Landscaping ideas

[Mattlar0806]

Hey guys,

Curious to gather some opinions on how to finish this product off.

The pool and patio coming off the house is about 2.5, max 3ft higher elevation than my yard.

This entire time I pictured feathering down to the yard but am not realizing that would yield a larger sloped portion of my yard than I’d like to have (taking from flat nice yard).

So aside from a retaining wall - are there any other suggestions ? We plan on enclosing the pool with a fence that can either be done at pool height or lawn height.

Also - we want to avoid steps down from the pool into the yard. A slope path would be preferred - kids toys, especially things like ride ones become harder to lift up stairs, especially for my wife.

Welcome any and all suggestions! I am trying to keep cost to a minimum here.

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

What type of construction will the pool be, vinyl, Shotcrete, fiberglass or some other type?

If Shotcrete, the pool can be at any elevation level that you want and have the slope continue as it’s currently graded with the exposed pool having a type of finish like tile, stone or another type material.

 

[Mattlar0806]

What type of construction will the pool be, vinyl, Shotcrete, fiberglass or some other type?

If Shotcrete, the pool can be at any elevation level that you want and have the slope continue as it’s currently graded with the exposed pool having a type of finish like tile, stone or another type material.

Pool is already in. It’s Gunite and the it’s the height of the slab you can see poured in the picture. The pool is next to the house. I tried uploading more pics but it says the files are too large…

 

[Mattlar0806]

I’m really just looking for advice to traverse a 2.5-3ft height change over a small distance to not lose backyard space.

There is a wall idea but that’s quite costly. And if we do it too quickly we need steps instead of a sloped path? Maybe like 15ft hill where you drop down the 3 ft?

 

[Newdude]

I put the pool level with grade at the house and kept all my dirt to feather the pool down to the sloped yard.

It was too steep at my first attempt



So i ended up bringing the yard up halfway and feathering the other half down from the pool. If you zoom you can hopefully see enough pitch to get the idea.








If you go far enough out, you won't notice the slope. We have a volleyball net set up behind the pool that seems flat when you're standing there.


Also, if the pool area is fenced, you'll be going around it to the yard, not through it as the crow flies.

 

[Mattlar0806]

@Newdude - thank you sharing. Very cool to see the evolution you went through there.

It looks like you have a similar height change to deal as I do. How much do you think you raised your yard by?

Unfortunately for us the house and pool
Are all contained with the fence so you cannot go around. You over the patio and down. So there will be 1 maybe 2 spots to go down into the yard

 

[Newdude]

How much do you think you raised your yard by?

It was 2 ft from the top of the back pool wall to the yard about 25 ft behind the pool.

Unfortunately for us the house and pool
Are all contained with the fence so you cannot go around.

Screenshot your pics and maybe the screenshots will post.

There are a couple ways to reduce pics in here besides the iPhone way.

IPhone hack for resizing pics

Hey all !!! I broke the dreaded iPhone pic upload problem a while ago and have tried several times to upload this all from my phone but lost track of the several steps while writing it down. Or the pics came out of sequence. But today. TODAY Is the DAY !!!! IOS has a built in resizer...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Mattlar0806]

Nice screenshot worked!

I think I’m closer to 2.5 on the left side and 3ft on the right side - directions based on if I’m in the backyard looking at my house.

The pool is essentially 4-6 inches above the height of the patio table in the yard.

 

[Newdude]

How old are the kids ? Having to go though the pool area is going to put a big damper on letting them out back to play on their own.

 

[Mattlar0806]

How old are the kids ? Having to go though the pool area is going to put a big damper on letting them out back to play on their own.

That shipped has sailed. Fence going across the yard after the pool is the way it needs to be. If we split out patio by cutting the fence into the house - it really hinders the patio usage and the fence has to but up right against the double slide you can see.

But yes for the time being the kids are not allowed out alone. My oldest can swim well. It’s just my youngest who is still early with lessons.

 

[Newdude]

Meh. They grow like weeds and it won't be an issue for much much longer than it will be an issue.

Hang tight for more thoughts. I'm tapped out with the original two of wall or slope.

 

[Mattlar0806]

Meh. They grow like weeds and it won't be an issue for much much longer than it will be an issue.

Hang tight for more thoughts. I'm tapped out with the original two of wall or slope.

Haha thanks!
I might just have to raise the yard up. That’s the look we wanted. This pool should have been put another ft lower.

 

[Mattlar0806]

@Newdude - you think it would be unadvised to just run a hill down the 3ft over 15ft and have a pathway doing the same?

 

[Newdude]

It's too subjective to call. You can have more yard and a steeper hill, or a gentler hill and less yard. Maybe do steps either way down the middle and any bikes, power wheels, etc can be pushed up the hill.

 

[bmoreswim]

How is your site plan going for the slope area?

Our site has about a 3' drop from the pool to the yard, but the yard keeps dropping steeply as well as you move away from the pool, so it's probably 5'+ when they join. The pool is also completely encased in an outer wall to support the deck. The back is all landscaped with a steep path down the middle, very steep. But it's only an optional pathway, you can go around the side of the pool on the grass slope. Probably not much help by itself, but it's another visual. Anyone expecting to use the path regularly would have stairs put in.

My main though for you is to have a pathway on one side of the pool to head diagonally away from the pool to the natural grade. It could be a slight arching curve. That would be the least steep and perhaps provide the most natural flow to get to the lower yard area. I realize the side spaces may not have been planned for that, but maybe some re-visioning of them could incorporate such a path.

I also highly recommend having the fence at the bottom of the slope and not up near the pool. This will give you an almost uninterrupted view of the space beyond the pool. Ours is low enough that the view is completely free of the fence. And from the immediate pool landscape vibe perspective, you can't beat having a nice wide landscaped area inside of the fence.

IMG_6776 - TFP.jpg

• bmoreswim
• Oct 30, 2020

House20 - resized.jpg

• bmoreswim
• Oct 16, 2019

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• bmoreswim
• Apr 7, 2021