Swimming Pool Landscaping Ideas – How to Landscape Your …

By Brandon Cornett | 2014, all rights reserved | Duplication prohibited

For many homeowners, a swimming pool is a "must have" item for the backyard. I happen to be one of those homeowners. But when it comes to landscaping ideas for the pool area, many of these same homeowners come up short.

What plants should I use? Where should I place them? What types of plants should I avoid? The questions go on and on.

Over the years, I've learned a lot about pool landscaping through trial and error. So in this article, I'll share with you all of the ideas and techniques I've used over the years for landscaping my backyard pool areas. Hopefully you'll find something useful in all of this, and perhaps even come up with some ideas of your own.

On its own, landscape design is fairly straightforward. But when you add in a swimming pool, there is much more to consider. Here are some of the things you need to keep in mind, as you draw up the landscaping plans for your backyard oasis:

Landscape design is all about choosing the right types of plants, based on the location and the desired effect. As you think about the area around your swimming pool (and, for that matter, your yard in general), consider the points I've raised above. Make smart choices based on plenty of research, and you'll be better off in the long run.

As for plant choices, you need to figure out what types of shrubs, flowers and trees fare well in your particular climate. Many people think 'tropical' when it comes to landscaping a pool area. But if you live in the Midatlantic region or northward, tropical plants probably wouldn't make it through the winter. The ice and frost would kill them off. This is just one example of choosing the right plants for your climate. I cannot list all of the possible choices in this article, because it varies significantly from one part of the country to the next.

Here are the steps I recommend, when choosing plants for your pool landscape design:

Of course, you'll also be limited by what is available at landscape supply yards in your area. But at least you'll know which of those species have the best chance of survival.

One of the things you should consider early on, before you get deep into your landscaping efforts, is the idea of deck and patio space. When we built our pool, we had a grassy area behind it that backed up to a greenbelt area. Weed control was a serious problem in this area, because it was so close to the 'wilds' of the greenbelt. We also wanted more deck space around the back of our pool for accessibility reasons.

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Swimming Pool Landscaping Ideas - How to Landscape Your ...