Planted Poolside

Is your backyard landscape ready for summer? Integrate plantings with your poolside plans.

By Ellen C. Wells

It's summer! Time to break out the barbecue tongs and bug spray, because for most of us, this season revolves around the backyard. Our appetite for outdoor living is even bigger if that backyard involves a pool. Luckily, more and more homeowners are catching on to how the pool can be integrated not only into their leisure activities, but also into their landscapes.

From the Ground Up

If you're starting from scratch, keep in mind that your landscape design can play off and accentuate the shape of your pool. Traditional rectangular pools are best matched with classic landscapes and linear shapes. Typically, low-growing plants like lily of the valley, ice plant, Lamium, and creeping phlox blend upward into taller plantings of lavender, artemesia, day lilies, and ornamental grasses. Shaped pools offer the opportunity for curved beds and planting schemes that draw the eye toward a destination, such as an entertaining area or entryway.

Plant Dos and Don'ts

Adam Boedker, a landscaper with Urbana Garden Design in Arlington, Massachusetts, has planned numerous backyards incorporating swimming pools, hot tubs, and spas. When designing a landscape to accompany outdoor pool areas, Boedker considers the maintenance of both the pool and the plants, and the safety of the swimmers.

"Choose plants that have little in the way of litter," Boedker says. Things like shaggy bark, dropping seeds and fruits, and falling needles and deciduous leaves wreak havoc with pool maintenance. It's fine to include them in your plans, just be sure they're kept clear of the pool and decking.
Boedker also suggests choosing plants that don't have thorns, prickers, or burrs. Shrubs like roses, holly, and barberry pose a danger to bare-skinned swimmers and poolside guests if they misstep into the planting beds. Some common lowgrowing plants, like creeping junipers and other similar short-needled evergreens, can be painful to step on with bare feet.

Instead, place plants like lamb's ears and Pulmonaria with soft, smooth leaves and branches around your pool. Ornamental grass is another category perfect for poolside. They can enhance a pool's design with their pliable features and flowing movements. Plus, with the density and height of some varieties, grasses can provide a natural-looking curtain of privacy.

Poisonous leaves and berries should be added to the list of safety issues concerning pools and children. Kids have been known to put almost anything in their mouths, and plants are a favorite, especially berries. If children will be active in your landscaped yard, research the toxicity of the plants you're considering. When installing your pool landscape, also keep in mind the eventual height of shrubs and trees. That tiny blue spruce may look cute today, but it could grow large enough to be the tree at Rockefeller Center. "The full size of your tree or shrub shouldn't be so big as to block the pool's decking or hang over the water," Boedker advises. Not only is such proximity unsafe, it also increases the likelihood that the plant will drop leaves and other debris into the pool.

Another concern regarding trees that are too large is their ever-growing root systems. While you can be diligent about trimming above-ground growth, roots are slowly creeping underground, putting your pool's foundation at risk. Omit large trees from your design, or keep them at a safe distance from the pool.

As anyone who's watched a busy pool knows, it's a wet place to be. Vegetation nearest to the pool is often splashed with chlorinated water, and some plants just can't hack it. Boedker designs his yards with the plantings far enough away to avoid all but the largest splashes. Still, the soil's chlorine levels may eventually become unhealthy. If that happens, slowly flood the planting bed with tap water from a hose to flush out the chlorine.

Making the Beds

Plants are just one aspect of the poolside landscape. Of equal importance is the planting bed. The beds should allow plenty of room for maintaining both the pool and the landscape. A wide decking around the pool's perimeter gives you plenty of room to bend and stretch across your beds for weeding and general plant care. Plus, you'll have space to keep gardening tools and gear away from the pool's edge.

Keep your landscape's soil in its place, and not in the pool. A heavy rain or overeager hose can cause mulch and other garden debris to flow onto your decking and possibly into the water. To prevent that from happening, adjust the contours of your planting beds so they drain away from the pool. A drainage trough between the beds and the decking may also help keep the pool free of debris.

If sloping the planting beds away from the pool isn't possible, consider using a heavier material as the bed's mulch. You could also try a small barrier like landscape edging to prevent mulch from washing away. Raising the planting beds helps avoid washouts, too, while also stopping splash-overs and pooling in the landscape.

Gardening with Containers

No room for a fully landscaped pool perimeter? You can still have a garden — just plant it in containers. People with little or no in-ground garden space often turn to container plantings for instant and lasting landscape color. Placed around a pool, they add life to a typically sterile scene.

Tropical plants are particularly popular items for poolside containers because they create a lush, jungle-like atmosphere whether you're in Miami or Maine. Warm-climate gardeners can use tropicals in containers nearly all year long, but people in cooler regions will have to find cozy winter homes for them after summer, or simply consider them short-lasting annuals.

Whether growing tropicals or more traditional annuals and perennials, use containers to their fullest by arranging them to add height and depth to your poolside. Create height in a pot with tall grasses or daisies, or stack filled pots on overturned containers. You can arrange containers in clusters of three or more for colorful volume.

Leaky containers can be just as messy as ground-level beds. Place saucers under your pots to catch drained water and any soil that's come with it. And speaking of water, make sure you can reach your container plantings with a hose or watering can. On really hot days, you'll need to water them once or twice a day.

Ellen C. Wells is a Boston-based gardening and horticultural writer.