Wow! Reno, that is a GREAT improvement! I love the wooded view from your porch now! I really like the surf shack idea! You could build out a covered bar area without too much cost or work. That would be a great area to host a poolside barbeque! Keep us updated.
Grammy

Man, you have a lot of energy, Reno_fan! I love all the trees you have around your yard! You might want to check with the officials in your area to be sure of what you need to have around your pool to be code-compliant. In our area, we have to enclose it with at least a 4' fence. I seem to remember the fencing affected our insurance policy as well.

There are no codes for pool enclosures in our area. All of my neighbors with pools have no fencing. The only problem is that the pool is actually raised from the lower level of the yard by about 2 feet. It's definitely a safety issue for us. But if we built a retaining wall behind the pool, we could back fill it with a bunch of plantings. We had a similar setup in our last yard:

Here is another shot of the remnants of the fence next to the diving board:

I don't know what the pool builders/former owners were thinking, plunking the equipment *right there*. (((Smacking forehead))))

But we'll just have to turn it into a design feature. If we built a structure around 8 feet tall, maybe with a lattice/pergola style roof, we could still hide the equipment on one side, and then use the rest of the area (we have 10 feet of storage behind that fence next to the pool equipment) for a bar, or a changing room or something. I'm only slightly hesitant to make it a bar, because the upper deck will have a fire pit, BBQ grill, etc, and I'm wondering if we'd really walk all the way over there, where there's not much shade cover, to sit at a bar.

Beautiful yard reno fan : ) I like your idea of a "surf shack". I'm not sure if you want to go wood again, and since you are a zone 7 you probably can go bamboo too.
When I saw your yard I just melted....soooo beautiful!!
If you plan on keeping the same area for your pool equipment I'd suggest a storage shed "surf shack" type of building to house the pool stuff but incorporate a bar area facing the pool. I'd include pillars (that could eventually lead to a pergola too) so you can hang plants, candles, or lighting around the whole pool area.
To help with the privacy (I'm not sure of your budget) maybe a couple of darkened/frosted glass type of panel between the pillars so you can still enjoy your scenery (maybe help stop a bit of debris from the trees) and would reflect nicely with any night lighting : ) Especially if you plan to include a raised plant bed behind the edge of the pool area, a few uplights would look great!
I can't wait to see what you do ; )
Saskatchewan Girl

So reno...I need you to stop by my house. I have a ton of projects and DH stopped helping on "my projects" a long time ago. :-)

You have a nice yard to work with and I know its going to be just beautiful! I wish I was zone 7...we are 5b/6, so a lot of the tropical looking things just don't make it throu the winter.

Does look 100% better, but can you get in trouble with the town for not having an inground pool fenced in? Where I live you can get fined big time for that.

The yard looks so much better, so open and more relaxing. what a great job.

I would worry about the liability issue without a fence, but with a pool cover, that might not be a problem. Where I am you have to have a six foot fence and a locked gate so children can't fall in and drown in the pool, not to mention the neighbors dog or whatever. A pool is considered an attractive nuisance by insurance companies. Since we don't have a pool, I didn't check with our insurance, but I am sure they would have something to say about it if we did.

Looks great without the fence!!
WHat about a row of arborvitaes making an evergreen fence?

We had the same issue with our pool. Equipment was so close - we made a feature out of it. Stacked stone walls surrounding it. Lots of plants. I'll try to get a pic tomorrow. It has a rock path to get from one side to the other and the kids love jumping off the stones!!

Smiles:)

Good for you. You exercised and beautified all at the same time. I bet you were sore this morning, but probaby knew it was worth it when you saw how good it looks.

I like the new "infinity edge" look for your pool!

Please fence the pool or entire yard somehow. Here in Phoenix we had another toddler found floating in a pool this morning. It had a fence but the gate was missing. So far God has blessed the child and he is clinging onto life. But many children drown in unfenced pools every year.

Your backyard is lovely.

We have a fenced yard. There are no requirements for the pool to be fenced as well. (We're in Oklahoma. I understand from the pool forum that there are places that require a fence around the pool, even if the yard is fenced, but we're not one of those states.)

Every other house on my street has a pool. No one has a pool fence (we were the only house with the fence around the pool), but all the yards are fenced. All the houses on my street back to the neighborhood greenbelt. So when walking on the greenbelt, all the other yards look so open and pretty, and then you'd get to our yard. It looks like Herman Munster designed a fence LOL!!

I'm glad the rotten old thing is down. Because of the greenbelt and the view, we'll likely just build a retaining wall around the pool and plant some privacy plants instead of putting in another fence.

Reno,
How nice to have a greenbelt behind you!! Your yard is beautiful.

Here is my set-up. I am not saying it is all that great but what we came up with to disguise the equipment. I still have to do fencing. I want wrought iron (too much $$) in the front but privacy fencing in the back with stone post. We have neighbors but atleast 2 acre lots.

We also used alot of evergreens so it will be green all year (read not drop alot of leaves!!)

Smiles:)

OMG Johnatemp that's gorgeous!

Your yard is *exactly* what I envisioned this yard could be. I hope you don't mind, but I'm saving your pics to show our pool guy/landscape guy. I'm going to shamelessly copy your stunning yard!

Reno,
I am glad you liked it.
We have septic lines running thru part of the yard so the equipment had to go there.

I'll show you what we lived with ALL LAST WINTER!! With 2 dogs tromping thru lots of MUD!! It was a nightmare and I HATED that pool!! I told DH...the pool was his to do whatever with as long as he was "pool boy!!" I couldn't stand the coping until the landscaping went in - made all the difference. This year I was so overwhelmed that I didn't even get annual flowers in.

I am quite honored that you would use my pic as some of your inspiration!!

Smiles:)