Perfect Pool Landscaping

The ideal pool landscape design will flow with the architecture of your home and the rest of your landscape. When you first start collecting ideas for what you want your pool-side landscape to look like, take note of the patterns of straight lines and curves in your house and any nearby garden structures.

Continuity of color and texture also helps. Keep in mind the colors of the house and its surroundings. It usually looks better and makes designing easier if you choose one color scheme and stick to it, rather than dabbing a little color here and a little there and ending up with a something that looks like an Art Deco experiment gone wrong.

Don’t wait until the pool is already installed to consult a landscaper—talking with a landscape architect early in the process, before you’ve installed any permanent structures or planted any expensive trees or shrubs, can save you from costly mistakes.

In the meantime, though, here are some things you’ll want to think about:

Pool Plants

Choosing plants for around a swimming pool takes a little more forethought than you need when you choose plants for the rest of your home landscape. Look for plants that won’t cause maintenance headaches by dropping leaves or needles into the water and won’t send roots through any inground part of the pool.

Fences and enclosures

For safety reasons, an enclosure around your pool is an absolute must and should be one of the first things you invest in once your pool has been installed. Don’t think you’re stuck with boring and ugly chain link or tongue-and-groove style fences, though. There are plenty of more unique types of fences that work just as well. Even if you already have a “boring” fence, it’s easy to improve the looks of plain fences with trailing or climbing plants.

Lights and lighting

The right pool lighting design not only makes your pool safer and easier to use, it can do a lot to enhance the look of your pool. While you’ll want to have lights in the usually places, like the steps and walls, look into other ways to use lighting around your pool, too.

Decks and patios

The last thing you want is to spend time and money building a great looking deck only to discover it’s painful to walk on in bare feet. Choosing the right deck material is critical to getting the most enjoyment out of your pool. Remember, pavers are your only option. Concrete, wood, or vinyl decking may work better for you.

When you plan right, swimming pool landscaping doesn’t have to be complicated or even expensive. Just take the process one step at a time and collect plenty of ideas before you make any final decisions.