Most pools are paved all around so you can walk around the pool. It mainly ensures that you enter the pool with clean feet. The word “clean” is actually the crux of the problem. A swimming pool should be clean! If you have to clean the pool before every swim, the “fun” is pretty bad.
Planting around the pool is not a problem in itself, but you still have to take some things into account so that you can enjoy your pool.
Planting right next to the pool?
In principle, it is possible, if you have a well-planned planting plan. Evergreen plants, ornamental grasses, bamboo, may be immediately next to a swimming pool edge. Preferably you place this planting in such a way that any falling leaves, flowers, berries blow away from the pool and not in it!
Trees
When planting trees, keep in mind that they are far enough away from the pool so that the leaves end up in the pool as little as possible. Also take into account the wind direction. Check whether the leaves blow through the prevailing west-southwest wind towards the pool or not.
Trees with small or large leaves? Both have their advantages and disadvantages: small leaves will be filtered out more easily by the skimmers, the large leaves will clog them earlier, but are removed from the pool faster.
Close to the pool it is best to opt for evergreen trees such as Quercus ilex (holm oak) or Photinia fraseri ‘Red Robin’, but the choice of evergreen trees is limited. Alternatively, you can also use Catalpa, Liquidambar, Liriodendron. Best not using plane trees, birches or lime trees.
Shrubs
Just like trees, shrubs can create quite a mess: leaves, flowers, berries that fall off, they can all cause the pool to get dirty. So better place it at a certain distance.
If you still want to plant close to the pool, you can use eg. Viburnum Tinus, Leucothoe, Skimmia or Prunus lusitanica or non-invasive bamboo like the Fargesia species.
Perennials
Also take into account the waste that these plants produce: most perennials die every year, so here too you are left with leaf drop and dead plant parts that should not end up in the pool. You can use Lavender, Geranium, Vinca, Hosta and Liriope here.
Splashing water problems.
Swimming pool water usually contains chlorine, but because the dilution is quite large, in most cases this does not really pose a problem for the plants.
However, in very hot weather, when the conditions for the plants are not so good and the pool is used a lot, you have to be extra careful. The chlorine, which actually “bleaches” the plants, will accelerate the burning process, especially in plants that already suffer from drought stress. The lime in the water can also cause leaf spots.
Lastly, avoid the risk of a burn lawns under the hot sun.
Dive into the pool on a hot summer day causes the water splashes in the grass, which sometimes gets quite wet. Because the water evaporates quickly, the lawn can burn. This results in yellow desiccated spots.