Creating a backyard oasis

A pool to cool down in during the hot summer days paired with an outdoor fireplace to keep warm and cozy as the sun sets affords the best of both worlds.

That’s what one Jackson Township family has—and a whole lot more.

“The homeowners are very busy professionals who work long hours, so they wanted to come home to an oasis right in their own back yard where they can relax and have fun,” says Mike Carr, project manager at Impact Landscaping, who spearheaded the backyard makeover last summer.

“We started the project in April and by the Fourth of July they were enjoying their backyard oasis.”

A local landscaping and home improvement company, Impact is known for its stunning landscapes featuring stone, wood and water in its designs that are visually harmonious with nature.

For this project, the centerpiece is a swimming pool and freestanding fireplace set back in a little nook area, all tied together with a decorative cement patio and stone walkways. A stone bridge with a bubbling creek beneath situated on the side of the house leads you to the back yard, which opens to the fiberglass pool, custom-built fireplace and colored concrete patio with paver inlays—all softened up by trees, evergreens and perennial flowers. 

“We worked with the homeowners to design the back yard, and we used a mix of different color stones, pebbles and pavers for the patio and pool deck area,” Mike says. “There was existing stamped concrete, so we designed the new patio to integrate that concrete with the new colored concrete and created a cobblestone riverbed pathway with both shades of gray.”

“Other than the pool being rectangular, everything else has a circular motion, so it all flows together,” says Mike, who helps homeowners with the design process and oversees the construction and landscape crews. “The natural stones in the landscape also soften up the edges.”

The goal of all Impact Landscaping’s projects is to have them look like they naturally sprouted in the landscape. This project is no different, as the creek waterfall features driftwood and stumps interspersed around the stones.

Another goal is to design landscapes that are low-maintenance. Here, both the water feature and fiberglass pool are easy to care for. “The water in the creek is a self-contained unit that has an auto doser to keep algae at bay,” Mike says. “And our fiberglass pools have auto covers, with a control panel that you punch in a code and it opens and closes automatically for added convenience.” 

Impact Landscaping is located at 1410 Medina Road in Medina. For a free estimate, call 330-848-0036 or visit ImpactMyLandscaping.com for more details.