A swimming pool is a beautiful, enjoyable addition to any home. It can be made even more attractive when you know how to landscape around it.

Designing the landscape around your pool is somewhat different from other landscape projects, because of the special requirements of the nearby pool.

Your decisions should be based as much on safety and minimization of pool maintenance as they are on attractiveness.

Read on to learn about:

Branches
Roots
Leaves
Fruit
Sap
Insects
Privacy

Branches

It's important to pay close attention to the types of trees that you choose for the landscape around your swimming pool.

Trees that hang over the pool will create maintenance issues.

Roots

It’s also a good idea to avoid any trees or plants that have wide-reaching, potentially destructive roots. These may damage your pool, creating the need for expensive repairs.

If you feel that you absolutely must have plants or trees that are potentially dangerous or may create maintenance issues, plant them at least eight feet from the edge of your pool to avoid such problems.

Leaves

When choosing plants to use in a landscape around your pool, remember that plants with longer leaves are better than those with shorter leaves; shorter leaves travel farther in the wind and are more likely to end up in your pool. You might instead consider plants and trees that are evergreen.

Fruit

While fruit trees can be attractive and provide a nice scent in the spring, they are not a good choice to plant around your swimming pool because the fruit may drop onto your deck and into your pool. In addition, these trees may need to be sprayed with toxins that can blow into the pool.

Sap

When selecting trees for the landscape around your pool, look for varieties that do not seep sap that could create maintenance issues for your deck and pool.

Insects

And you'll want to look for varieties of plants and trees that do not attract insects. Some plants are naturally more attractive to bugs and stinging insects.

Privacy

Finally, if you are concerned with privacy around your pool area, use the landscape around your pool to allow you to create natural and attractive privacy screens. Trellises and arbors also work well for this purpose.

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