Natural Swimming Pools & Garden Landscapes
Pool Construction
Founders Will and Sarah Murch have been constructing natural pools, wildlife ponds and gardens for over 20 years. They created their first natural swimming pool in their family gardens – now Ellicar HQ – and under the Ellicar brand, they've been designing and building natural pools for others to enjoy ever since.
Today we're recognised as award-winning natural pool specialists. As landscape designers, horticulturalists, water specialists, and wildlife and wild swimming enthusiasts, natural pools bring together the best of what we do.
Our skilled design creates an effortlessly natural-looking pool. Utterly precise landscape engineering enables a bespoke build. Meticulous construction gives an immaculate finish. And hydraulics detailing builds in technical components below ground and underwater to ensure your pool functions biologically and looks perfectly natural.
Your idyllic natural swimming pool is brought to life with our innate knowledge of design, build, materials, plants and landscapes, biological water filtration and Biotop’s world-renowned water balancing technology. Every member of our established team is handpicked for;
Accreditation by the British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI), Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) and Horticultural Trade Association (HTA) means your pool will be created by a team recognised for meeting the highest landscape industry standards.
First is the excavation, construction of the reinforced concrete swim zone and subterranean drainage and profiling of the regeneration zones.
Next is the specialist installation of the pool lining, pipework, flanges, installation of biological filters and pumps, aggregates, in-pool features, planting, connecting to services and filling of the pool.
Our soft landscaping team have years of experience between them and an eye for detail. They plant up and finish off your outside space perfectly, leaving you to enjoy your new pool and garden for years to come.
Click through the slides to see how Ellicar transform this open space into an award winning Natural Swimming Pool and Gardens.
We begin by marking out the pool, setting a datum for water level, and then start excavating the swim zone and installing a subterranean drainage system.
We construct the swim zone with engineered, reinforced concrete walls and a reinforced concrete raft. A smooth finish on the blockwork and raft is important for our lining finish.
After backfilling around the swim zone wall, we excavate and profile the regeneration zone and beach and construct the pool edge. We screed the regeneration zone to a smooth finish which allows us to access it for lining.
We install a thick pond fleece to the swim zone and regeneration zone. Then we water proof the pool with a thick flexible liner which is heat welded together to a tailored finish which allows us to use a pool robot for cleaning when the pool is filled.
We construct the deck frame over the filter chamber as we are lining the pool, framing around the pool’s biological filters to allow access hatches to be constructed within the deck.
After completion of the pool and construction of the decks and walkways, our landscaping team begins work on the wider garden installing steel edges for borders, constructing paths, installing the retaining sleeper walls and paving the wider garden.
Finally our specialist soft landscaping team moves in to prepare the ground and plant up the garden, lay turf, seeding meadows and plant trees.
After filling the pool we let the clay settle in and absorb water for a couple of weeks then plant up the pool edges with beautiful marginal plants, encapsulating each plant into the softened clay.
Here you can see the landscaping of the wider garden, our soft landscaping team is laying turf and planting up the top garden.
A year on and our clients are enjoying swimming every day, and spending time around the water with their friends and family and marvelling at the incredible wildlife that has come to the garden.
We're accredited by the British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI), Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) and the Horticultural Trade Association (HTA) which means we're recognised for continuously meeting the highest industry standards.
We set the bar high for water quality and hygiene. Utilising world-renowned BIOTOP’s water balancing technology to filter your pool biologically, expect crystal clear water and water hygiene to the German FLL international standard for commercial natural pools.
At each stage of the construction, your pool will be inspected and signed off for quality assurance. Once completed, we commission your pool over a period of time, returning to check plant establishment and water quality. You'll receive a handover with full training in pool maintenance. Each project is completed with an Operations and Design manual and we’re a phone call away should you have any technical questions.
Once we hand over your pool we continue to monitor the water, providing help and aftercare.
We record water tests, monitor plant growth, and maintain pool service data so we understand your pool and water ready to provide professional assistance should you need it.
You’ll also receive reminders for things like turning on the carbonators, starting to fertilise your pool and monitoring plant growth during the summer season.
In addition, you pool will be serviced in winter leaving you with a full service report and water analysis. Some clients enjoy a spring service too, to get their pool ready for the swimming season.
If you'd like to discuss your ideas for a Natural Pool Project and find out about the options available to you, please get in touch today to schedule an consultation call with our founder and chief designer, Sarah Murch.
If you have any questions about natural swimming pools, or you would like to discuss a project, please get in touch.
