Pools are often as unique as the people who own them. Every family takes their personal preferences into account when planning a pool, and in this, case location was a big factor. For example, Julia Francisco’s pool is perched on Scarborough, Ontario’s, lofty bluffs. With a view of Lake Ontario from her modernist house, the pool’s clean lines and sharp pool house reflect a classic beach vibe. Elsewhere, a Toronto home incorporates a fully kitted out cabana with a fireplace and kitchen, while a West Coast pool takes its colour palette from the Pacific Ocean that serves as a backdrop to the property. Below, see three incredible pools and the extras — pizza ovens, fire features, guest houses and more — that make them true oases.

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Is there any better way to cool off in the peak of summer than in a backyard pool? “You don’t need a huge yard to have a pool, and it doesn’t need to take over the whole space; you can still have a garden,” says landscape designer Leigh Gravenor. Get inspiration for your city or country yard with four different pool and landscape designs below.

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Designer Michelle Hurley always wanted a spacious backyard where the kids could kick a ball without it bouncing into traffic and where she could host a large garden party. In 2014, she and her husband bought a midcentury home in Toronto’s west end. Not only was the backyard 6,000 square feet, but with Mimico Creek so near, the family could hear water tumbling over the rocks. “The fact that this property is so close to the city blew us away,” says Michelle.

An extensive renovation to the house meant there wasn’t much budget left over for landscaping. “Our contractor built the decks and patios, but we did nearly everything else ourselves,” says Michelle. A new deck with a barbecue runs along two-thirds of the back of the house, and two limestone patios serve as everyday living and dining spaces. “We like the feeling of having our feet on the ground, so most of the space is at ground level as opposed to up on the deck,” says Michelle. “It’s more private and closer to nature.”

Scroll down for a look inside Michelle’s backyard — and discover her best garden party tip and design ideas!

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With the warmer weather on the horizon, we couldn’t help but round up some of the top outdoor features everyone’s coveting. From fire bowls to cocktail pools, here’s what homeowners are looking for in their green spaces this spring and summer. Scroll down!

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Spring looks different depending on where you are. Your region may be cloaked in a curtain of drizzle, but when the sun is shining, it’s hard for gardeners to stay inside and not make inroads long before the May 24 weekend (generally accepted as a frost safe date!). Rosie Daykin (shown in the June 2021 issue of House & Home), lavishes her West Coast beds with care from early spring, growing most of her veggies from seed — and the results speak for themselves. Here are some things you can do now to prep your gardens for the most beautiful, productive summer ever.

1. Start Seeds 

Sometimes Rosie chooses seeds just because she likes their name, for example: Blushed Butter Oak lettuce. Create a spreadsheet of what seeds to start, arranged by date, or organize packets week-by-week in an accordion file or recipe-card box. You can start seeds for veggies like eggplants, peppers and tomatoes indoors six weeks before the last frost date in your area (here is a calculator that will let you know what’s the date for your region). If you are sowing seeds directly outside, plants like peas, lettuce, carrots and radishes can be planted before the frost date, while zucchini and cucumber need to be planted afterwards The seed packet will tell you when to plant based frost dates, soil temperature or plant hardiness zones.

2. Harden Off Seedlings

Seedlings that have been grown in cushy controlled conditions indoors will need time to adapt to the outdoors. Whether growing a vegetable, herb, or flower, seedlings need to be acclimated to the outdoors gradually. Start by putting them outside for an hour, and build it up by an extra hour each next day until they can withstand a full day of sun.

3. Clean Up Beds

Gently remove matted leaves to unearth early spring ornamentals first, like tender emerging spring bulbs. Trim battered leaves from semi-evergreen perennials (which shed their foliage for a very short time in late winter) such as hellebores, heuchera and ornamental grasses. If you have a compost pile, turning it over will help it break down faster.

4. Prune (Judiciously!)

Wait until the risk of frost has passed before starting to cut back plants, because hard frosts penetrate the fresh cuts and can cause damage. To gently shape the shrub, remove dead, diseased, damaged stems, weak branches, and stems going in unwanted directions or crossing other branches.

Summer-flowering shrubs like butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii), Russian Sage, hardy fuchsia, spirea, and potentilla, should be trimmed in spring. Prune vines such as wisteria, clematis and climbing roses. Cut raspberries canes that have borne fruit, and any that are thinner than a pencil, and shorten the remaining young canes by at least a foot.

To trim back ornamental grasses like miscanthus, fountain grass, and feather reed grass, gather the stems and foliage in a clump and cut back to around 6-12 inches from the ground. Do this after the risk of frost, but before the new shoots emerge from the base.

Prune shrubs that bloom on old wood (like Hydrangea macrophylla or Big Leaf hydrangea, which have big, ball-shaped mopheads) or lace cap florets after they have finished blooming. Similarly, wait until spring flowering shrubs like lilacs, forsythia, and weigelia have bloomed before pruning or you will remove the flower buds. You can cut back paniculata hydrangeas such as Limelight, climbing hydrangeas and Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’ because they bloom on new wood.

5. Divide

Most perennials grow by sending up new stems from their underground parts and form clumps that can  die back in the centre, producing a “doughnut” effect. Perennials that bloom after mid-June are usually divided in early spring (late April or early May), as soon as a couple of inches of growth are showing. Chose a day that is cool and the ground is moist so the roots don’t dry out quickly, and make sure the plant is well watered before you begin.

To divide a clump-forming plant, lift the whole plant by digging up as much of the root ball as possible then shake or tease off the soil from the roots to reveal the roots and crown.

6. Add Some Color 

Craving instant color? Maybe your bulbs are slow to show, so hit the garden centres for pots of pansies or violas for spring planters. You can augment them with flowering branches like forsythia or pussy willow.

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The romance of a country garden is undeniable: maybe it’s the endless views of rolling lawns and mature trees, or the breezy beds filled with swaying flowers. Take a virtual tour of beautiful gardens in Ontario and Quebec, a cutting garden in PEI and a formal French-inspired garden in B.C. The results are inspiring and soothing for the soul.

Scroll down for 12+ dreamy gardens from the H&H archives!

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Looking to get a head start on your spring gardening? Here are our best garden tips and tricks to try this season. Scroll down!

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“It only takes one plant to change the atmosphere in a room,” says Instagram plant expert and author of Living Wild (Cico Books, 2023), Hilton Carter who counts a heady Instagram following of over 500,000 and has been featured in the The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. He’s made it his business to help houseplant “parents” grow lush, happy, indoor plants bursting with greenery and blooms (which is especially appreciated when the temperatures dip outside).

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The best outdoor spaces achieve a magical glow courtesy of layered lighting from a range of different sources. Lighting is both practical and ambient, whether it’s hardwired landscape lighting to illuminate a path, accent lights to spotlight an architectural detail or plant material, or whimsical string lights that turn a patio into a party. Read on for some of the best looking lighting options for your outdoor escape.

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