A well-conceived swimming pool landscape design can mean the difference between an area for fun, exercise and relaxation, and one good-looking enough to add some real value to your home. It often comes as a shock to poolscape design professionals how little thought would-be owners of inground luxury pools spare for the design of a feature that could make their home and recreational area both more stylistically attractive and coherent. A plethora of factors will decide if your swimming pool landscape design promotes convenience, privacy and safety.
Unfortunately, there are only two ways in which these details are going to be attended to. Either you need to pay very close attention to the design and construction of the pool, ensuring that everything is done according to your taste and specifications, or else youll need to know youre with a construction company you can trust – one recommended to you by family, friends and so on. The latter option is by far the better, as poorly managed companies can drag jobs out for ten times as long as theyre worth, saddling you with unnecessary debt and hassle.
Among the best landscaping ideas for privacy, a poolscape design look that will look great and guard your pool area from prying eyes, is to surround it with foliage, creating a thick screen of protective greenery. These trees do, however, need to be chosen wisely. Big trees with extensive root systems can often cause damage to the foundation of your home or of your swimming pool. Large fruit or needle-bearing trees like pines are often not worth the bugs theyre likely to attract and manpower youll need to keep the water free of detritus.
The minimal amount of mess theyll create and their consistently beautiful, lush appearance makes evergreen trees your best bet, and theyre also the most effective landscape privacy tool – with their year-round growth you wont suddenly find your private area naked (no pun intended) when the rainy season hits. Alternatively, you could install trellis walls and train vines to run up them. You can buy pre-trained trees, called Espaliers, which have been pruned and groomed to grow sideways, making them into a flat branch-barrier that will protect your privacy and even act as a windbreak.
Of course, if youre a parent or prospective parent, you may be more concerned about your young child falling in the pool than you are about good-looks or greenery. In that case, a fence or wall might be a good idea. Youll also probably want to double up on the security, and install a pool net. Not only will this keep your pool clean of detritus, but it should also hold the weight of any toddler or adult who happens to trip into the pool. Be sure that your hooks are solidly installed, and that the net is of a high quality polyfiber weave. If its not, youre at a risk of a home drowning when the net wraps the person falling in – such accidents form a statistically significant percentage of home drownings.
On a lighter note, you need to remember that the area around your pool – the patio or deck- is one of the most luxurious things about having a pool. Relaxing in the sun before a pleasant dip is an activity in itself. If you plan to have pool parties, consider how people are apt to circulate through the area youre building. Dont ignore details like the tiles or flooring you use – go for terra-cotta tiles or rough wood over a surface thats going to be slippery and cause falls.
Lastly, think about style. Youd ideally like your swimming pool landscape design to echo the architectural features of your home. Often people renovate their houses without giving any thought to the outmoded style of the pool in the backyard. Look at a variety of custom designs, remembering always that your dream swimming pool will be the one that fits seamlessly into your dream home.
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