But if a pool is to be really successful and be an attractive and worthwhile addition to your home, it must be landscaped with great care. There is a vast range of sizes and designs to choose from, that cater to every conceivable garden and architectural size. But no matter what the shape or size, the garden surrounding the pool must complement its overall design.Before making any plans, it's a good idea to visit as many pool suppliers as you can and look through some glossy magazines that feature swimming pools. Gather all the ideas and layouts that appeal to you and work out how to adapt them to suit your particular setting.
Layout and safety
Apart from the obvious financial considerations, there are a number of points to bear in mind when choosing your pool and designing the layout. For example, the pool itself should have a pleasing relationship with the garden in terms of size and shape, as well as length and breadth. The pool should be open to the sun, yet sheltered from strong wind. One of the most important points to keep in mind when landscaping the garden pool – particularly when children will be regular users – is safety. The entrance to the pool should lead people safely to the shallow end, and if at all practical, the entire area should be designed like a room that can be shut off when not in use.
Think of the entrance into the pool garden in terms of visitors approaching it for the first time, the hostess carrying trays of drinks to and fro, boisterous children racing back and forth and even an occasional evening swimmer. Beware of any sudden and dangerous changes in the water level and install sufficient lighting to illuminate the entire pool area at night. It's a good idea to make a graded plan of your garden, marking the positions of all the main features – the house, walls, steps, paths and so on. Then, using a cardboard cut-out for the pool, move it around in different positions until you find the most advantageous spot for it in terms of safe access and maximum sunshine.
Consider existing features and try to retain them within the pool garden. Keep the structures to a human scale and try to develop a close relationship between the pool and its grounds. Choose a focal point – perhaps a tree, arbour, statue or plant, not the pool itself – and draw the eye towards this without obstruction. Try to create contrast and harmony, pattern and texture, light and shade. Add colour for brightness or keep shadings subtle to give depth, coolness and quiet.
Deck and level areas
A non-slip hard surface beside the pool is essential. Random paving slabs, in-situ caste decking in brushed concrete, hard engineering bricks and even synthetic lawns or modern matting all make good decking. Avoid using bitumen, loose chippings or sharp-edged mosaics, which might cause nasty cuts and grazes. The decking may also be used as a convenient sunbathing area and could perhaps include a built-in stone seat for wet bathers. And remember that stone absorbs the heat of the sun during the day and then releases it during the evening.
Another particularly good idea for this area is to create a solar deck. For example, modern tub-in-mat heat exchangers laid beneath the decking collect the heat of the day and then transfer it to the pool's water. Either a filter or a separate pump then carries the warm pool water though the solar deck to produce, in effect, a low-cost, unobtrusive environmentally friendly heating system.
The decking ought to be selected with care because, like the frame around a picture, it can either make or mar the entire effect. On concrete, a tile band a minimum of 200mm deep can be set around the pool walls for an attractive, hard-wearing surface at water level. A popular trend today is to position the pool on the same level as the outdoor patio and envelope it in the same tiles used for the patio to create a seamless flow between the two areas. Wooden decking is another very popular choice for this particular affect. Whatever layout you choose, if you are going for tiles, make sure they are frost- and stain-proof and slip-resistant.
Landscaping details
Once you have made your basic plans, you can start filling in the more attractive details. There are innumerable garden features you can use to add charm and character to your pool area. You may prefer to work around a theme - perhaps modern freeform or classic geometry - and select materials and objects accordingly. But do keep the overall layout in mind and avoid choosing anything that will clash or look obviously out of place.
Depending on the space you have available, you can use anything from screen walling, pergola columns and arbours, to benches, fountains, statues and rockeries.
You might even want to provide a spot where you can braai or have the occasional drinks party. Even when the pool itself is covered over for the winter, the surrounding area may still provide an attractive - even romantic - spot for dining on mild autumn and spring days.
Low-walled planter beds are a good idea for holding flowers and plants, and as well as being easier to weed and look after, they also help to add height to the area. Another way of introducing height and shape around the pool is to use the excavated soil to create low, gentle slopes to add interest and contouring.
Trees are especially useful around the pool area - the coolness they create is really welcome on hot, sunny afternoons, when the changing light and shade covers the pool side. However, never plant the trees too close to the pool and select only tropical plants and evergreen trees, otherwise they will drop leaves in the pool that will take considerable time to clean up.Then, of course, there is an immense variety of flowers and shrubs offering infinite ranges of form and colour. And once a good scheme is developed, the upkeep should be relatively small, especially if slow-growing ground covering plants are selected. Groups of colour and clumps of shrubs suit the pool surround better than isolated specimens. Use dwarf varieties for precision, marginal plants for water boundaries and climbers to soften architecture.
Choose ornamental grasses and speciality shrubs for their foliage. Avoid plants that drop soft, staining fruit on the paving. These often carry pesky thorns and tend to attract wasps and bees. And keep sensitive plants at least 3m away from the pool. If soil is continuously saturated with chlorinated splash water, a chlorotic or anaemic effect can occur in some plants, causing them to grow straggly and lose colour and hardiness through iron deficiency.
In spite of all the exotic opportunities using plants and flowers, many pool owners still prefer a well-rimmed lawn. Both sloping and flat lawns can look superb and provide good sunbathing spots. Awns must be well-drained, and be constantly cared for, to keep them looking neat and attractive. - Antonella Dési
Images courtesy of:
Camps Bay Glen
Clear Pool
GMT Private
Honeydew Pools
Horizon Pools
Leisure Pools
Mzingazi
Oaklane Cottage
For more information click here to visit the Camps Bay Glen website.
For more information click here to visit the Clear Pool website.
For more information click here to visit the GMT Private website.
For more information click here to visit the Honeydew Pools website.
For more information click here to visit the Horizon Pools website.
For more information click here to visit the Leisure Pools website.
For more information click here to visit the Mzingazi website.
For more information click here to visit the Oaklane Cottage website.
Property News
Click here for more property news articles.
Need a blog?
Start your own blog with a free blog from 24.com.
Print
