As a homeowner, you are always looking for the next great way to add ambiance and beauty to your home. You may spend countless hours choosing the right colors for your walls or meticulously caring for your floors, so it would seem only natural for you to spend the same amount of time working in your yard. Your landscaping is the first thing that people see when they arrive at your home, and it is also the first thing that you will notice when you walk outdoors. As a pool owner, the right landscaping choices can make or break your pool design. To guide you along, we’re offering some pool landscaping tips to help you get your backyard looking its best in time for pool season!
Before Planting, Think About Watering
First, we all understand that the harsh Central Florida sun is not always kind to our bushes or trees. High temperatures and lack or excess of rain can really wreak havoc on vegetation, but there are a few things you can do to ensure your pool landscape remains lush and lively. Modern sprinkler systems are the easiest solution for making sure that plants and grass stay green and healthy. But choosing the right plants for our climate can also make a big difference. Choose plants that are indigenous to our area. They have naturally adapted to our weather and precipitation, so they are hardier and require less babysitting.
Know Your Boundaries
Natural stone is a great way to add boundaries and beauty to your yard. Stone retaining walls are also effective in creating raised planting beds that make gardening easier on your back and add dimension to your landscape. These stone walls also allow you to bring planting beds right up to your pool if desired, while reducing the likelihood of dirt and debris from ending up in the water. If you’d like to incorporate raised, stone-walled garden beds into your pool design, just ask one of our designers!
Invite the Good Guys to Your Yard
Nothing ruins a beautiful evening outdoors like flies and mosquitoes. But you can keep down the mosquito population in your backyard by attracting helpful predators. Dragonflies, Purple Martins, frogs, Damselflies and even bats are common mosquito predators. Invite them to your yard by installing a chemical-free pond for toads, dragonflies, and damselflies, making sure to place a few stones in a shallow end that they can bask on. Add a gourd house for martins, and a bat house for the night predators. (Bats are nocturnal so you’ll probably never know they’re there!)
Choose Slow-Growing Varieties
When choosing larger border plants like palms and shrubs, choose slower growing varieties with shallow root structures so that they don’t take over your poolside or endanger your pool’s foundation.