A Gunite Pool Builder's Tips for a Tropical Backyard on Long Island NY

A big part of the joy of owning a house is making your own personal oasis right in your backyard. For many, that oasis is centered around a beautiful gunite pool, an attractive pool surround, and a landscape adorned with lush plants and eye-catching landscape features. Although making a tropical oasis might seem counterintuitive or near impossible due to the winter, it’s all about planning around a strategy. Here are a gunite pool builder’s tips for a tropical backyard on Long Island, NY.

Tropical Gunite Pool Design

Absolutely essential for a tropical-feeling pool is using a unique shape that perfectly fits in your landscape yet evokes the feeling of a jungle. For the most natural-looking space, use rounded shapes such as a kidney-shaped pool. Choose a turquoise color on the inside of your pool to give it the most tropical look.

A Grotto, and Other Natural Features

A grotto is a small cave that doesn’t go very deep and is common in jungles and tropical coastlines. In your backyard pool, a masonry grotto provides kids and adults alike a wonderful place to play in the water and is especially delightful when it’s behind a cascading waterfall. Surrounding your pool partially using large stones and boulders can add to the natural tropical feel.

Patio Pavers

Choose sand-colored pavers to evoke the feeling of a beach. Use large format pavers with minimal joint lines to make your pool surround look like an endless beach.

Dealing with the Climate

Anyone who knows Long Island knows that for part of the year the weather isn’t exactly tropical. The freezing temperatures or autumn and winter can preclude even the conversation about using tropical plants. This can be frustrating as some Mid-Atlantic forests can evoke the feeling of a jungle.

A visit to the nursery will show that some plants resemble their cousins down south and can withstand the winter.

Another solution is to use potted plants around your pool, moving all vulnerable plants inside the home or a greenhouse for the cold season and returning them outdoors once the danger of frost has passed.

A Permanent Pool Shelter

A permanent glass greenhouse-style shelter for the pool doesn’t necessarily need to have tropical heat in the winter. However, a constant temperature above freezing would keep the plants in the tropical oasis alive and well.

A Stream and A Bridge

Diversifying your tropical oasis backyard can include the construction of a beautiful jungle stream that swirls and splashes against rocks. A bridge over the stream will become one of the best visual charms of the entire experience and will inspire kids to have adventures while safe in your backyard. Even if the bridge goes nowhere, maybe it could eventually lead to a small cave with some hidden treasure!

A Waterfall

No tropical backyard oasis is complete without a gurgling waterfall cascading directly into the pool. This automatically amps up the fun and brings a sonic quality to the entire landscape. Best of all, the waterfall is also completely customizable and can work in tandem with the pool, using the same filtration and pump system. The waterfall can be as simple or extravagant as you want it to be.

Combining all of the above features with your gunite pool can make your backyard a staycation-worthy retreat you and your family will love.

A Gunite Pool Builder's Tips for a Tropical Backyard on Long Island NY