Grass Pool Patio and Landscape Installation in River Oaks

A couple in River Oaks loved the simple life, and they built a Craftsman style home that reflected this. They wanted their home to look austere, and their lawn to resemble a grass courtyard featuring minimal construction and plenty of green space. They asked us to come in and design a custom swimming pool and concealed drainage system that would be fully functional, yet aesthetically harmonious with the intent of the home design.

The front yard of the home bordered a major street and was lush with San Augustine grass. Two massive oaks accentuated the property line near the sidewalk. The only problem with the property was it had no means of draining water. The design of the house itself had also posed a problem with the architect, who had been unable to design standard gutters on the home because of exposed rafters that extended past the sides of the roof. We were asked to develop a drainage system that would move water away from the house and off the property without diminishing the landscaping aesthetic.

We decided to frame the entire yard with a French drain made entirely of gravel. This created the look and feel of a grass courtyard that the homeowners had requested. Aesthetically it consisted of exclusively natural elements that completely concealed their actual function. While appearing to be only decoration, the gravel actually acted to quickly pulls water away from the house and out of the yard any time it rained.

We did something even more unique in the back yard—we built a custom swimming pool surrounded only by a grass courtyard. The only concrete we used was that required to build a low profile coping around the water’s edge. This was because the owners wanted paving kept to a minimum so their children and pets would have plenty of grass to run and play in. We installed the usual pool skimmer throats without lids in order to make the entire construction flush with the grass, and we installed water jets on one side of the pool so water would arch over the top of the water.

We put the finishing touches on our grass courtyard design by planting a number of plant species along the boundaries of both yard areas. We planted boxwoods around the French drain to give it a dark ground cover border, and we interspersed Crepe Myrtles behind the boxwoods for height and floral coloration. Along the far back wall across the pool from the house, we planted Japanese blueberry trees and lit them with concealed luminaires. We also added color to the ground cover with Caladiums and Lantana, and we planted a Star Jasmine to train along the fence between the house and the back wall.

This is one of the most popular custom pool designs ever designed by Exterior Worlds. We believe this is because it combines two very distinctive disciplines—pool construction and landscaping—into a fusion of water and earth.