What areas does Blue Tree serve for backyard oasis design and build?

Blue Tree designs and builds complete backyard oases across seven Southeastern Pennsylvania counties: Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Berks, and Philadelphia Counties. The company has built complete backyards across these counties since 1983, with pool construction, ICPI-certified hardscape, and landscape design all in-house from its Skippack base.

Backyard Oasis Design in Southeastern PA

Our Backyard Oasis Process, Step by Step

From the first site visit to the final walkthrough, one designer and one team build your entire backyard. Here is how it comes together.

Step 1: Free On-Site Consultation

A Blue Tree designer walks your property and listens to the big picture: how you want the backyard to feel and function, from swimming and entertaining to quiet evenings. We read grade, drainage, sun, and access, and talk budget and phasing. The visit is free with no same-day pressure. Timeline: 1 visit, about 90 minutes.

Step 2: Custom Design and 3D Renderings

Your designer plans the entire oasis, pool, hardscape, kitchen, fire, planting, and lighting, as one layout, then you review 3D renderings of the finished backyard with your house in frame and refine everything on screen before construction. Timeline: 3 to 6 weeks.

Step 3: Materials, Proposal, and Permitting

Blue Tree specifies every material and feature, prices the project as one itemized proposal, and handles township permits, impervious-surface calculations, and engineering in-house. You see the whole plan and cost before you sign, and projects can be phased. Timeline: 4 to 10 weeks, varies by township.

Step 4: Professional Installation

One team builds the entire oasis in a coordinated sequence: pool, hardscape on a proper base, kitchen and fire, drainage, planting, and lighting. Because the same company does it all, the trades line up and the grades match. Timeline: several weeks to a few months, varies by scope.

Step 5: Aftercare & Warranty

Blue Tree starts up the pool, tests every feature, and walks the finished backyard with you. You leave with all warranty terms in writing, including the lifetime structural warranty on the pool shell, and ongoing care is available through Premier Outdoor Services. Timeline: a few days.

What a Backyard Oasis Brings Together

A true backyard oasis layers several outdoor living elements into one space. These are the pieces Blue Tree designs and builds as a single project.

A narrow rectangular pool surrounded by stone tiles, lounge chairs, lush landscaping, and a grassy area with stepping stones. Trees line the background, and the sun is setting, casting a warm glow.

Custom Pool and Spa

A custom concrete pool, often with an integrated spa, designed as the centerpiece of the yard.

A stylish stone patio with outdoor seating, lush green landscaping, a pergola, and decorative pathways beside a stone house on a sunny day.

Patios and Pool Decks

Paver and stone patios and pool decking that connect the spaces and handle drainage as one.

Outdoor Kitchen and Bar

A built-in kitchen and bar so the cooking and gathering happen in the backyard, not inside.

Fire and Water Features

Fireplaces, fire pits, waterfalls, and grottos that give the oasis its drama and its evening use.

Landscape and Privacy

Planting and screening that frame the space, add privacy, and soften the hardscape.

Lighting and Ambiance

Layered LED lighting that keeps the whole backyard usable and beautiful after dark.

Built for Southeastern Pennsylvania's Land and Seasons

A complete backyard has to work within what Southeastern Pennsylvania allows. Clay soil requires engineered bases under every hardscape element. Freeze-thaw winters demand drainage systems that shed water before it freezes and lifts. And township impervious-surface limits cap how much total hardscape and pool area can occupy a lot (typically 25 to 40 percent of lot area in most Montgomery and Chester County municipalities), which means the pool, patio, walkways, and pool deck have to be sized and permitted together, not added piecemeal. Stormwater management under PA Act 167 may require an infiltration trench or rain garden when a project adds significant impervious surface. A typical backyard oasis project draws permits across three to four categories: zoning, building, electrical, and pool. Blue Tree manages all of them in-house and carries each permit through inspection and close-out. Pool startup chemistry is targeted to the same benchmarks every season: pH 7.2 to 7.8, total alkalinity 80 to 120 ppm, calcium hardness 200 to 400 ppm, and the Blue Tree team walks first-time pool owners through the complete startup protocol before leaving the job. Planting selections for pool surrounds and planted areas surrounding the oasis are chosen from USDA hardiness zones 6b and 7a cold-hardy material from the start, eliminating the annual replacement cost of species that are marginal in our climate. The team has designed and built complete outdoor spaces across Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Berks, and Philadelphia Counties since 1983.

A curved stone walkway bordered by dark bricks winds through landscaped gardens with green shrubs, ornamental grasses, mulch, and solar path lights, leading to a patio area in a spacious yard.

Every Piece, One Team

Custom Pools. The centerpiece of most backyard oases. Explore pools.

Hardscape Design. The patios, walls, and kitchen that frame it. Explore hardscape design.

Landscape and Lighting. The planting and light that finish it. Explore landscaping.

A landscaped area with green shrubs, large stone boulders, and a curved concrete pathway beside a beige stucco house with a window and decorative wall art. Blue sky with clouds is visible in the background.

Curated Transformations

Browse recent complete backyard transformations from across Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Berks, and Philadelphia Counties.

Everything Your Outdoor
Space Needs. One Team.

From the pool to the patio to the plants that frame it all. We handle the full picture so nothing falls through the cracks.

A luxurious backyard pool features stone walls with multiple cascading waterfalls, built-in lights, fire bowls, and surrounding lush greenery and flowers, creating an elegant and relaxing outdoor space.

