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We were
contacted by a family in River Oaks who requested that we
completely remodel their pool and the yard that surrounded it.
They wanted to get rid of the pool’s “L-Shape” construction and
have it redesigned with a curved, linear structure and rounded
ends. They also wanted to surround the pool with something very
different than the traditional wooden deck or concrete surface.
Instead, they wanted a stepping stone patio that would look like
a part of Nature itself and cause the pool to look more like a
part of the landscape.
Pre-Construction
Stepping
stone patios of all sorts are common in
landscape design. They
are at all difficult to construct. However, creating a
french
drainage system can often be a challenge depending on the
constituency of the soil. Water can create mud between stones
and on accumulate on their surfaces, making it unpleasant to
walk across the patio after a rain. To make such a structure
work as a pool patio, it was necessary for us to build a
concealed
drainage system underneath the stone elements and use
organic material to conceal it. What we did to accomplish this
was to pour individual pads of cement that worked as bases upon
which to mount the flat stepping stones. We built the drainage
system at the level of these concrete bases, and then planted
grass between the individual stepping stones.
This
concealed the patio’s manmade origins, and created the illusion
that it was much older than it actually was. The grass looked
like it punched through the rocks and established a tenacious
foothold in the spaces between them.
We then
continued the natural theme by building a walkway out of the
same material we used to construct our stepping stone patio. We
designed one end of this walkway to hug the side of the pool,
functioning as a 30” coping that gave plenty of comfortable pool
access, transit space, and an aesthetic link between the water
and the land. We were able to curve its direction by cutting the
stones into pie shapes, then fitting them together by hand
individually. Once completed, the walkway arced around the sides
and ends of the pool, ran through the end of the yard, and
passed under a garden trellis into a sculpture garden.
This
sculpture garden also played an important role in this
landscaping project. It too, involved the construction of a new
hardscape. Because this was a formal gathering designed around a
European garden theme, we built a circular
flagstone patio
off
the end of linear walkway. This became the central seating area,
with smaller, diagonal pathways radiating at angles back to the
side doors of the home. Between these smaller pathways, we
constructed a
water fountain that was shaped like a fireplace,
but that had a lit waterfall falling into its rectangular brick
basin. At night, guests can sit in a semicircle facing the
fountain and enjoy the ambiance of a lighted waterfall.
Throughout
the property, we planted a variety of flowering plants and
ground cover around our stepping stone patio and walkway.
Jasmine was used profusely to control erosion and to prevent
encroachment from weeds. Monkey grass was also used for weed and
erosion control. Agapanthus and golden globes were used in
places near brick walls and around the perimeter of the stepping
stone patio to help color its borders with seasonal blooms. We
also added height and elegance to the landscape with Italian
cypress, and planted Camellias throughout the property to
provide blooms for the winter season when other seasonal were
dormant.
Exterior Worlds is located in the memorial area. They have been
serving the Houston area including River Oaks, West University,
Bellaire, Memorial, Tanglewood since 1987. Call Exterior Worlds
at 713-827-2255 to discuss the a complete landscape renovation.
For more the 20 years
Exterior Worlds has specialized in servicing many of Houston's
fine neighborhoods.
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