Landscaping Around Pool Important
Why Landscaping Around the Pool Is Important
Three of the country’s top landscape designers – Matt Leacy, Dean Herald and Matt Cantwell – share their advice on why landscaping around the pool is important and how to incorporate it into your design.
Soft landscape helps bring your outdoor space to life
Matt Leacy, director of Landart Landscapes in Sydney, believes that landscaping is key to the overall success of the outdoor space’s aesthetic.
“Landscaping around the pool is, in my opinion, one of the most important factors in resolving not just your pool area but your whole landscape, how the landscape integrates with your entertaining area, your house, your pool. It’s all the one area,” he explains.
“So, it’s all got to be considered holistically, but the plants are what’s going to bring it to life.”
“A beautiful architecturally-designed house needs a beautiful landscape beside it for it to really come to life and that’s the same with the pool,” says Matt. “It’s got to have the integration of the landscape around it for it to really work.”
Consider low maintenance plants suitable for the environment
When landscaping around the pool is important to consider the plant varieties and the level of maintenance required.
For Dean Herald of Rolling Stone Landscapes, planting is a key consideration when it comes to tailoring the surrounding landscaping to the needs of your swimming pool.
“Plant selection is going relate back to that water quality of what you have used, whether it’s salt or minerals or chlorine,” explains Dean.
Make the selection of plant that’s easy to maintain in a pool environment, is going to grow well and go and enhance that overall design.
The pool shouldn’t outshine the architecture or garden
Matt Cantwell of Secret Gardens places great emphasis on integrating the pool into the landscape. In his opinion, the landscaping around the pool should be just as pleasing to the eye as the pool itself.
“When we’re designing for a client and working out how and where we incorporate a swimming pool into the exercise, landscaping is an important decision. It’s a big expense, but it’s not the most important element of any garden design,” Matt explains.
“It certainly shouldn’t outshine the remainder of the garden or the house itself. It’s a complementary element. And we’ll often like to think of their swimming pools as a, you know, like a large water feature,” he adds.
If you’re considering installing a pool in your backyard, take a look at the helpful pool advice in our Learning Library.
Interview Transcript:
Matt Leacy of Landart Landscapes: Landscaping around the pool is, in my opinion, one of the most important factors in resolving not just your pool area but your whole landscape, how the landscape integrates with your entertaining area, your house, your pool. It’s all the one area. So it’s all gotta be considered holistically, but the plants are what’s gonna bring it to life.
Dean Herald of Rolling Stone Landscapes: Plant selection, again, is gonna relate back to that water quality of what you have used whether it’s salt or minerals or chlorine. But do that plant selection that’s easy to maintain in a pool environment, it’s gonna grow well and go and enhance that overall design.
Matt Cantwell of Secret Gardens: When we’re designing for a client and working out how and where we incorporate a swimming pool into the exercise, it’s an important decision. It’s a big expense, but it’s not the most important element of any garden design. It certainly shouldn’t outshine the remainder of the garden or the house itself. It’s a complementary element. And we’ll often like to think of their swimming pools as a, you know, like a large water feature.
Matt Leacy: A beautiful architecturally designed house needs a beautiful landscape beside it for it to really come to life, and that’s the same with the pool. It’s got to have the integration of the landscape around it for it to really work.
