Hard summer? Now's the time for hardscaping
It was 105 degrees F (40.5 C) in central Austin yesterday, and we’re expecting the same today. After more than a month of triple-digit temperatures and no rain, I can tell you that things are looking brown and parched around town. And from the news and garden blogs, I know that this summer has been rough not just in Texas but in much of the southwest and the mountain states.
I’ve been spending a good deal of time outdoors lately, in clients’ gardens-to-be. They know that summer is for planning your garden, not planting. While a hard summer like this one makes planting risky if not impossible, it’s the perfect time for hardscaping—adding paths, patios, edging, fencing, trellises—and generally planning your garden. How about the image above for inspiration? I saw this arbor last fall on a visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden.
When fall finally delivers cooler temperatures—typically around mid-October here in Austin—you’ll be ready to plant because your disruptive hardscaping work will be done. Since Austin’s soil never freezes, planting can be done all fall and winter, and fall planting is particularly desirable for trees and shrubs, giving them all winter to grow a strong root system before summer’s broiler turns on again.
Hardscaping ideas for my own garden are turning to pools. Yeah, OK, it’s a total concession to summer that I’m craving a pool. But our family is rationalizing that a pool will give us all a cool way to exercise during a time of year when we tend to stay indoors. Plus in this climate a pool can be used from April through early November, perhaps longer.
Of course, installing a pool would mean a near total demolition of my back garden. At first the idea discouraged me. But lately I’m starting to think of the possibilities. A new garden means new ideas and plants I can try out. I love redoing portions of the garden, and this would be a perfect excuse to do a lot of digging.
At this point, it’s just summer dreaming. But if you have a recommendation for a great local pool builder, I’d love to hear it.
All material © 2006-2008 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Wow, I’d be curious to see how you’d manage to fit a pool into your tiny back yard! But I have to admit that the idea also appeals to me. I loved how at Jenny Stocker’s garden, the pool was incorporated into the garden like a reflecting pool, both beautiful and functional. And I can only imagine how much garden daydreaming and brainstorming could be done while floating around in the water! 😉
Fitting it in will be a definite challenge. We haven’t consulted with a pool company yet—still just dreaming about it—so we’ve yet to hear whether it could affordably be done. Like you, I loved the look of Jenny’s pool and would love to have something like that in my own garden. —Pam
All of my neighbors have pools Pam. I am sure they would agree with you that you need one. Ha.. I might even become a pool convert if our weather was like yours. I have an advantage that I could use any of 3 different pools, and I don’t have to maintain them. tee hee…
We are working on some hardscape in our garden now. I can’t wait to get it finished. As you say it will be a new planting opportunity.
Friendly neighbors with a pool would definitely be great. Lucky you! I can’t wait to read about your hardscaping changes, Lisa. —Pam
The temperatures are not nearly as extreme here in RI as in Austin, TX but I have not regretted putting in the pool. We live forty miles from the crowded ocean and there are no public swimming pools in this rural town so the pool was added for entertainment. After a particularly heavy bout of weeding it is nice to take the plunge. Yesterday was the first time all season that I actually sat in a lounge by the pool. Not for long, maybe an hour in the late afternoon, but it is truly soothing. Yours will be a center for kids activities which can be much more fun.
Jumping into a pool after a bout of weeding sounds like utter bliss, Layanee. Thanks for the encouragement. —Pam
If its so hot isnt it too hot to do the hardscaping? I know that here in the UK the landscapers wouldn’t consider laying paths etc in such high temperatures – maybe your landscapers are tougher!
Our landscapers will definitely work in this heat, Patient Gardener, though of course they take precautions like covering their heads and necks, drinking lots of water, and taking breaks as necessary to cool off. Extreme heat is a given in summers in Texas, and most people know how to handle it. In fact, I believe there’s been only one heat-related death in Austin this summer. Compare that to what happens in cold-climate cities when they experience a heat wave. Now give us a little snow, and we tend to freak out. 😉 —Pam
Pam, I say go for it! I would be in a pool all the time for exercise and cooling off! My plants survived a move after living in plastic swimming pools for months, yours would, too! For that matter, think of the sale you could have! Gail
I guess your plants love to swim as much as some people, huh, Gail? 😉 —Pam
With your gardening talents, I’m sure you’d be able to make the pool enhance your landscape. There are some really nice designs if you’re not into the traditional rectangle.
