Pool Landscaping and Design Melbourne

The paving, planting, levels and screening that turn a pool into a garden. New pools and pools that have been in the ground for years, with thirty years of Melbourne gardens behind the design.

Pool Landscaping Across Melbourne

The pool is the easy part. What surrounds it is what you look at and it is what the house looks out on through a wet July. Get it right and the water sits inside a garden. Get it wrong and you have a rectangle of blue in a clearing.

Most pool areas that go wrong go wrong in the same places. The levels never quite resolve, the fence gets decided last, and the planting is chosen at the nursery on looks alone, with no thought for what it drops in the water.

The paving, the coping, the fence line, the step back up to the house, the screening and the planting are all drawn together, so the pool sits inside a garden instead of in the middle of a cleared rectangle. Design and construction stay with the same team, so the pool landscape design you are shown is the one that gets built.

We design the pool as part of the garden, and we build everything around it. The pool itself is built by a specialist pool builder, and we oversee that work from the drawings through to the day the garden goes in. One drawing stays in charge of the whole space. Where the pool is already in the ground we start from where it sits, and where it needs renovating that work goes into the same set of drawings.

What Goes Into Landscaping Around a Pool

The paving gets chosen last. Almost everything that decides whether a pool area works is settled long before it is laid.

Pool design and working with your pool builder

We design the pool along with the garden it sits in. Shape, position, level and the way the water meets the paving and the house are all drawn at the same time. The pool is then built by a specialist pool builder and we oversee that build. It means the decisions that normally get made twice, once by the pool builder and once by whoever lands the garden afterwards, only get made once.

Levels, retaining and how the pool meets the house

Almost every problem in a pool area is a levels problem. The pool sits at one fixed height, the house at another, and the garden has to resolve the difference without leaving a step nobody expected. On a slope that usually means retaining, and the retaining has to be drawn with the pool rather than added around it afterwards.

Pool surrounds, paving and coping

This is the surface you stand on wet and barefoot, so slip resistance, heat underfoot in February and the way stone weathers with pool water matter more here than anywhere else in the garden. We source pavers and stone locally, and the coping and the surrounding paving are specified together so the edge reads as one material instead of two meeting.

Planting around a pool

Plants beside a pool work harder than plants anywhere else. They take reflected heat and splash, and they have to stay out of the water. Leaf size and drop habit will do more for your maintenance than any filter, and this is the decision people most often get wrong. We choose for the position, the aspect and the months you actually use the space, rather than off a general poolside list.

Pool fencing and screening

The fence is left until last and then it is the first thing you see. Where it runs, what it is made of and what grows in front of it decide whether it settles into the garden or cuts it in two. We draw the fence line with the rest of the garden and oversee the build, which is carried out by a fencing contractor working to our drawings. Barriers in Victoria have to comply and have to be certified, so the compliance is never in question. What is in question is whether the fence ruins the view from the house, and that is decided on paper long before anyone digs a post hole.

Decking and entertaining beside the pool

Decking near water has its own rules. Slip resistance, clearance to the water, movement in the boards and access to the pool equipment underneath all shape the layout. Where an entertaining area sits alongside the pool, the two are drawn as one space.

Existing pools and pool renovations

Much of the pool work we do is around a pool that is already there. The position and the height cannot move, so the garden gets designed around them rather than the other way round. Renovation is part of what we take on. Where the shell needs resurfacing, reshaping or new coping, that goes into the same set of documents, is built by a pool specialist under our supervision, and the garden is brought back together around the finished water. An old pool in a tired surround is usually a better starting point than people expect, because the hardest decision, where the water sits, has already been made.

Drainage and pool equipment

Water leaves a pool area constantly and the garden around it has to take it. Falls, drainage and the run to the pool equipment are specified before construction, so the equipment stays reachable and the beds beside the pool are not sitting in runoff.

Our Pool Landscape Design and Construction Process

Why Choose Luma Landscapes for Your Pool Landscaping

30 years designing and building gardens across Melbourne.
One team for design and construction, so the pool landscape design you are shown is the one you get.
The pool is designed with the garden, and the pool build and the pool fencing are contracted out but overseen by us, so the whole space comes off one set of drawings.
Fully qualified, insured and highly experienced designers and landscapers.
Locally sourced pavers and stone, and most of our timber grown in Australia.
The pool is designed as part of the garden, including levels, retaining, drainage, fencing, screening and planting.