Custom Pools & Water Features

Resort-style pools, spas, waterfalls, and grottos, designed for your property, not from a catalog

Explore Pools

Stone outdoor kitchen with built-in grill built by Blue Tree

Patios, Walls & Outdoor Kitchens

Structures built to last generations by craftsmen who take pride in the details

Explore Hardscaping

A well-maintained front yard features neatly trimmed grass, vibrant flower beds, shrubs, and small trees in front of a stone house, all bathed in warm sunlight.

Landscape Design & Planting

Native plants, seasonal color, and designs that thrive in Southeastern PA's climate

Explore Landscaping

A green fertilizer spreader sits on a neatly mowed lawn in front of a suburban house, surrounded by well-kept bushes and colorful flowers on a sunny day.

Lawn Programs

Science-backed fertilization, weed control, and aeration for the lawn your neighbors will notice

Explore Turf Care

A luxurious backyard at dusk features a glowing swimming pool, landscaped gardens, and warm path lighting, with a large house and outdoor seating area illuminated in the background, surrounded by tall trees.

Landscape Lighting

Professionally designed LED systems that add safety, security, and ambiance after dark

Explore Lighting

A large, well-manicured green lawn in front of a stone house with landscaped flower beds, bushes, and small trees, surrounded by tall trees with autumn foliage.

Year-Round Care

Seasonal cleanups, pool service, and ongoing care that keeps everything looking its best

Explore Maintenance

Common Questions

A patio, outdoor kitchen, and lighting package without a pool runs $30,000 to $65,000. A complete backyard oasis with an inground pool, paver patio, outdoor kitchen, landscape lighting, and plantings runs $75,000 to $200,000 or more depending on pool size, material selection, and site conditions. Southeastern PA projects often add $3,000 to $8,000 in permitting fees across the building, pool, gas, and electrical permits that a full-scope project requires. The cost drivers are the pool shell and equipment package (typically $55,000 to $120,000 for a full inground pool), the patio square footage, and the kitchen appliance package. The free consultation includes a site assessment, a scope discussion, and a rough budget range before any design work begins.

Blue Tree handles every scope of a full backyard oasis under a single contract with a single project manager from design through final walkthrough and warranty. Pool equipment comes from Hayward, Pentair, or Jandy depending on the system requirements. Patio hardscape is installed using Belgard materials to ICPI standards. Outdoor kitchens are built on CMU block bases with porcelain or concrete countertops rated for southeastern PA freeze-thaw. Landscape lighting uses Cast Lighting LED fixtures. Planting, fencing, and grading are all managed by the same crew network. This single-contract model is genuinely rare in southeastern PA. Most homeowners who try to coordinate a pool contractor, a hardscape contractor, and a planting crew on their own spend 15 to 30 percent more in change orders, delays, and rework when trade schedules conflict. Blue Tree's 43 years of experience means the sequencing works the first time.

A complete backyard oasis project in southeastern Pennsylvania typically requires a building permit for the patio and outdoor structure, a pool permit for the inground pool (required in virtually every municipality under Pennsylvania's Uniform Construction Code), a gas permit for outdoor kitchen or fire feature gas lines, and an electrical permit for pool equipment, lighting circuits, and outdoor kitchen power. Projects on lots near regulated wetlands or floodplains may also require PA DEP Chapter 102 coordination for erosion and sedimentation control if total disturbance exceeds 5,000 square feet, and Chapter 105 permits if any work falls within the 100-year floodplain. Blue Tree coordinates all permit applications and acts as the single point of contact with township building departments, which avoids the permit sequencing errors that often delay multi-contractor projects.

Planned communities throughout Blue Bell, Gwynedd Valley, Horsham, Wayne, Devon, and Paoli require architectural review committee approval for any new outdoor structure, including pools, pergolas, paver patios over a certain size, and outdoor kitchens. HOA covenants in Montgomery and Chester County communities commonly restrict pool placement to the rear yard, set a minimum setback from the common boundary, limit fence height and material, and specify approved exterior materials and colors. Blue Tree reviews HOA architectural guidelines before any design is committed to CAD drawings, which prevents the approval failures that happen when contractors submit plans without checking HOA rules first. A rejected HOA submission costs time and sometimes a redesign fee. Catching the restriction before design begins costs nothing.

A full backyard oasis in southeastern Pennsylvania requires year-round maintenance across four categories. Pool service includes opening in late April to early May, weekly chemistry and cleaning from May through September, and winterization in mid to late October. Hardscape inspection should happen each spring after the freeze-thaw season to identify any paver units that need resetting and to check retaining wall drainage outlets. Landscape maintenance includes fertilization cycles from April through October per Penn State Cooperative Extension recommendations, Japanese beetle grub treatment in June to August, and Spotted Lanternfly monitoring across all 7 counties we serve. Pressure washing of patio surfaces is recommended every 2 to 3 years to remove algae and lichen that develop in southeastern PA's humid summers. Blue Tree's Premier Outdoor Services package covers pool service, landscape maintenance, hardscape inspection, and pressure washing under one annual contract.

The most common and costly mistake is excavating without calling PA 811 for a utility locate first. Underground gas lines, water mains, electric service laterals, and telecom conduits are present in virtually every southeastern Pennsylvania residential lot, and their exact paths are rarely where a homeowner assumes they are. Hitting a gas line during pool excavation or patio base preparation creates an immediate life safety emergency and shuts down the project for days or weeks while the utility company repairs the line. PA law requires all excavators to call 811 at least 3 business days before any digging. Blue Tree calls 811 on every project as the first step, before any equipment arrives on site. It is a non-negotiable standard that protects our crew, our clients, and the project schedule.

Backyard Oasis Design in Southeastern Pennsylvania

What Sets Blue Tree's Backyard Oasis Design Apart

Our Backyard Oasis Process, Step by Step