A Premium Setting Let Down by a Bare Pool Deck.

The pool area was entirely exposed concrete with no planting softening the edges. The view toward Lake Travis was spectacular but the immediate surroundings felt industrial and unfinished, undermining the premium feel of the property.

The design brief had two competing requirements: the planting needed to be dramatic enough to complement the size and scale of the property, but low-maintenance enough that the owners could manage it without a full-time gardener.

The pool coping was an existing fixed element. We needed to design planting beds that worked with the limestone coping proportions and did not visually compete with the pool itself or block the Lake Travis view from the house.

Soil depth was limited along the pool edges. We designed raised planting beds in strategic positions that allowed for adequate root depth for the large agave and ornamental grass specimens while keeping the visual profile low along the pool edge.

What We Changed:

• Designed and installed generous planting beds along both long sides of the pool and the far end

• Planted large agave americana as structural focal points alternating with Mexican sage and ornamental grasses

• Installed a formal rosemary hedge along the right pool border shaped to a consistent height and profile

• Added a teak dining area with shade sail at the far end of the pool away from the house

• Installed drip irrigation throughout all planting beds tied to the existing irrigation controller

• Applied fresh white pebble ground cover around all planting to complement the limestone coping

The Pool Finally Looks Like It Belongs to the Garden.

The finished poolside has a quality that the bare concrete never could: it feels designed. The agave and ornamental grasses give scale and drama, the rosemary hedge gives order, and together they frame the pool as a deliberate centrepiece rather than an afterthought.

The blue of the pool reflecting the surrounding planting has created a visual combination that photographs exceptionally well. The homeowners say guests comment on the pool area before they even notice the lake view behind it.

The drip irrigation has been running for three months without any manual intervention. The agave and Mexican sage are establishing well and the rosemary hedge has already been trimmed once to shape.