When we first bought our home a while back, I liked the idea of a pool. What I didn’t like was the chemicals. I thought I would find a way (like a salt water base) to get away from it. Turns out that was an expensive fix. The deck and the pool took up a HUGE part of our backyard. we do have a good size garden in back, but the more I time I spent in the yard, the more I wished the pool was gone. The structures that surrounded the pool just felt so ‘fake’ to me- the blue slide…. so unnatural.
This year as fate would have it the pool liner ripped during our ‘arctic blast’ storm. Tony went out to fix it, the deeper he started looking into the project the more he realized everything to do with the pool was falling apart.
So we had a choice- replace the entire pool and a lot of the rotten wooden deck- or demolish it.
My birthday just happens to be on the July 29th, as Tony does every year he asked what I wanted. I said “I want a natural backyard’. So to my surprise Tony promptly went to a class at the local nursery about creating man-made ponds, waterfalls, and streams.
I knew this would cost money (not the demolishing but the rocks etc), but at the same time something told me this would work. When I think of rocks I think of my Dad (a retired brick mason) so I gave him a call. He offered not only to burn all the deck wood on his property, help with the demolishing of the pool and deck, bring in machinery to dig a bigger hole and move the rocks around, but also he can get us all the natural rocks we want for the pond, waterfall, and creek bed! Turns out he knows a lot of construction friends that have rock from construction sites that they need to get rid of.
I know it is going to take a while, but can I tell you how excited I am that we are transforming our backyard! This frees up so much space, and I can’t wait to continue to plant my native garden!
By the way, everyone thinks we are absolutely crazy for getting rid of the pool – the temperatures are in the 100′s this week. But the good thing is not only does our local athletic club have a pool (salt water- and they maintain it! ) that the kids can swim in for free, but we are surrounded by beautiful natural lakes, rivers, and streams a 10 minute drive away, how lucky I am to call Oregon our home!
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Angie,
We just took out our pool this week too! Of course, it hasn’t been very warm here (Wisconsin) all summer – so it mostly sat empty anyway. And just last week, we went to one of the local lakes and went swimming – fun! So, I think you do what makes sense to you – and with all the other places to take a dip, you’re all set anyway, and will get to explore some areas you might not have otherwise…an adventure!
I love visiting sites like yours Angie, and all the others on my blog route – not just for the posts and the friendship, but today, instead of bumping into another friend at your kitchen table, it’s like I’m out in your garden, musing about pool plans with you and Lance!
We don’t have the money or weather here in Scotland for a pool, but in our first home, we built a pond with a pebble ‘beach’ and loved it! We had a deep end, with a wooden plant filled pergola with built in benches as the focal feature that ‘anchored’ it, and the pond spread out in to an organic shaped, natural feature. Because we cut it out of our lawn, we used stones then pebbles to edge it. Don’t laugh, but I used to sit on the ‘beach’ and watch the wee ripples on the pond, imagining a tide! I was also stupid and named the fish.
(The herons don’t seem to care if they’re named or not…)
My eleven year old son, who loves designing, has now decided to build one in the garden of our current house and put a deck and bridge over it, like those boat launching places you see at lake houses! Your kids are small enough to still want to have fun cooling down and splashing in a big tub in your yard while the temperatures are high, and Oregon sounds truly beautiful!
I am so looking forward to you sharing your obvious joy (and photos!) as this project unfolds! If I can find a photo of my pathetic but well-loved wee pond, I’ll shoot you a photo in an email. My husband and friends dug it while I was working a contract in Greece one week. We also tossed out an old wicker hamper that same week. My husband told me a few neighbours had worried looks when they asked him where I was!
I’m so excited FOR you! I rent, so no pool or pond for us, but now I want to get out in the woods and go splash in the stream that runs through them! I was sitting in the yard yesterday evening with my friend Jay (who lives in the small city of Binghamton, NY) sipping wine and playing with his new puppy. He was admiring how quiet it was and how nice it was to just sit and be outside– no cars speeding by, no sirens blaring– just relax and enjoy nature. I realized that, although I know the beauty– I still take it for granted sometimes.
Good luck with your project–I am just a little jealouse!
Hi Lance, wow! Yep, still over 100 here… and we have managed to pick up the stomach flu (thought I was out of the woods after ella had it last week- but I got it yesterday and wyatt today… so I am busy nurturing myself and the babies.
Hi Angela! I loved my rental as well, I seem to do whatever I can to surround myself with natural – before the kids were born I had tons of house plants, and outdoor potted plants, I even grew veggies in a rocked walkway one year! You bloom where you are planted!
Hi Janice, I would love to see a picture of your pond! I would never laugh, it sounds like something I would do (including naming the fish!) I once named the frogs that took shelter under my lemon balm plant
That cracks me up about the neighbors having funny looks!!! Thanks for putting a smile on my face today (a very long day – baby having the stomach virus- soiled pants and puky hair, carpets, and clothes in 100 degree heat)
Wish I lived close enough to help. Few things worse than being ill but having to look after poorly bairns. I’m not the savviest of cleaners (my mum didn’t pass on tips) and we grew up in the days before vacuum cleaners got cheaper so I’ve always hated cleaning carpets; result was I got rid of carpets everywhere except bedrooms before mine were born. Never looked back. It made toilet training bearable and neither kid had asthma – but as my son was a prolific vomiter, it had unexpected benefits. I felt for you as soon as I read the bit about cleaning puke; I can still remember the smell
Get well soon!!
Wow what a great husband and dad! Pools look great but I’ve never enjoyed them unless on vacation! Happy happy birthday and I hope you find lots of time to enjoy your backyard!
Angie! Happy Birthday!!! Guess what? My birthday is July 29 too — I knew there were many reasons I adore you
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And — about the pool. When we moved to the Pacific Northwest (Vashon Island, in WA) our place had a swimming pool, and a basement full of chemicals. We looked into converting it to a saline pool (too expensive), and ultimately decided to demolish it. After breaking up the concrete (well, we didn’t — someone else did), we filled it with gravel and placed a small green house on top ….
I *love* the your dream of a natural backyard, emerging into reality! Blessings to you !