Benefits of a Swimming Pool

A swimming pool provides exercise, and relaxation, and is a perfect place to entertain friends or enjoy a sunny day with your family. With the right landscaping, though, it can do so much more. When your pool landscaping is well-designed, it can elevate your backyard to a stunning space that increases the value of your property and enhances your enjoyment of the pool. Are you ready for some inspiration? Aaron Pools has some great ideas.

Integrating Your Pool into Your Backyard

To get started, give some careful thought to your yard’s natural features, the existing design elements, and how the pool functions. Evaluate your space before you install your pool so that the size and shape of the pool are in proportion to the available backyard area. Think carefully about existing features, including trees, garden beds, and structures, before deciding how your pool should fit in with the rest of your yard. Then, ask yourself some questions about functionality. How will the pool be used? Is it for lap swimming? Lounging? Entertaining? How much privacy do you want for your pool area? This may dictate the placement of your pool, and the landscaping around it. How will you access the pool? You may need to create a patio area or pathway for safe and convenient access.

Consider Your Existing Landscape

Use the style of your existing landscape as a jumping-off point when you design your pool and the area around it. Is the style of your yard naturalistic or organic? Think about choosing a free-form pool, perhaps with natural materials like stone or rock. If your landscape is more structured and formal, you may be better off with a rectangular or square pool. This will lend itself to a more modern look, with clean lines. Beyond the shape and style of the pool, you’ll need to choose your pool material. Think about how the pool materials will complement the landscaping, either by blending in or providing a strong contrast that makes the pool a striking focal point. Think carefully, too, about your decking materials. Pool decks can be made of concrete, stone, pavers, wood, grass, or even artificial turf. In fact, there is such variety available in pool decking that you should talk to your pool installer about all of your options before you make a decision. Think about the quality of the material, how efficiently it drains, and whether it retains heat. You don’t want a hot pool deck to burn your guests’ feet on a beautiful summer afternoon.

Choosing Your Landscaping Features

Think about creating a cohesive look when you’re planning your pool landscaping. Consider elements like greenery and plant containers, as well as hardscaping features like pool decking, patio, and pathways. When you are deciding what to plant around the pool, make sure it works with the hardscaping and complements the pool. Think about creating an inviting, relaxing oasis around your pool, and select your plants with care, making sure to look for plant species that can tolerate the pool environment; they need to be sturdy enough to stand up to chemicals and increased humidity. Think about the amount of sunlight and shade in the area and choose plants that will thrive where they’re planted. Additionally, plant strategically, to provide privacy and shade, in a green and beautiful oasis. Focus on creating a balanced mix of plants, in different sizes and colors, to create depth and harmony. Consider using container gardening, especially in a colder climate in which you’ll need to move tropical plants indoors during winter weather.

Carefully Choose Your Pool Lighting and Features

The right pool lighting can make a big difference in your pool’s atmosphere and can make your pool safer to use at night. It’s not just the lighting inside the pool that comes into play, but landscape lighting and task lighting, as well. When choosing lighting, decide whether it’s for safety, ambiance, or both. If you are planning to use the pool at night, it’s important to light the area sufficiently, so that you’ll have a clear view of the pool and surrounding area. Walkways, paths, steps, and decking should be well-lit, too. Strategically placed lighting can be used to highlight your pool’s features, as well as water features, sculptures, and other design interests. You can even choose colored or changing lights to create a dramatic, unique effect. If you opt for energy-efficient LED lights, you can reduce energy consumption, but make sure to choose high-quality lights made specifically for wet environments.

Lights are just one component of your pool’s overall effect. The pool features you choose can also be very impactful. Waterfalls, fountains, and other dramatic features can create excitement, and a pool heater and other, similar features will help you get more use out of your pool. An automatic pool cover can help keep the pool clean and reduce the maintenance you need to manage. A sun shelf can add a relaxing element, where you can sun yourself while the kids play. Overall, the pool, its features, and the landscaping should all work together to make it the perfect outdoor space for you and your family.

Landscaping Ideas to Inspire You

Do you need some ideas to get you started? Consider these landscaping options for inspiration.

Use plants with low water needs, in conjunction with hardscaping and stones, for a rustic, low-maintenance look.
Plant hedges strategically to provide privacy and sheltered seating areas.
Create layers of privacy, with a fence, trees, and a poolside cabana.
Use geometric hedges to complement your pool, like a half-circle hedge that curves between the pool and fence, providing privacy.
Design a lush oasis around your pool, with a mix of tropical plants and creeping, flowering ground covers.
Around a rectangular pool, a structured path of rectangular pavers, next to a wooden deck, makes for a striking look and a place to lounge.
An artificial turf pool deck can create a seamless look with the lawn.
Create a cottage look with a mix of flowers like hydrangeas and lilies, edged with decorative grasses, deliberately overgrown, for a cottage look that’s charmingly messy.
For a tropical lagoon look, use wild, tropical vegetation and rocky hardscaping to make your pool seem like a fantasy.
Design an orderly, Asian-style pool, bordered by tidy beds with a mix of drought-tolerant grasses, shrubs, and plants.
Incorporate bubbling fountains into your backyard landscaping, creating a waterfall and stream beside the pool.
Use native plants, concrete pavers, and gravel to create a low-maintenance but beautiful pool landscape.
A poolside pergola with swaths of draping greenery adds a beautiful look, and when used alongside a pool that incorporates Moroccan tile, it’s simply stunning.
Use fragrant herbs or flowers around your pool to delight your sense of smell as well as your vision.
Create a relaxing, natural vibe by surrounding your pool with a rocky landscape that uses aquatic vegetation and flowering plants.

Trust Aaron Pools and Spas for Your Perfect Outdoor Space

If you need help or more advice about designing your perfect backyard oasis, reach out to the professionals at Aaron Pools and Spas. Established in 1972, this family-owned-and-operated business has a dedicated, award-winning team with over 400 years of combined experience. We love to help improve the quality time that families spend together at home, and that’s why we’ve installed more than 2,000 swimming pools and hot tubs, from Cape Cod to Connecticut. For the best possible service from our highly experienced installation team, call 508.996.3320 or contact us today.

Swimming Pool Landscaping Ideas to Enhance Your Outdoor Space