky but it's turned out to be a grat additon to the garden and a lot of fun. If we could do it then, now that you've read this article, just think what you can do!