Feeling pretty good about what we have accomplished so far and knowing how much everyone likes to see pictures am finally going to post ours. We have done everything ourselves and we have enjoyed every sweaty day, blistered hand and sore muscle. This is the little oasis that we have created with our very own hands.
View from side yard.
So far we are 30+ inches behind in rainfall for the year so please try to imagine green grass in this picture. If it ever rains again it might grow back. This picture shows the patio and awning we built in the spring. We now call the garden shed our pool house (we're all fancy like that) and we change in there. We consulted an electrical friend and he gave us advise on how to get electricity out there and so we did a lot more digging *sigh* and got it wired. We installed lights inside and out and a big ol head bumping ceiling fan too.
We built the fence/trellises with long pound in posts and rebar for the tops. We plant vines and such under them and hang visually interesting shapes on them to enhance privacy and it just feels kind of nice to have a defined pool area. Under and behind one of the green panels hanging on the fence looks to be a mound of dirt and it is some dirt but mostly is a giant maple tree stump. When we started this whole project there was a humongous dying tree there and we had it taken down piece by piece. We decided that we wanted the pool right here stump and roots be darned and we were willing to do the extra work to make it happen. Because of the mass of roots we did all of the digging to level the pad on our knees with an ax. It was h*** but it was worth it.
We hung a leftover of landscape fabric on the fence and gave the kids a bunch of old spray paint cans to create an art piece. This is the result of many overlapping spray paint sessions. It feels 1/4 inch thick with paint
They loved doing it too.
New for this year is pvc plumbing and a dusty solar heater. The heater is the second best thing we've done to the pool after upgrading the filter. Warmer water beats cold water any day of the week. You can see the grass and clover downstream of the filter doing very well because that's where the backwash water goes.
Our pool house at night.
Anyway that's about it. We love our little oasis and we treasure the time and effort we have put into it so far.
View from side yard.
So far we are 30+ inches behind in rainfall for the year so please try to imagine green grass in this picture. If it ever rains again it might grow back. This picture shows the patio and awning we built in the spring. We now call the garden shed our pool house (we're all fancy like that) and we change in there. We consulted an electrical friend and he gave us advise on how to get electricity out there and so we did a lot more digging *sigh* and got it wired. We installed lights inside and out and a big ol head bumping ceiling fan too.
We built the fence/trellises with long pound in posts and rebar for the tops. We plant vines and such under them and hang visually interesting shapes on them to enhance privacy and it just feels kind of nice to have a defined pool area. Under and behind one of the green panels hanging on the fence looks to be a mound of dirt and it is some dirt but mostly is a giant maple tree stump. When we started this whole project there was a humongous dying tree there and we had it taken down piece by piece. We decided that we wanted the pool right here stump and roots be darned and we were willing to do the extra work to make it happen. Because of the mass of roots we did all of the digging to level the pad on our knees with an ax. It was h*** but it was worth it.
We hung a leftover of landscape fabric on the fence and gave the kids a bunch of old spray paint cans to create an art piece. This is the result of many overlapping spray paint sessions. It feels 1/4 inch thick with paint
They loved doing it too.
New for this year is pvc plumbing and a dusty solar heater. The heater is the second best thing we've done to the pool after upgrading the filter. Warmer water beats cold water any day of the week. You can see the grass and clover downstream of the filter doing very well because that's where the backwash water goes.
Our pool house at night.
Anyway that's about it. We love our little oasis and we treasure the time and effort we have put into it so far.
