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Western Skies Landscaping
Backyard Field Notes

Remodeling a Backyard Around an Existing Pool

What can stay, what can change, and how a patio, lawn and play space connect to a pool you already have, from two recent Western Skies remodels.

Western Skies Landscaping ·

Circular travertine stepping pads crossing a turf lawn toward a rectangular pool, with palms and the house behind
Circular travertine stepping pads cross new turf toward the existing pool, which Western Skies renovated as part of the same project.

When a backyard already has a pool, a remodel usually doesn’t start with the pool. It starts with everything around it: where you sit, how you get to the water, where the kids play, and what you see from the house.

Two recent Western Skies remodels started that way. Both kept their pools. One replaced nearly everything else in the backyard; the other renovated the pool and spa and reworked selected areas around them.

Two yards, one starting point

In the first yard, we demolished the old backyard, removing the existing lawn and landscape rock, then put in a travertine patio, a turf lawn and a sunken trampoline. The design was done in-house. The pool and its safety fence stayed exactly where they were.

The second yard was a renovation rather than a rebuild. The pool and raised spa stayed in place, and we renovated both, with new pebble interiors, updated tile (including the waterline and spillway) and a stone cap on the spa wall. Around them, we added travertine at the pool entrance, the stepping pads, an extended path and a fountain area, along with benches, a fire pit finished in stone, turf and planting updates. The front yard was part of the project too.

Sunny backyard with a turf lawn and the edge of a sunken trampoline in the foreground, a pool behind a mesh safety fence, and a covered patio with seating along the house
From the lawn: the existing pool behind its fence, the covered patio with its new travertine, and the edge of the sunken trampoline set into the new turf.

What can stay

Keeping the pool is the obvious decision, but it’s rarely the only thing worth keeping.

  • The pool itself. Neither pool was rebuilt. In the second yard, the new interior and tile were part of the same project as the work around the pool.
  • The pool barrier. In the first yard, the existing fence still separates the pool from the lawn and trampoline, so the new play space sits on the lawn side of it.
  • Established planting. In the second yard, the mature planting stayed, with new planting added around it.
  • The house’s own structure. The first yard’s covered patio was already part of the house. The remodel gave it a travertine floor and connected it to the lawn.
View from a covered travertine patio with outdoor chairs, across a turf lawn and sunken trampoline to a pool behind a safety fence
From the covered patio: the new travertine and seating in front, then the lawn and trampoline, with the existing pool behind its fence.

What can change

Most of what you walk on, sit on and look at between the house and the water.

  • Surfaces underfoot. The first yard has a new travertine patio. The second has new travertine only where people walk most: the pool entrance, the stepping pads and an extended path. The rest of the pool deck stayed.
  • The lawn. Both yards now have turf between the house and the pool.
  • Play. The first yard’s trampoline is set into the turf, level with the lawn, along the back hedge.
  • Places to gather. The second yard added benches, a fountain and a fire pit, so there are spots away from the water as well as beside it.
A round fire pit with blue glass on a travertine deck, in front of a raised spa and a long curved bench, with the pool behind
The fire pit, finished in stone veneer, sits beside the existing raised spa. Western Skies renovated the spa with a new pebble interior, updated tile and a stone cap, and added the curved bench.

How the spaces connect

In the first yard, the order runs outward from the house: covered seating on travertine, then the lawn, then the trampoline along the back hedge, with the pool off to one side behind its fence. Active play stays on the lawn side of the fence, and the patio looks out over all of it.

In the second yard, circular travertine stepping pads cross the turf toward the pool, a lighter route than a solid walkway. The fountain and a bench are tucked off the path, and the fire pit is beside the spa, so the yard has more than one place to settle.

A tiered stone fountain beside a curved cream bench on a travertine pad, with a round stepping pad and gravel planting around it
A fountain and a curved bench on new travertine make a quiet stop off the path, away from the pool.
A turf lawn with a curving edge along a gravel planting bed beside the house, with rounded shrubs and taller planting behind
A curving turf edge along the house. Some of the planting is new; the established planting behind it stayed.

Why the preparation matters

Much of what makes new surfaces last happens before anything visible goes in. In both yards, the turf areas were excavated and graded first, then laid over a compacted decomposed granite base. The turf itself was seamed, secured and filled with infill. The second yard’s new travertine is set on a compacted aggregate base with a sand leveling course, and edge restraints hold it in place.

Tradeoffs worth deciding early

  • Renovate the pool or work around it. If the interior or tile is worn, consider renovating it along with the rest of the yard, so the finishes are chosen together.
  • How much of the deck to replace. New travertine doesn’t have to mean a new deck everywhere. The second yard added it where people enter and move through the space.
  • Where play goes. If the pool already has a barrier, putting a play lawn or trampoline on the other side of it keeps active play and the water apart.
  • Pool equipment. It’s easy to leave off the list. The second yard added a pool heater partway through, so raise equipment questions at the start.
  • How much planting to keep. Established planting gives a remodeled yard shade and maturity on day one, and keeping it shapes where new beds and turf go.

A homeowner’s view

On a different pool and yard remodel, Christy Clouthier described the planning side of working with us in her Google review:

their entire team will check details, selections, materials and measurements to be sure that everything is accurate. … The renderings from the planning stages are now what my yard actually looks like.
Christy Clouthier

You can see the first yard’s design concept beside the finished work on our outdoor design page, and more finished backyards on our projects page.

Planning around your own pool

If your yard already has a pool you want to keep, start with how you want to use the space around it, then decide what’s worth keeping and what’s holding the yard back. Our backyard remodels page explains how we approach an existing yard.

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