That puppy gets H-O-T in the Texas heat, so heat and sun-tolerant plants were a must when we were thinking about landscaping around the pool.

We also had a really cool existing, unidentified palm-like tree that we wanted to work around:

With our requirements for hot ‘n hardy plants that fit in with our funky palm tree, coming up with a tropical, oasis-like landscaping scheme was a no-brainer.

Now that you’ve heard all about how we transformed the backyard, I thought I’d give you the scoop on which plants we picked, and why.  Here we go!!

These plants below form the main focal point of the backyard.  By choosing plants of varying heights, we were able to break up the large expanse of fence behind the pool, and add some texture and visual interest to keep your eye moving from plant to plant so that you don’t miss a single one of those beauties.

While we wanted the majority of the plants to be green to form kind of a backdrop for the gorgeous pool, I couldn’t resist a few fun pops of color with those giant hibiscus – they had me from hello!

Each one of these tropical plants is tolerant of full-sun (a necessity in this backyard) and lots of heat.  The few days a year that Dallas gets below freezing, all the new owner will need to do to keep these plants happy is cover them with a sheet – easy!

We also added a little planting vignette over by the new fence that was constructed to hide the pool equipment from view.  Our goal was simply to break up the fence a little bit (a common theme, it seems) and add a little pop of color in another corner of the yard.

So now you know all the nitty gritty about those fun tropical plants hanging out by the pool!  The word on the street is that the pool will be ready to swim in this weekend – yippee!!  Now, here’s my big question to you guys – does anybody know what the heck that unidentified palm-like tree is over by the pool?  I wanna know!!

This post is shared with Hooked on Houses.

Remember that awesome brother-in-law of mine?  The landscaper?  Let me refresh your memory:

Well, it turns out that Jared’s also a miracle worker.

When we first bought the flip, the backyard was abysmal.  And that’s being kind.

See what I mean?  We knew that it had potential, and that it could eventually turn into a huge selling point for the house – but there sure was a long way to go.

I’ll fill you in on all the details with the pool later, but the landscaping was a huge hurdle all in itself.  Basically, there wasn’t any landscaping.  No grass, no flowers, no plants – it was kind of a wasteland back there.  And there were lots of stumps – oodles of them.

There was no question that the stumps had to go – so two awesome guys went to work and had them all removed within 2 days (they might also be upgraded to miracle worker status).  Take a look at this big sucker, mid-demolish:

It doesn’t look too impressive in the picture, but trust me – in person it was about 2 feet in diameter!

Once the ground was clear, my fancy brother-in-law Jared got to work bringing in the fill dirt and leveling out the backyard – remember that escapade?  Then he laid out these big rocks to form the two planting beds:

I was very impressed that he managed to manhandle these ginormous and heavy beasts into position.

Then it was time for the sod – ahh, the sod:

It took about a pallet and a half to fully sod the backyard – that’s a lot!!  (And all while working in 100+ Texas heat – I’m pretty sure Jared deserves a medal).

After the sod was down, it was time for the fun stuff – plants!!!  The hubby and I took our merry selves to Lowes and had quite the field day in the tropical plant section – no backyard oasis is complete without tropical plants, you know!!

After we wrestled all the plants back to the flip, we laid them all out into position – it took us awhile, and we took turns telling each other where to move the plants.  And let me tell you, some of those palm trees are really prickly!!  My right arm looked like I had lost a fight with a fork (ok, I’m exaggerating, but it wasn’t pretty).  Here are the plants all lined up and ready to find their places:

And here are all those gorgeous plants in their new homes:

And sorry, I couldn’t resist – they were begging to be photographed from every angle, so here you go!

Awesome, right??  Here’s a huge thank you to Jared, who gave up oodles of time to help us out and created a totally gorgeous backyard oasis that any buyer is sure to adore.  Thank you!!

So what do you guys think?  Are you ready to move in yet?  I know I’m ready to jump in that pool!!  What’s your backyard like – did you go tropical, go for all lawn, or are you a sucker for bushes and flower beds?  We want to hear about it!!  (And later I’ll fill you guys in on the plants that we chose, so stay tuned!)

P.S.  A little birdie told me that Jared is thinking about moving to Dallas next year to start his own landscaping company – how cool would that be???