About to change landscaping around pool, need fresh ideas...with pictures!

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L

lsuxtremist

0
May 10, 2016
65
Baton Rouge, LA
Hi everyone.
We bought our house 2 years ago and have been trying to upgrade our patio a little at a time. We started out with just a round iron table and regular patio furniture set. Last year I bought 2 chaise lounge chairs with a table/ice chest and I bought two rocking Adirondack chairs with matching side table. (I wanted more places to sit out there, plus it was all on sale at the end of the season).

Ever since we moved into the house, the wife wanted to pull the bushes up. I also did not love them, but I did not want to pull them up until I knew what we wanted to put there. As you can tell one of the bushes has died and another tried to die, but rebounded but is now much smaller. My wife is done and wants them pulled up this spring. I agreed, but wanted us to think about what to put. (side note: the dog will not be very happy as he likes to water them a couple of times a day). She plans to plant a flower bed there. While nice, I would prefer something more (outdoor kitchen, pavers, pergola... I am not sure. The problem is, we don't have a huge budget for this right now, and an outdoor kitchen etc is probably not in the budget. (Also I want to keep the sego palm where it is). She is concerned taking up too much of our yard with more concrete/pavers/non-grass area since we want room for the dog and we want room for future swingsets etc.

Does anyone have any ideas or does anyone have a similar arrangement with examples of what they did? Just looking for a little TFP help since it has always helped before.

(note: the rocking Adirondack chairs are not currently on the patio because I am currently re-finishing them. They were an antique white but were not sealed and got real bad over the winter.)

I have included pictures to help see everything. Please excuse the grunginess of a few areas. I will need to break out the pressure washer soon (especially for diving board).





In the next picture, we have a potted tree/plant that I just put there to get some sun/rain. That is usually where we have the two Adirondack chairs and side table:




 
All of the local plant nurseries around me offer a free (or small fee) landscape design service. In other words, they'll come out to your place, have a look around and sketch up some ideas for you with suggested plants that will do well in your growing zone. If you then go ahead and buy from them, they deduct the fee they charged you for the design and will often deliver AND plant the trees and shrubs for you.

Have tried contacting local nurseries? Maybe they do something similar where you are.


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Thanks. I didn't know about that. I may check that out though. Generally, I dont have a concern with picking out flowers/ plants if we decide to go with a flower bed. I just want to make sure that is the best option. I can't decide whether to bite the bullet and do a larger pergola or pavilion, a paver/patio extension, or a flower bed.
 
So over the weekend this happened:



I pulled out the bushes (and now wish I would have not left them right behind where I pulled them from). I found some brick pavers outlining the area where the bushes were planted as well as one stepping stone paver that we never knew was there. I also starting scooping out the white rocks as the wife does not like them and I tend to agree - they get in the pool, if you step on them it's as bad as a lego...

So I was not able to photoshop these together, but here are some of the things that I am thinking. The wife is now coming around to my side. She wants a deck there. I also want to include some sort of structure - pergola/pavilion something, but whatever it is will have to have some shade function to it (if it is a pergola, we would need to have a screen that could be placed over the top to provide the needed shade in the summer months). There is some white siding on the back of our house so I was thinking that a white pergola would look nice. I am also partial to the stained wood look though. For the deck, I would likely go for the stained look.

The proposed area is going to be about 10-12 feet deep (toward the boat port) and 12-15 feet wide. Possibly some sort of vegetation in front of it (knockout rose bush, or other color).

Here are some options that I was thinking. (basically the only thing going on here is two rocking Adirondack chairs, a side table, and potentially a fire pit (although I am concerned a bit with mixing wood and fire).

I like this one as it has the white pergola next to a pool to give me that look. I would probably raise the deck about a foot above this and include a stair or two to the deck.


This was an interesting option with the chairs in the middle instead of what is on there in the picture.


I like this one too, but I would not have the gong or whatever on the back.


I would appreciate any of your thoughts on the above as I have not settled on one look in particular. The budget is apparently going to have to be increased a bit to accomplish any of the above. I would also welcome pictures of your pool/patio area if you have a similar setup...


Thanks,
Edwin
 
Personally, I hate painting patios, so if I were doing it, I'd lean towards the coated aluminum in the first picture (alumawood, elitewood, etc). They might be a little more expensive initially, but maintenance free is worth something to me..:) And if you go that way, check out Sams Club if you have one nearby, that's where I found the best price on the ones I had done at my house. (Costco probably has something similar)
 
I have seen a few options at Sams. The one they currently have on display in the store near me is wooden and I feel like I could probably build one cheaper and better than the $1,300.00 they are asking for. Not to mention I would still have the problem with needing to buy some treated lumber I assume to put the posts on to avoid ground contact? I am likely going to be putting in some sort of wood decking that the structure would sit on, so likely would not be a problem with ground contact of non-treated lumber, but just something else to consider.

As far as the treated aluminum, I have looked online at Sams and just have not see anything that I love and for what they cost, I need to love it. I like the idea of something in treated aluminum, but I am not ruling out stained or painted wood. I don't mind re-staining every couple of years or so if need be - depending on the looks and the cost of the structure.
 
Since you are in LA, and looking at your previous bushes, I think some Azaleas of your choice will tide you over, until you get a better feel for what you want. The Azaleas are bullet proof in our area. Easy and cheap. If you hedge trimmer them right after a bloom, they can be shaped also.
 
me personally, am not a fan of pergola's in La. no matter what kind of lumber you build with, they just can't hold up to the heat, humidity that we have. they end up looking good for about 2 seasons, if that.

build something with a roof on it, really not going to spend a whole lot more money for a roof. as far as a wood deck, again, lots of upkeep, make sure to get ground contact treated lumber...big difference in treated, and ground contact. the box stores and most lumber yards carry cheap treated lumber....it is not the same as ground contact

J
 
Thanks for the insight. Wife is now pushing for deck but not sold on pergola. I too am hesitant because I don't see a tom of function without a roof in Louisiana. I would end up needing some sort of shade to include on top. I like the idea of a pavilion type structure with a roof. Too many options and the cost can get out of control quickly. I appreciate all of the help. Keep it coming if anyone has good recommendations for ones that they used.
 

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jjwalker said:
me personally, am not a fan of pergola's in La. no matter what kind of lumber you build with, they just can't hold up to the heat, humidity that we have. they end up looking good for about 2 seasons, if that.

build something with a roof on it, really not going to spend a whole lot more money for a roof. as far as a wood deck, again, lots of upkeep, make sure to get ground contact treated lumber...big difference in treated, and ground contact. the box stores and most lumber yards carry cheap treated lumber....it is not the same as ground contact

J
Click to expand...

Wise words right here. Take his advice.
 
My mom built a pavilion and when she was done it was beautiful. She had it decorated really nice with big potted plants and really nice furniture. She lived on a lake and one day a photographer pulled his boat up and asked if he could use it for a photo shoot.

Pinterest has some really nice ideas but you have to search them out.
 
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