Pool landscaping
Pool landscaping ideas: planting, shade, privacy and lighting around the water
Plan pool planting around three jobs: screen the view, keep litter out of the water and light the yard for the evening. Choose plants that shed little, keep thorny ones away from where people walk barefoot, and put leafy beds back from the edge. Here is what two published guides advise, with designs for four planting looks.
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Privacy comes first: screen the view with plants and keep the sun
A University of Missouri landscape design instructor, quoted by the Associated Press, calls privacy against sun exposure the top concern of pool owners. He says an inground pool can be screened with lower plants, but may collect more falling litter.
Hunker suggests vining plants and bushy trees or shrubs between the pool and the rest of the yard to make a private pool room.
Every picture is an AI concept image of a design idea, not a built pool. Each is drawn from one angle, so open the design to turn its 3D model and see the whole outline.
Keep litter out of the water: low-shedding plants, set back from the edge
Hunker advises plants that make little debris and lists examples that shed small leaves, including acacia, azalea, bougainvillea and crape myrtle, as ones with a lot of leaf litter, and warns that small leaves plug pool filters. The AP piece adds that trees and shrubs dropping needles, leaves, spent blooms or fruit can stain a deck, and that pine straw or bark stacked near the pool can blow or get tracked in.
Hunker's low-debris suggestions include bamboo, hedges, muhly grass, bird of paradise and octopus agave. Ask a local nursery what grows in your zone before you copy a list.
Thorns and blooms: pick plants that suit bare feet and do not draw bees
The AP piece says thorny plants can irritate barefoot swimmers and brightly colored flowers can draw pollinators and bees. It names marigolds, chrysanthemums, mint, foxglove, geraniums and zinnias as blooms that do not typically attract stinging insects, and says roses are worth growing if kept away from busy paths, and that cacti suit arid yards but are very climate specific.
That is the case for a desert look: agave and succulents suit a dry yard, but set them back from the steps and the path to the water.
Shade where you sit, sun where you swim
Hunker says it is best to include plants that like full sun, and advises adding shade for comfort and for good views. The AP piece says container plants can be moved to follow the sun, and that plants with smaller or waxy leaves lose less water in hot, dry weather.
A pergola is the other way to make shade, and several designs in the library add one over the deck.
Light the planting for the evening, softly and from below
A Mississippi State University Extension landscape architecture professor, quoted in the AP piece, suggests soft lighting around the edges, or up-lights on tree trunks, to bring out the yard in the evening. Hunker notes that some plants look good under night lighting and gives a lit palm as an example.
Four planting looks to try on your own pool
The visualizer offers four looks: tropical (palms, bird of paradise and big leaves), desert (decomposed granite, agave, succulents and boulders), lawn and hedges, and modern (ornamental grasses, gravel strips and square planters). Each is shown on a design below.
We do not print a planting price. No guide we use gives one, and planting is not in our planning ranges.
Tropical
Desert
Lawn and hedges
These guides are from 2018, so check the plants against your climate
Both sources are dated 2018. Plant advice changes slowly, but your zone, your water rules and your town's pool barrier rules are local, so ask a nursery and your building department before you buy.
Questions people ask
What are the best plants to put around a pool?
Plants that shed little. Hunker names bamboo, hedges, muhly grass, bird of paradise and octopus agave among low-debris choices, and says to include plants that like full sun. Check what grows in your zone with a local nursery.
What plants should not go near a pool?
Heavy shedders. Hunker lists acacia, azalea, bougainvillea and crape myrtle among plants with a lot of leaf litter and warns that small leaves plug pool filters, and the AP piece warns about thorny plants and bright flowers that draw bees.
How do I get privacy around a pool?
Use vining plants and bushy shrubs or trees between the pool and the rest of the yard (Hunker), or lower plants around an inground pool (a University of Missouri instructor quoted by the AP), and keep the sun you swim in.
How much does pool landscaping cost?
We do not give a figure, because none of the guides we use prices planting around a pool. Planting is left out of our planning ranges. Ask a landscaper for a written quote.
Can I see a planting look in my yard before I plant?
Yes. The free pool visualizer can try tropical, desert, lawn and hedges, or modern planting on a photo of your yard. The result is an AI concept, not a design or a quote.
Sources and date checked
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