That last line is the difference between a pool landscape and a paved rectangle with a fence around it. A surround built in isolation solves one thing and creates several more at its edges.

Pool Landscaping Projects Across Melbourne

See how these pools sit inside gardens that are finished and lived in, from the sunken pool set into the slope at Toorak to the existing pool folded into a new garden at Elwood. Each one was drawn alongside the paving, planting, screening and level changes around it. Most pool landscaping ideas work or fall apart at exactly those edges.

Camberwell Steps

Highett Pergola

Elwood Sanctuary

Toorak Poolside

From planning through to completion Lachie and his team were wonderful to work with. We are thrilled with the transformation of our courtyard into a space that is both functional and beautiful.

My tiny Richmond back garden is now so much more liveable, thanks to Lachie's design and his great team! From first consult, Lachie really understood what I wanted from the space and his plan was realistic and met all my needs. His team on site were always professional and respectful. I'd certainly have them back for another garden!

Luma Landscapes did an amazing job coming up with a design for our back yard. The designs far exceeded my expectations. In addition, they were also very professional and had great communication!

Book Your Design Consultation Today

Tell us about your project and we’ll be in touch to arrange a consultation.

FAQs

How much does pool landscaping cost in Melbourne?

Cost depends on the size of the area, the materials specified and how much the site needs before anything goes down. A sloping block that needs retaining costs more than the same area on flat ground, and the paving choice moves the number further than most people expect. After the initial consultation we set out a design fee in a proposal, then provide a detailed quote once the documentation is agreed, so you have a real figure rather than a range.

What is the best paving to use around a pool?

There is no single best material, only the right one for how the area gets used. Slip resistance when wet, heat underfoot in summer and how the surface weathers with pool water are the three things worth weighing, and they often point in different directions. We specify the paving and the coping together so the edge reads as one piece.

What plants work best around a pool?

Ones that stay out of it. Leaf size and drop habit matter more than anything else, because that is what ends up in the skimmer. Reflected heat and splash narrow the list further. Rather than working from a general poolside plant list, we select for the specific position, the aspect and how much of the year you use the space.

Can you landscape around an existing pool?

Yes, and much of our pool work is exactly that. The pool’s position and height are fixed, so the design starts from what cannot move: the levels back to the house, the fence line, the surround and the planting. At our Elwood project the garden was reworked from the front through to the rear around a pool that was already there.

Do you take on pool renovations?

Yes. Where the pool itself needs work, resurfacing, reshaping or new coping, it goes into the same documentation as the garden and is carried out by a pool specialist under our supervision. Most renovations turn out to be landscape jobs as much as pool jobs, because the surround, the levels and the fence line usually date from the same era as the shell and are tired in the same way.

Should the pool or the landscaping be designed first?

Together, and we design both. Where the pool sits decides the levels, the drainage, the fence line and where you can actually sit, so drawing the pool and the garden at the same time saves money and gives you a better result. The pool is built by a specialist builder under our supervision. If the pool is already in, we work from where it is.

Do you build the pool as well?

We design it, and the pool is built by a specialist pool builder while we oversee the work. Everything around it is designed and built by our own team, which covers the paving, the coping, retaining, drainage, fencing, screening and planting. You deal with us from the first sketch through to the finished garden.

What about the pool fence?

Pool barriers in Victoria are regulated, have to comply and have to be certified, and where the fence sits changes the whole garden. We design the fence line as part of the landscape and oversee the build, which is carried out by a fencing contractor working to our drawings. That way the fence works with the planting and the screening instead of cutting the space in two. Levels can help as well. At our Toorak project one side of the sunken pool is partly exposed above ground, which removed the need for fencing along that side altogether.

How long does pool landscaping take?

The design phase usually takes two to six weeks, depending on the size and complexity of the project. Construction time depends on the site and the scope, and you get a build timeline together with your quote.

Do you handle both design and construction?

Yes. Luma Landscapes provides a complete design and construction service for the garden, and our qualified team manages every step. The pool itself is the one part built by a specialist pool builder, and we oversee that work as part of the project.