Thanks for the compliment, JGH. Actually, though, both my husband and I prefer the geometry of a long rectangle, especially as we both would plan to do lap swimming. I think I might go for a more contemporary look in the back garden if this idea becomes reality. —Pam
I can barely stand to sit out side in the shade, much less even contemplate installing a path or a trellis.
I hear you, Bill. I didn’t say that I personally am installing any hardscaping, you’ll notice. 😉 I am standing outside working with clients on hardscape designs, but I leave the actual construction to them or a hired crew. —Pam
I have really never wanted a pool. And this summer it’s all I can think about! It’s really too hot to even venture out to the neighborhood pool. It would be so nice to just be able to step out the door and jump in! I will be so interested to see if/when you get a pool because I know it will be amazing. My dream pool would be very natural looking – almost like it truly came from nature. But I know those come with a hefty price tag…
That, to me, is the joy of having one’s own pool—to be able to walk outside and jump right in without having to drive to a city pool, making sure that it’s open. But for now it is strictly a dream. —Pam
Hi Pam, you are wise to think about a pool now with the ages of your kids. That is when it would get the most use. Other kids come to your house rather than having to drag your kids elsewhere. We had a large pool in our first TN house and it was well used by all of us. Our friends would bring their kids to swim while the adults sat under umbrellas and sipped cool beverages. It made us a popular destination. There is some work involved though, especially to get it ready for winter and opening it up in spring. You might not need to do that in your climate. Do people close their pools? In Houston they kept them running but we would hang out in the warm hot tub attached. One word of advice, make sure the surfaces surrounding the pool don’t get too hot. Ours were concrete and partially shaded by large trees in the afternoon, a plus for avoiding burned tootsies. Wooden decking is very hot. Falling leaves had to be scooped out, but the was a pleasant job.
Thanks for all the great tips, Frances. Yes, we are thinking it would be a good kid magnet for the pre-teen and teenage years. I don’t really know whether people close their pools here. There’s a lot I’ll have to learn about owning a pool. —Pam
Our pool-owning experience may not have worked out, Pam, but I’ve known other people who couldn’t live in Austin without one. It just depends.
If you do decide to have one installed, your posts of the process and results will be interesting reading for weeks….make that months if it turns out you have rock under the area where you want the pool!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I didn’t know you’d had a pool that didn’t work out, Annie. Do tell. Yes, I can envision a pool saga creating lots of blog fodder. Not that that’s a reason to get one! 😉 —Pam
our pool was already there when we bought our house 12 yrs ago but we have enjoyed it as a family lot’s of great memories spent in the back yard….also I will garden in my suit …take a dip to cool off and garden some more so gardening for me took on a whole new dimension. I vote YES!
That sounds like such a refreshing way to garden, ELK. Thanks for the encouragement. —Pam
Yummy! I have always wanted a pool. They can provide a garden focus like nothing else. Also let’s face it, in this environment, we crave coolness, water features, the visual chill. Melissa’s pond posts reconfirmed that for me.
A pool would complement your Key West garden, Libby. Yes, the visual chill—and the actual chill. That’s what I’m craving. —Pam
A pool here in Indianapolis can actually be a deterrent for someone wanting to buy a house. They are usually opened up in May and closed down in September and need special care to keep over the winter. But in Austin? I think a pool would be great and it is better to have your kids at your house swimming where you know what they are up to than someplace else, right?
Maybe you could fit a pool in where the trampoline is, and get rid of that? And, to swim laps, you can get those wave machines to make waves to swim against, so you don’t necessarily need it big enough to actually swim anywhere.
Such a decision! Whatever you do, I know it will turn out great and be a gardening oasis at the same time.
You’re thinking the way we are, Carol. The kids do love the trampoline (in the cooler seasons), but we don’t have room for both. And the endless current machine is something we’re interested in looking into. Still, it’s all just idle dreaming for now. It would make good blogging material though, wouldn’t it? Destruction and recreation is always exciting. —Pam