Ideas for Backyard Landscapes With a Pool

Palms

• Palms ooze tropical or beach style and provide year-round color and structure in backyard pool landscapes. Mediterranean fan palm (Chamaerops humilis) tolerates heat and reflected light, forming clumps of trunks 10 to 15 feet tall and wide, topped by crowns of blue-green foliage. At evening social gatherings it looks attractive when lit from below. Single-trunk windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei) is also very tolerant of poolside conditions, and grows 25 to 30 feet tall with an 8- to 10-foot-wide crown. Both palms are among the hardiest of their kind and suitable for U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 through 11.

Fragrance

• Often neglected in landscaping, fragrance adds another dimension to backyard pool atmosphere. Evergreen choisya ternata "Sundance" (Mexican orange blossom) bears scented white late-spring and late-summer flowers. Growing 3 to 6 feet tall and wide, this shrub tolerates full-sun sites and dry soil and is hardy in USDA zones 8 through 10. "Blue Hill" meadow sage (Salvia x sylvestris "Blue Hill") is another sun- and drought-tolerant fragrant bloomer, bearing blue summer flowers. Suitable for USDA zones 4 through 9, it reaches 18 inches tall and wide.

Ground Cover

• Low-maintenance ground cover plants bearing colorful flowers save time on weeding and add to tropical or beach style. "Colorado Gold" treasure flower (Gazania linearis "Colorado Gold"), hardy in USDA zones 4 through 8, tolerates full-sun sites and produces bright yellow flowers from late spring through summer. Sutherland hardy iceplant (Delosperma sutherlandii) bears purplish-pink summer flowers and is suitable for USDA zones 6 through 10. Both plants need only occasional watering once established and little other care. Plant between shrubs and perennials, and cover bare ground with a 3-inch-deep mulch, such as shredded bark, until covered by growth.

Container Flowers

• Containers of flowering perennials add a decorative touch to pool edges. African lilies (Agapanthus spp.) suit container growing in hot, bright sites, which promotes their flowering. Clumps of evergreen leaves surround 2- to 3-foot stems, topped by blue, violet or white late summer flowers 6 to 12 inches wide. African lilies are suitable for USDA zones 8 through 11. Daisy-like, bright yellow tickseed (Coreopsis grandiflora) flowers provide a brilliant contrast. Tolerant of heat, light and drought, tickseed suits container growing and flowers June through September. Growing 1 1/2 to 4 feet tall, it is suitable for USDA zones 5 through 10.