Project Description

A Barrington Hills Pool Oasis

The homeowners of this pastoral site wanted to create a garden oasis that included a swimming pool and spa.  They also wanted to take advantage of their wonderful vistas that looked upon their woodland savanna hoping that the new garden design would meld with the natural landscape.  Inspired by the movie ‘The Secret Garden’, the homeowner also wanted to include a secluded garden to enjoy tea parties with her grandchildren.

In order to make sure the finished project would be exactly what the homeowners wanted, four concepts and a 3D model were created that addressed the issues of pool and spa’s size, shape, location and most importantly where to place a waterfall feature that would give the pool a pond-like appearance.  The landscape design team then went to the site and marked out the location of the pool and staked out the heights of the waterfall and spa.

A gravel path with flagstone curbing was designed as a link from the Pool Garden to The Secret Garden.  The path winds through a maze of Arborvitae and Green Mountain Boxwoods to a flagstone seating area.  To ensure the curbed paths would not trap storm water, the subbase was pitched away from the house.  However, the finished gravel was graded nearly flat to allow for smooth transition from the Pool Garden.