On a terrace it is sometimes interesting to have the pool left in its natural color or painted with a swimming-pool waterproof paint the color of the sky. Beautiful water-washed pebbles gathered from the beach or from along a stream can be arranged in the bottom in patterns to form a pleasant bit of contrast. Not all of them need be the same size, and a range of color will be agreeable, too. Wet stones show their colors to best advantage, so your show-pieces are always at their best in a pool.

Or if you like pebbles perhaps you would like to use them in making a pebble mosaic (see Chapter XVIII) in some interesting design in the bottom of your pool. This type of pool should have a drain so that it can be kept free of water in winter. Designs can be anything you like- aquatic motives, geometric patterns, non-objective modern patterns; or you may want to take your inspiration from Japanese gardens where the sand is raked in swirls to simulate water; you could imitate the swirls across the bottom of your pool. There are many fascinating ways in which a pool can be embellished, even formal mosaic in the manner of the old Romans being a possibility. For this, a shallow pool is ideal because it enables the design to be seen easily.

. . . pools for wading, swimming
Another feature of the outdoor life in our country today is the backyard swimming- or wading-pool. Many people build small pools where their children can splash about and wade during the summer. In colder seasons the pool is drained, the drain plugged, and the pool filled with sand to become a sandbox for the youngsters; so that it is used during spring and autumn as well as in the hot seasons. Later on, when the children have grown, the pool can be adapted to growing aquatic plants and made a feature in the garden picture. Thus, for one price, one expenditure of labor, the clever craftsman gets a continuing use of this garden feature for many, many years.