The words “sleek,” “clean” and “architectural” aren’t often used to describe landscapes and gardens. But in the case of this Frontenac home, they fit.

When they built their current home less than two years ago, the homeowners, now empty nesters, were looking for “easy livability.” The words “clean modern aesthetic” described what they wanted for the interior of the home, where the predominant color palette is “a mix of warm neutrals.”

The house needed to be comfortable when it was just the two of them having a quiet evening in.  But it had to easily accommodate the groups of family and friends they love to entertain.

Those criteria also applied to the exterior of the home and the grounds that comprise their outdoor living space. Drew Bradshaw, designer at Pool Specialists, and Tony Frisella, landscape designer and owner of Frisella Nursery, understood that directive perfectly.

Although the outdoor spaces are large, they mesh seamlessly with the interior of the home. Just stepping through the front door, a visitor immediately has views through the home to an outdoor terrace and the pool beyond. Drew worked with interior designer Leslie Cusanelli of Milieu to ensure that the pool tile and finishes blended with those on the interior of the home. Laminars shoot arching jets of water from the pool deck into the pool itself and echo the soaring ceiling of the great room.  They provide a dramatic architectural element, clearly visible from the house, particularly when the laminars are lighted at night.

While the sleek design of the pool appears more resort-water-feature than family swimming pool, it is user friendly for all ages. A shallow tanning shelf, complete with bubblers, allows a space for adults to lounge and grandchildren to play in a few inches of water. Just beyond the shallow shelf, the pool deepens and broadens out to allow adults to swim laps.  “The pool is designed for all stages of a family,” notes Drew.

For the times without crowds, a short flagstone path from the master bedroom leads to the outdoor hot tub and a boxwood-and hydrangea-lined walk goes to the pool. On the opposite side of the home, there’s a large heated and air-conditioned pool house. In nice weather it can be opened on two sides directly to the pool deck. An outdoor kitchen makes it perfect for entertaining groups. While the home features a beautifully finished lower level, the homeowners from the start wanted the pool and landscaped grounds to be incorporated into the home’s main level.

When it came to landscaping all that hardscape, the couple “left a lot up to us as far as being creative,” Tony explains. “They wanted a clean look, and they didn’t want anything crazy where maintenance was concerned.”

Tony also took note of the architecture of the house and tried to incorporate that architectural feel in the plants he selected. In one of the most dramatic changes to the landscape, he created a three-tiered boulder wall out of natural stone so that trees and shrubs could be layered around the outdoor structures, using the landscaping as a frame for the house and pool.

Mindful of the homeowners desire for a clean look and low maintenance, he carefully selected trees, shrubs and perennials with specific architectural shapes and sizes that would fit the landscape with minimal need for pruning and shaping. He also looked to varieties that would add year-round color and movement to the landscape without overwhelming the neutral palette the homeowners preferred. Grasses and perennials that might appear messy at ground level are concealed behind a “fence” of evergreen boxwood. Rather than using a vast number of different plants, Tony focused on varieties with a track record of thriving in a variety of conditions and used them throughout the landscape to make the spaces cohesive and blend together.

Evergreen magnolias and pyramidal arborvitaes provide screening around the outer perimeter of the property. Closer to the pool and house, he concentrated on plants that will provide multi-season interest due to their shapes, sizes and color. Here are some of his choices.

‘Red Obelisk’ beech: Very slow growing with deep burgundy leaves and a columnar shape, the leaves will turn coppery bronze in fall. Tony used these for the outer perimeter of the pool and firepit area. Although they can mature to 30-plus feet tall, the slow growth rate of maybe 3 inches per year means that in most cases the tree will be in the 10- to 20-foot range for a good long time.

‘Blue Pacific’ shore juniper: Planted between the beeches and growing approximately 1-foot tall with a spread of 6-7 feet, this groundcover, evergreen juniper with feathery blue green foliage will quickly fill in the empty ground and provide a beautiful color contrast with the burgundy beeches. It tolerates heat, full sun and a variety of soil conditions.

‘Techny’ arborvitae: Growing 10- to 15-feet in height and 6-to 10-feet wide, these arborvitaes will grow in sun to part shade and tolerate a wide variety of conditions. With soft, feathery evergreen foliage and a triangular shape, they are an excellent screening, background or specimen plant.

‘Green Mountain’ boxwood: Growing 4-5-feet in height and 2-3-feet at the base, ‘Green Mountain’ retains a triangular, pyramidal shape. These boxwoods provide architectural, evergreen interest throughout the year.

‘Green Gem’ boxwood. Growing 3-to 4-feet tall and wide, ‘Green Gem’ has a naturally rounded appearance. These shrubs tolerate a wide variety of conditions and also provide evergreen interest throughout the year.

‘Bobo’ hydrangea: This dwarf hydrangea is filled with white blossoms in summer that are held up on strong stems that continue to lengthen as the season goes on. As blooms age, they turn slightly pink. Growing up to 3-feet tall and 3-4 feet wide, they can fit multiple places in a landscape.

‘Incrediball’ hydrangea: A spinoff of the native hydrangea ‘Annabelle’, it has stronger stems that don’t flop and extra-large blooms. The white flowers emerge in mid-summer and age to a lush jade green that persists through fall. As natives, they tolerate a wide variety of conditions.

‘Denim n’ Lace’ Russian sage: With architectural trees and shrubs in place, Tony added wispy Russian sage for its soft blue-purple flowers and gray-green foliage. It fills in between more static shrubs to add subtle color and movement to the landscape. With a long bloom season, it tolerates a wide variety of conditions and grows approximately 2.5 feet tall and 3-feet wide. It also makes a good cut and dried flower.

‘Shenandoah’ red switch grass: A hybrid native prairie grass, the new growth emerges green with red tips. Gradually the entire plant turns a rich burgundy. Airy blooms appear in midsummer as hazy clouds floating above the leaves and seed heads provide a food source for birds in winter. Throughout the year, ‘Shenandoah’ adds movement and interest to the landscape. It grows to 4-feet tall and wide.

‘Karl Foester’ feather reed grass: A Missouri Botanical Garden Plant of Merit, ‘Karl Foester’ provides dramatic architectural interest. It is a clump-forming decorative grass, with an upward architectural growth habit, making it a dramatic specimen plant. Torch-like plumes emerge in spring, persist throughout the year and sway in the slightest breeze. It grows 3-5-feet tall and 3-feet wide.

Although the landscape conforms to the homeowners vision of being clean looking and low maintenance, that does not mean that things are boring. “There are a lot of layers,” notes Tony, who carefully selected trees, shrubs and perennials to make sure “something is always happening. It is not overpowering but if you put a timelapse camera on the plantings, it would look like fireworks going off with all the movement and changes taking place.”