The Pool Design Process in
Southeastern Pennsylvania

How Blue Tree turns a backyard vision into a buildable plan: designer-led discovery, full site evaluation, 3D renderings of the whole yard, and collaborative material and feature selection before a shovel touches the ground.
43 years
in business since 1983
8+
designers on staff
3D
renderings every project
7 counties
across Southeastern PA

What Sets Blue Tree's Pool Design Apart

Blue Tree assigns a designer to evaluate the yard, slope, soil, drainage, and intended use, then coordinates the pool with the patio, landscape, lighting, and drainage scope. A 3D visualization can help the homeowner review the complete backyard plan before construction is scheduled.
  • The assigned designer leads discovery and design, then coordinates with project managers and field teams as the approved scope moves into construction
  • The 3D visualization can show the full yard and house context, depending on the project scope and available site information
  • Drainage, grading, access, and landscape-restoration needs are reviewed during planning and documented in the approved scope
  • Serving Southeastern PA since 1983, currently across seven counties, with a 15-year pool construction track record
Written by Jeff Mattiola, Blue Tree's President and Co-Owner, and reviewed by sales manager Jérôme Besnard.

Established
3D
Backyard Renderings
70 to 90
Employees

Our Pool Design Process

Good pools start with a good plan. Here is how a Blue Tree designer takes your project from a first conversation to a 3D rendering you approve, step by step.
1

Step 1: Free On-Site Consultation

A Blue Tree designer comes to your property, not a salesperson. They walk the yard with you and look at slope, soil, drainage, sun exposure, and access for equipment. Then the conversation turns to your family: how you want to swim, where you want to gather, and what budget you have in mind. The visit is free, and nobody pushes you toward a same-day decision.
2

Step 2: Site & Conditions Evaluation

Back at the office, your designer studies what the property allows. Clay soils, rock near the surface, grade changes, existing drainage, and township setback and impervious surface rules all shape what can go where. This evaluation is why a Blue Tree plan fits the property it is built on, instead of dropping a catalog pool into a yard that cannot support it.
3

Step 3: Custom Design & 3D Renderings

Your designer creates a plan for the pool and everything around it: hardscape, landscape, lighting, drainage, and fencing. You review 3D renderings of the complete backyard, with your house and property in frame, and refine the shape, depth, and layout on screen. Changes happen now, while they are easy to make, long before anyone breaks ground.
4

Step 4: Material & Feature Selection

Together you choose the details that make the pool yours: interior finish and waterline tile, coping and decking materials, water features, Jandy equipment, and pool and landscape lighting. Your designer explains the tradeoffs on cost, maintenance, and look for each option, so every selection fits your property, your budget, and the way you live outdoors.
5

Step 5: Proposal & Approval

Your designer delivers an itemized proposal that covers the complete project: pool, landscape, hardscape, drainage, and lighting, with no buried change orders. You review the numbers against the renderings, ask questions, and adjust the scope if you want to phase the work. Once you approve the plan, the same team carries it into permitting and construction.

What You Design With Your Designer

A custom pool is a set of choices, and you make them with a designer who has guided hundreds of Southeastern PA homeowners through the same decisions. These are the elements you shape during design.
A Southeastern PA backyard with a custom pool, covered outdoor kitchen, dining area, fireplace, and landscaping.

Pool Shape & Depth

Geometric, freeform, lap, or plunge. Your designer shapes the pool to your property and the way your family swims, with depths planned for safety and use.
A modern Southeastern PA backyard pool with stone decking, lounge chairs, and lush landscaping.

Finishes & Tile

Interior plaster finish and waterline tile set the color and feel of the water. You compare samples and see them rendered in your backyard before choosing.
Aerial view of a backyard with a kidney-shaped pool, attached spa, lounge chairs, umbrellas, landscaped greenery, and a small shed in one corner.

Coping & Decking

The coping and the deck around the pool are chosen together with the patio so materials, color, and drainage work as one design, not as separate jobs.
A stone wall with a built-in waterfall feature pours water into a clear swimming pool, surrounded by lush green trees and outdoor seating.

Water Features

Waterfalls, sheer descents, bubblers, and spillover spas are planned into the shell during design, never added on as an afterthought.
Outdoor pool equipment setup with a filter, pump, electrical box, and various white PVC pipes on a concrete pad, surrounded by mulch, bushes, and a wooden fence in the background under sunlight.

