Written and reviewed by the A-Z Landscaping Design-Build Team Richmond Hill, ON12+ years · 380+ projectsUpdated June 20, 2026A pool is only as impressive as the landscape around it. Here are seven things to plan before construction starts so your backyard becomes a true retreat.
Installing a pool is exciting — but the water itself is only part of the picture. The decking, coping, privacy, planting and lighting around it are what turn “a pool in the yard” into a resort-grade retreat you never want to leave. The best results come from planning the whole environment before the digging starts. Here are seven things to get right.
1. Design the pool and the landscape together
The most common — and expensive — mistake is installing the pool first and figuring out the landscape later. Decking levels, drainage, grading, equipment screening and sightlines all need to be coordinated from the start. When the pool and surround are designed as one project, everything lines up and nothing has to be torn out and redone.
2. Get the decking material right
Pool decks need to be slip-resistant when wet and cool underfoot in summer sun. Large-format porcelain pavers and certain natural stones excel at both; standard concrete can get uncomfortably hot. Material choice also sets the entire aesthetic, so it's worth seeing samples in your own light.
3. Plan drainage early
Water splashes out, rain falls, and grading has to carry all of it away from the pool, the house and your neighbours. Proper slopes, deck drains and a drainage plan prevent puddling, staining and the slow damage that ruins a beautiful deck over time.
4. Build in privacy
A pool you feel exposed using doesn't get used. Privacy screens, fencing, and strategically placed mature trees and shrubs create a sense of enclosure and turn the space into a genuine retreat — while meeting pool-enclosure code.
5. Think about how you'll actually live there
Where will you lounge, dine and gather? A great pool landscape zones the space — sun-soaked lounge areas, a shaded dining spot, maybe a fire feature for cool evenings — so the backyard works from morning coffee to late-night conversation.
6. Don't forget lighting
Lighting doubles the hours you enjoy the space and makes the whole environment glow after dark. Uplighting on trees, washed stone walls, and lit steps add safety and atmosphere — and showcase everything you invested in.
7. Coordinate the trades
A pool environment touches excavation, masonry, carpentry, electrical, planting and the pool installer itself. When these trades aren't coordinated, you get delays, finger-pointing and gaps in the finished work. We self-perform every landscape trade in-house and coordinate directly with your pool builder so the whole project moves as one.
The payoff
Get these seven things right and your pool stops being just a pool — it becomes the centrepiece of a backyard your family lives in all summer and the feature that defines your property. We design the entire environment in photoreal 3D first, so you can see and refine it before a shovel hits the ground.
Dreaming about a pool retreat? Explore our pool & water feature work or book a free design consultation.
