Before You Build a Pool, Read This

Short answer: bring in a landscape designer before your pool contractor breaks ground — not after. In Highland, UT, slope, clay-heavy bench soil, HOA design review, and Utah’s pool-fencing code all affect where a pool can go and how the yard around it needs to be graded. Homeowners who wait until the pool is poured to think about landscaping often end up re-grading the yard, moving a retaining wall, or replacing sprinkler lines they just paid to install. If you’re planning a pool in Highland, this is the order that actually saves money.

This guide walks through why Highland’s soil and Highland City’s rules make early landscape planning worth it, what changes when design and pool construction are coordinated from day one, and what that process looks like.

Why Highland’s Bench Soil and Slope Change the Plan

Highland sits on the bench below the Timpanogos foothills, and that terrain comes with two things pool contractors don’t always plan around: slope and soil. Much of Highland’s bench — including areas near Highland Glen, Dry Creek, and Mitchell Hollow — sits on a clay loam mixed with sandy, gravelly lean clay and scattered rock. That mix drains unevenly: the clay pockets hold water and puddle if graded flat, while the gravelly sections drain fast and dry out. On a flat lawn, uneven drainage is a cosmetic problem. On a yard with a pool cut into it, it’s a structural one — water that pools against a pool shell, a retaining wall, or the house foundation causes real damage over time.

Slope adds a second layer. Many Highland lots step down toward the street or up toward the foothills, which means the pool excavation itself changes how water moves across the rest of the property. A landscape designer who’s on-site before excavation starts can plan grading, drainage swales, and retaining walls around where the pool cut will change the yard’s natural runoff path. A designer who shows up after the pool is poured is stuck working around a slope the excavation already reshaped — usually at a higher cost.

Utah’s freeze-thaw cycle is part of the same equation. A paver patio or pool deck installed without an engineered subbase can heave within a winter or two on expansion-prone bench soil. Specifying the right subbase and drainage detail for Highland’s soil and elevation — rather than using a generic template — is a design decision, not a construction afterthought.

Highland’s Pool Fence Code and HOA Rules You Can’t Skip

Two sets of rules affect where a Highland pool and its surrounding landscaping can go, and both are easier to plan for than to fix after the fact.

First, permits. In Highland, any fence 3 feet or taller needs a fence permit from the city, and Utah’s statewide pool and spa code requires a 6-foot barrier with a self-closing, self-latching gate around any residential pool — regardless of what fence already exists on the property. If the landscape plan doesn’t account for that barrier from the start, homeowners often find out mid-project that their planned patio layout, gate placement, or retaining wall conflicts with the required pool enclosure.

Second, HOA review. A large share of Highland’s newer neighborhoods, including areas bordering Cedar Hills and Alpine, are HOA-governed, with CC&Rs that can dictate fence height, material, and placement, and sometimes require design approval before construction begins. A landscape and pool plan submitted together — one packet, one review — tends to move through HOA approval faster than a pool submitted alone, with landscaping added as an afterthought later.

What Changes When Landscaping Is an Afterthought

The table below shows what typically happens on a Highland project depending on when landscape design enters the process.

How Millburn Coordinates Pool and Landscape Design in Highland

Millburn Lawn & Landscape works alongside licensed pool contractors as part of one design-build team rather than treating the pool and the yard around it as two separate projects. A Highland project typically starts with a site visit that evaluates slope, soil, sun and shade exposure, and existing irrigation before any pool shape is finalized — so the pool, retaining walls, patio, and planting beds are designed as one connected space instead of stitched together after the fact.

That coordination matters most on Highland’s sloped, HOA-governed lots. On a recent Eagle Mountain hillside project, Millburn coordinated pool structural design directly with the landscape and retaining wall engineering, including waterproofing the retaining walls next to the pool shell — the kind of detail that’s straightforward to plan up front and expensive to retrofit. The same approach applies to Highland’s bench lots: get the pool contractor and landscape designer in the same conversation before the excavator shows up, not after.

What a Highland Design Timeline Actually Looks Like

• Site visit & consultation — Millburn evaluates slope, soil, sun/shade, existing irrigation, and any HOA design guidelines for the property.
• Design concept — A concept covering pool placement, hardscape, retaining walls, and planting zones, with a 3D rendering available for larger projects.
• Pool contractor coordination — Millburn works directly with your licensed pool contractor so the pool shape and landscape plan are finalized together.
• HOA and permitting — One combined submission covering the required pool fence, any retaining walls, and the landscape plan.
• Installation sequencing — Grading and utilities first, then the pool shell, then hardscape and retaining walls, then planting and irrigation last.

Landscape design planning in Highland runs $700–$3,500 depending on lot size and scope — Millburn is currently offering $100 off landscape design for Highland homeowners.

Plan Your Highland Backyard the Right Way — In the Right Order

Planning a pool in Highland, UT? Call Millburn Lawn & Landscape at (801) 810-5452 or visit millburnlandscape.com to schedule a design consultation before your pool contractor breaks ground — and ask about the current $100 off landscape design offer for Highland homeowners.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I hire a landscape designer before or after I build my pool in Highland, UT?

Before. A landscape designer who’s involved before the pool contractor breaks ground can plan grading, drainage, retaining walls, and the required pool fence around the excavation — instead of retrofitting the yard after the pool shape and elevation are already set.

Does Highland City require a permit for a pool fence?

Yes. Any fence 3 feet or taller needs a fence permit from Highland City, and Utah’s statewide pool and spa code separately requires a 6-foot barrier with a self-closing, self-latching gate around any residential pool, regardless of the yard’s existing fence height.

Will Highland’s soil affect my pool and landscaping?

Likely, yes. Much of Highland’s bench sits on a clay loam mixed with sandy, gravelly lean clay, which drains unevenly and can shift hardscape or retaining walls if the subbase and drainage aren’t engineered for that soil before construction.

Can Millburn Lawn & Landscape work with my pool contractor?

Yes. Millburn coordinates directly with licensed pool contractors as part of a combined design-build process, so the pool shape, retaining walls, patio, and planting plan are designed together rather than as separate projects.

Do Highland’s HOA rules affect pool and landscape design?

Many Highland neighborhoods are HOA-governed with CC&Rs that control fence height, material, and placement, and some require design approval before construction starts. Submitting the pool fence and landscape plan together as one package tends to move through HOA review faster than separate submissions.

How long before pool construction should I start the landscape design process?

Most Highland homeowners start the landscape design process while they’re still finalizing their pool contractor bid, since the site visit, design concept, and any HOA submission typically take several weeks before a pool contractor is ready to break ground.