Plants Near a Swimming Pool Area

Considerations

• If you don't choose tidy plants near a swimming pool, you'll spend hours fishing leaves and flowers out of the water and pool drain and sweeping them from the deck area. Slow-growing plants and those that drop flowers or leaves all at once or not at all work best. Plants must also be heat tolerant, since hardscape near the pool area throws excess heat their way.

Types of Plants

• Tropical plants are a popular choice for pool areas because they lend an exotic feel. If you live in a warm climate you can enjoy tropical perennials, but even cold-climate gardeners can plant these as annuals. Taro, canna lily, caladium, ginger, vining jasmine and honeysuckle all help create a tropical feel. Traditional flowers also work for pools. Daylilies and bearded iris grow in a range of environments and have neat growing habits. Succulents like agave or aloe create no mess and have low water needs.

Trees

• If you don't take the tree's root system into account when planting, large tree roots could damage the hardscape as well as the pool area. Avoid willow, sycamore and palm trees for their large root systems. Small, container-grown palms could work. Trees to consider for swimming pool landscaping include mulga, shoestring acacia, rosewood, willow pittosporum, evergreen sumac, littleleaf ash and slow-growing conifers and evergreens. The latter have shallow root systems and a slow-growth habit that offers little disruption to the pool environment..

Care

• Plants near a swimming pool have the same water and fertilizer needs as other garden plants. The reflected heat from the hardscape can dry the soil out faster, so water whenever the soil feels dry. Prune long branches so they don't overhang the pool. Rake or sweep debris to maintain a clean pool area. Swimming pool area plants can be grown in containers, for visual interest poolside, or in ground beside the pool area.