The Head-First Dive

A pool may be a swimmer’s dream, but it’s a do-it-yourselfer’s nightmare. Homeowners looking to add a backyard water hole would do well to hire an architect, landscape designer or contractor to tackle the job. But, as with any major home improvement, it still pays to familiarize yourself with the relevant design and construction issues. In short, hit the books, then take the plunge.

* In “Taunton’s Pool Idea Book” (The Taunton Press), Lee Anne White provides a well-illustrated crash course on planning the residential pool. A landscape designer as well as a writer and garden photographer, she covers a lot of ground with authority, from basics such as deciding on size, shape, color and style to more complicated matters, such as determining the optimum site, materials, safety features and furnishings. In addition to captions packed with practical tidbits no doubt gleaned from firsthand experience, there’s a resource list for further reading.

* At 400 pages, “Pool Design” (teNeues Publishing Group) contains almost no text, but what this book lacks in words, it more than makes up for in inspiration. An introductory essay is accompanied by hundreds of photos of 33 exotic-looking pools, most of them in Europe and Africa. Each pool is identified only by location, designer and materials, reducing this volume to a travelogue of dramatic oases across The Pond. Still, it might come in handy if you want to re-create an authentic Provencal, Tuscan or Moroccan retreat.

* With “Poolscaping: Gardening and Landscaping Around Your Swimming Pool and Spa” (Storey Publishing), garden writer Catriona Tudor Erler offers solid advice on how to make a pool look and feel as though it belongs in your yard. The secret, she reveals, is careful selection and placement of suitable trees, shrubs and flowers, as well as appropriate decking, fencing, gates, fountains, shade structures and--one of the most frequently overlooked finishing details--lighting. Plant recommendations are by no means comprehensive, but they’re a good start for the novice.

* “More Spectacular Pools” (Harper Design International), the sequel to “Spectacular Pools,” showcases 24 stunners that range from the antique to the ultracontemporary in France, Spain and the United States. A quarter of the projects are located right here in Southern California, so Angelenos might recognize the work of RoTo Architects, Marmol & Radziner, John Lautner and Donald Wexler. Though brief descriptions edited by Marina Ubach are illuminating, this book’s true raison d’etre is the moody if uneven photography by Pere Planells.