This pool, in Sedona, Arizona was converted into a naturalistic streamcourse waterfeature believe it or not. I, as JSL Landscape Design Build, designed and built this Sedona pool fill in renovation. I will share what was involved and why my client decided to get rid of the pool.

First of all, my client was not the original owner who built the pool. It was built along with the house which was a very high end custom home located in a gated community overlooking Oak Creek on 3 acres. The property extended all the way to the creek.

The pool was a deep, about 8-10 feet curved and natural looking with native flagstone and river rock accents. The far end of the pool shown above had a negative edge feature which took advantage of the elevation changes of the property. Next to the negative edge basin, a separate spa was included.

After having lived there for many years and retired, my client decided that something else could be done with the space. His main objection with the pool was that they never used it because it was north facing and got little direct sunlight to make it a pleasant spot for a dip in the pool. So after I had already remodeled his front courtyard, he called me up a year or so later and said he had another project for me in the backyard…

We explored a number of alternatives including just filling it in and covering it with a combination of flagstone patio and some plantings to converting the pool into a Koi pond. But one thing was always a part of the design criteria: to somehow take advantage of the drop in elevation where the negative edge was located. He suggested building another waterfeature similar to the one in the courtyard and since he liked what we did so much, he trusted that whatever we did, it would meet his expectations.

Here is what we decided on in plan view form from my computer.

As you can see, there is a waterfall feature at one end and another waterfall feature at the other end where the negative edge remained. The negative edge basin served as the reservoir for the pump and filter. While the pool itself was flat, we had to create an elevation drop so the water in the streamcourse would flow. We did that by creating a raised stone veneered wall at the opposite end of the pool built adjacent to an existing retaining wall that supported an upper patio. We created a planter like structure where the return of the main pump would discharge in a waterfall to the streamcourse. Within that planter-like structure, we built a separate small boulder waterfeature fountain that had its own re-circulation as a visual focal point when sitting on the upper patio.

Here are some of the before the pool fill in pictures showing the pool empty before we begain construction.

To maintain a naturalistic theme, the negative edge slope was cut off and leveled and covered with flat and regular boulders. This became the lower waterfall.

You can see the existing wall that supports the upper patio where we built an adjacent wall planter-like structure to house the upper waterfall.

The stream course consists of shallow swales to create the stream course with soil placed between so we could use a lot of plantings to create a lush and colorful environment.

Interested in doing something similar with your existing pool?