The backyard of this Lake Stevens home started as a mostly blank slate with a long slope and the front yard had a few drainage issues that needed addressing. The homeowner wanted a place to relax and entertain along with a pool for the whole family to enjoy and plenty of room for kiddos to run around and play.
After permits were approved work was started on the pool first. A fiberglass drop-in pool shell was selected and the digging started. Once the ground was ready, the pool shell was brought in.
After the pool was in, the crew worked at digging trenches for all of the pool electric, water, and other piping to run underground to the pool equipment area. Once that was complete the pool could be filled with water for the first time!
Once the pool was in, demolition of existing hardscaping could begin. The existing concrete patio under the deck was removed and grading began.
Next up was construction of seat & retaining walls to manage the slope to keep the upper and lower patios flat along with the pool patio area flat. Once walls were in the upper paver patio and the lower crushed stone patio took shape along with the built-in fire pit. The very beginnings of the water feature went in as the water weir was built into the upper retaining seat wall.
Concrete for the pool coping came in next. If you’ve ever worked with concrete in the Pacific Northwest you’ll know the struggle. After waiting through very wet conditions in the winter, concrete could finally be poured around the pool.
At the same time, the crew was also building a new set of deck stairs & replacement deck railing from the existing upper deck and digging out the area for the stream and ponding water feature.
Once the pond and stream areas were carved out, it was time for liner, boulders, and cobble to come in to fill out the edges and retain the walls of the pond.
The pool patio was also installed around the same time that the water feature was being built.
After all the hardscaping was installed, it was plant set day! Once the plants are delivered to the site, we go out and set each individual plant as we have it on the planting plan, tweaking locations as needed. After plants are set the crew goes through and plants them in the ground. This backyard had a total of 308 plants including trees, shrubs, perennials, ornamental grasses, and groundcovers.
After planting was complete the finishing touches were added and a woodchip play area was also put in for a future play structure along with a crushed stone patio for a future gazebo area. Before the backyard began, the drainage issues in the front were also addressed with a drystream in the front planting bed.
From start to finish, the installation for this project took 8 months to complete. While these larger projects take a lot of time and planning, it is so rewarding to see all of it come together in the end. We hope you enjoyed seeing our process and we can’t wait to show you how this garden fills in over the next year!
