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The Value of Pool Landscaping

Swimming pools represent not only a refreshing way to spend our leisure time but also a significant investment in our homes. As a result, homeowners should consider accentuating their investments with swimming pool landscapes that can help their pool blend in with its environment while adding privacy and value to a home. Popular pool landscaping elements include fencing, plants, hardscapes and accessories.

Here are some ways these features can be used to enhance the beauty and privacy of your backyard playground:

• Fencing: It is with good reason that fences are legally required around pools large and small. Not only do fences provide an added measure of safety around a pool, but they add much needed privacy. In addition, they can be used to provide an attractive frame for a swimming pool landscape. Options vary in height, material, style and cost.
  
  
• Hardscapes and accessories: Homeowners often construct hardscapes, such as a deck or patio, as part of their swimming pool landscape. Other owners include gazebos, cabanas or other permanent structures. When choosing such features, keep both beauty and safety in mind. Consider outdoor lighting to illuminate your pool and its accompanying hardscapes.
  
  
• Plants: The right mixture of plants around a backyard pool can transform an ordinary pool setting into a magnificent paradise. Landscape experts recommend choosing hardy, well-adapted and low maintenance plants that are native to your region.

Flowers add color, but they can also attract bees that could interrupt your backyard fun, so choose them with caution. Deciduous trees should also be planted far enough away from your pool to avoid leaves falling into the water. Plants you might want to consider include shade-giving trees and shrubs and groundcover and ornamental grasses.

Pool Landscaping Tips
When choosing various pool landscaping elements, consider the needs of your family. Do you have small children? If so, you should enclose pools with gates in order to guard against accidental drowning. Do you plan to entertain? In that case, you’ll want to allow sufficient space for entertaining. You might add a fire pit or chiminea (clay fireplaces that are for outdoor use only) to keep your guests warm at night. You may also want to add a swing or bench. And don’t forget the barbecue, patio furniture and tables with umbrellas for year round cookouts and lounging poolside!

Small Pools and Large Pools
Any size pool can benefit from landscaping. If you don’t have a lot of room around your pool, consider placing plants in pots or hanging containers, in order to avoid dwarfing the pool. A well-designed deck can make a small pool appear larger. Placing several small tables around larger pools will provide inviting places for your guests to gather, without them needing to walk around the entire pool.

Improving Your Pool Landscaping
When improving your pool landscaping, you will want to consider the costs involved. Barbecues can range from under $100 into the thousands of dollars for multi-featured, stainless steel or high-end barbecues. Patio furniture also varies in price, style and quality.

Available at both specialty stores and home and garden departments of stores like Wal-Mart and Target, patio furniture can cost as little as a few hundred dollars for a patio table, umbrella and matching chairs or in the thousands for custom made pieces.

Some landscaping improvements are considered an investment, however, and while they may be costly, they can add significant value to your home. A covered patio, for example, creates an outdoor living space that can be used in inclement weather. Ranging in price from $12 to $50 per square foot, a covered patio makes a nice addition to pool landscaping.

Outdoor fire pits are an attractive and inexpensive addition. A built-in outdoor fireplace, however, can cost between $8,000 and $35,000. Because the fireplace has limited uses, it is not likely to provide a good return on your investment, although it may add to your home’s resale value.

Outdoor kitchens, which are priced in the $15,000 to $100,000 range, provide a functional way to bring entertaining outdoors. Experts say outdoor kitchens provide a good return, but they should be professionally designed.

Choose Carefully
Whatever you choose, make your selections carefully, according to your needs and budget. Whether you are planting trees and shrubs, constructing a fence or installing a brick patio, your pool landscaping can transform your backyard into a relaxing paradise.