Jandy Equipment & Automation

Variable-speed pumps, heaters, filtration, and Wi-Fi automation are specified during design so the pool runs efficiently from the day it fills.
A backyard at dusk with a lit fire pit surrounded by chairs, a pool in the background, stone patio, landscaped plants, and trees bordering the scene, all softly illuminated by outdoor lighting.

Lighting & Landscape

Pool and landscape lighting and the planting around the pool are designed in from the start, so the space looks finished and works after dark.

Designed for Southeastern
Pennsylvania's Yards and Townships

A pool design only works if it fits the property and the applicable municipal requirements. Southeastern Pennsylvania can add regional constraints to a site evaluation:
  • Where clay-heavy soils or drainage constraints are present, water management is considered during design
  • Where shallow rock is present, it can affect pool placement, excavation, and depth
  • Setbacks, impervious-surface limits, barriers, utilities, and other requirements vary by municipality and property
Blue Tree has served Southeastern Pennsylvania since 1983 and currently designs pools across Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Berks, and Philadelphia Counties. The approved plan is developed around the known site conditions, project scope, and applicable review requirements.
Six men stand in front of a step-and-repeat banner celebrating 25 Years of Warwick Stones. They are smiling and dressed casually in sweaters, hoodies, and jackets, posing indoors on a tiled floor.

Design the Pool with the Rest of the Backyard

Patios and Pool Decks: Paver patios, natural stone surrounds, sitting walls, and outdoor kitchens designed alongside the pool so materials, grading, and drainage are planned as one.

Landscape Around the Pool: Planting designed for reflected heat and splash, with screening for privacy and four seasons of interest, drawn into the same plan.

LED Landscape Lighting: Path, patio, and accent lighting designed in from the start so the pool area is usable and safe after dark.

Pool Service and Seasonal Care: Ongoing pool service through Premier Outdoor Services, handled by the same company that designed and built the pool.

A modern Southeastern PA backyard pool with stone decking, lounge chairs, and lush landscaping.

Curated Transformations

Browse recent projects 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
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
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
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
A large backyard with a lit swimming pool, lounge chairs, and landscaping at dusk. Trees and a house with glowing windows are visible under a darkening sky.

Landscape Lighting

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

Common Questions

A Blue Tree designer, not a salesperson, comes to your property and walks the space with you. They look at slope, soil, drainage, sun exposure, and equipment access, then ask how your family wants to swim, entertain, and use the yard. You talk through ideas and budget. There is no charge and no pressure for a same-day decision. The visit gives your designer what they need to start a plan built for your specific property.

Yes. Blue Tree creates 3D renderings of your complete backyard, with your house and property in frame, so you can see the pool, patio, planting, and lighting together before a single shovel touches the ground. You review the shape, depth, finishes, and features on screen and request changes while they are still easy to make. The rendering you approve is the project Blue Tree builds.

Most designs come together over two to four weeks after the on-site visit, depending on how many revisions you want and how complex the project is. Families who use this time to refine the plan, settle finishes, and lock features tend to have the smoothest builds. Starting the design in fall or winter positions you for a spring construction start and a summer swim.

The whole backyard. One designer plans the pool together with the patio, landscape, lighting, drainage, and fencing as a single design. That is the core difference from pool-only builders, who design the shell and leave the rest of the yard for you to coordinate. Designing it all at once means materials, grading, and sight lines work together, and there is no second contractor to schedule later.

Your designer walks you through every choice: pool shape and depth, interior finish and waterline tile, coping and decking materials, water features, Jandy equipment, and lighting. You also plan the surrounding landscape and hardscape. Nothing is decided alone. The designer explains the tradeoffs on cost, maintenance, and look so each choice fits your property, your budget, and the way your family lives outdoors.

The on-site consultation is free, with no obligation. Blue Tree provides 2D and 3D renderings of your backyard as part of the design and proposal process so you can see the full plan before you commit. Your designer also delivers an itemized estimate that accounts for the complete project: pool, landscape, hardscape, drainage, and lighting, with no buried change orders.

Ready to Start?

Whether you're dreaming of a resort-style pool, a patio built for gathering, or a landscape that finally feels like you, let's talk.
  • No Obligation
  • Free On-Site Visit
  • Custom Design Proposal
Blue Tree Outdoor Living
  • © 2026 Blue Tree Landscaping, Inc., dba Blue Tree Outdoor Living. All Rights Reserved.

Resources and Get in Touch

A clear blue swimming pool with a diving board, patio, and outdoor gazebo with seating, surrounded by trees and a black fence under a partly cloudy sky.

Free Consultation

Designed and built as one project.

Free on-site consultation. Custom design with 3D presentation. One designer guiding you from first visit through warranty support.
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