When building or renovating a swimming pool and spa there are many options available to suit every budget. The first thing you need is a good landscaping design for a pool and spa that makes the most of your backyard area. Landscaping ideas for pools & spas should make your pool the center of attention and focal point when you invite visitors to your home.
Landscaping Ideas for Pools & Spas is not only about making the area look great but maximizing the functional use of the area. The swimming pool and spa is only part of the backyard landscape. You need somewhere to relax, sunbath, dine alfresco, play with the dog and let the kids loose. Patios, pathways, gardens, pergolas, walls, fences, BBQs, outdoor furniture, pot plants and lawns complete the design and give more functional use to the area.
Table of Contents
The Most Common Pool Size
The most common pool sizes for an above ground pool are:
- 5.5m or 18ft round
- 7m or 24ft round
- 12ft x 24ft Oval
- 15ft x 30ft Oval
The most common pool sizes for an inground pool are:
- 16ft x 32ft Rectangle
- 18ft x 36ft Rectangle
The Most Common Pool Type
The most common type of inground pool is concrete shell lined with plaster or pebble aggregate surface as these surfaces are the most durable. Tiles are more expensive and last longer but only suit a rectangular pool with no curves. Most pools have a tile band around the top of the pool at the water line to prevent a waterline mark showing.
When building an inground pool the builders provide quotes based on the lineal distance around the outside of the pool, the depth of the pool and the finish of the inside. Usually you can choose from a range of shapes such as rectangle, kidney, peanut, oval, etc. and choose the internal surface. If the pool is curved the internal surface is usually vinyl, paint, fibreglass, plaster or pebble aggregate.
What is the least expensive pool shape?
When building an inground pool a simple rectangular shape will be the least expensive because there are no curves to build. What makes pools more expensive is custom shapes with curves and having a deep end with a slope from the shallow end.
Landscaping Ideas for Pools & Spas
Do you need a pool fence around a spa?
Many local authorities in every country now require pool owners to fully fence their outdoor swimming pools, spas or hot tubs for safety reasons. The regulations vary between countries and states so please check with your local authority. Landscaping Ideas for Pools & Spas must include a pool fence or pool enclosure to comply with the regulations.
The rules apply to all pool and spa owners irrespective of whether there are young children living in the household or not. This is costly to some homeowners who have been forced into spending thousands of dollars to fence their backyard pool to comply with strict pool fencing requirements.
If you only have a spa pool or a hot tub you can avoid having to fence the facility by installing a securely lockable lid on the pool. The lid must be closed and locked when the spa or hot tub is not in use. In some jurisdictions, the spa or hot tub will still need to be inspected by a pool safety inspector.
If you have a pool and spa both will need to be fully fenced. If there is an existing boundary fence or wall on one side of the pool this can be utilized to fence the pool.
Can You Add a Spa to an Existing Pool?
An existing concrete inground swimming pool can be modified to add on an inground or partial inground spa pool. The new spa pool could be added inside the old concrete shell by adding a new wall into a corner of the pool. The concrete shell of the existing pool can be cut into to add a new spa pool into the existing pool shell. Or the new spa can be added right next to the existing pool.
When you add a spa pool you will need to consider where the plumbing for the water outlet pipe and inlet jets is going to be located. Is it going to be connected into the existing pool filtration system or are you having a separate system. Is the spa sanitation going to be the same as the swimming pool or different? If you have a saltwater pool you may want to have a saltwater spa operating from the same filtration system and saltwater chlorinator. Sometimes these spas are created so that excess spa water flows from the spa into the pool. Spa water becomes contaminated easily due to the small volume of water in a spa. However, if you replace some of the spa water with fresh water and drain the excess into the pool you can extend the life of the spa water.
Can You Add on to a Pool?
When Landscaping Ideas for Pools & Spas may give you inspiration to add on to your existing pool.
Concrete swimming pool shells can be modified in many ways to add extra features to your pool. Usually these extra features are included when the pool is first built but if you are renovating your pool extra features can be added on.
The most popular add-on or modification to an existing pool is to add a spa pool.
Other features include:
- Sunning ledges with a few inches of water running over the surface
- Built-in steps
- Seating ledges
- Water lounges
- Waterfalls and other water features
- Diving boards
- Waterslides
- Children’s pools
- Pool side bar
- An island in the pool
What is the Best Pool Deck Surface?
The best pool surround when Landscaping for Pools & Spas is pavers on road base and bedding sand. We recommend large format pavers, such as 400mm square, rather than the small pavers which are now out of fashion. Larger pavers are easier to lay. There are less of them and they look better with less gaps in the surface between the pavers.
Lay the paver surface with a slight run-off slope to allow water to run away onto a lawn, garden or into a drain. I recommend to add a few surface drains around to capture excessive rainfall or splashed pool water.
When pavers are wet water can also sink in between the pavers to the ground underneath. Pavers not only look great but are highly durable and have a slight rough surface that is slip resistant.
Concrete Around a Swimming Pool
When concrete is laid down in a patio, path or driveway the concrete is simply poured over the ground with no foundation. Over time the concrete will move and crack as the ground underneath moves due to vibration, changing moisture content and compression of the soil. If you lay pavers on concrete you may experience the pavers moving around because the concrete underneath has moved. We don’t recommend laying pavers on concrete except for driveways to take the weight of traffic.
If the ground underneath the pavers has moved causing the paver surface to dip or rise, the pavers can be easily lifted up and replaced with additional bedding sand.
Another reason we like pavers is if you ever need to dig up your pool plumbing or drainage lifting up pavers is much easier than cutting through concrete. For this reason alone, we don’t recommend concrete around a swimming pool.
If you are going to put concrete near a swimming pool try to only concrete one side of the pool. I don’t recommend concrete around the whole pool.
What’s the Cheapest Patio Material?
One of the least expensive options for around a pool is decorative gravel with large stepping stones or pavers. Clear and level the ground and lay large stepping stones where required. Then fill in the gaps with gravel. The edge of the area needs to be contained with a garden edge of timber, pavers or some other suitable material. When pool water is splashed into the area it drains away easily and quickly.
Plain concrete is the next cheapest material, however, we do not favor concrete around the whole pool as it is likely to move and crack as the ground underneath shifts. Concrete will become stained and pitted when saltwater and chlorinated water runs over it.
We recommend pavers around swimming pools. They are easily removed and replaced if the ground moves or you need to dig up the ground to access your pool plumbing pipes. Pavers are a more expensive option because of the labor cost to lay the pavers. If you have the skill set to lay pavers yourself the cost will be cheaper than concrete.
Read our article on Best Outdoor Patio Heaters
What is Better Mulch or Stones?
We recommend the use of both mulch and stones for gardens surrounding pool areas. Mulch will inhibit the growth of weeds while adding nutrients to the soil and preventing moisture evaporation. Stones or decorative gravel makes a great garden border as it looks good, promotes drainage and lasts a long time.
Some prefer to mulch the garden then cover the whole garden with decorative gravel to minimize the maintenance of the garden.
If you are concerned about debris blowing into the pool use decorative gravel on your gardens. It is a more expensive option but will last longer and looks great.
What plants can I put around my pool?
Most people prefer small, slow growing evergreen palms and shrubs around a swimming pool area. These plants don’t drop leaves into the pool and look good all year round. Most pools are located in full sun all day so the plants need to be hardy and like full sun.
Common plants are:
- Cycads (e.g. sago palms)
- Cactus plants
- Ferns
- Grasses
Avoid planting deciduous trees and shrubs as they drop to many leaves and other debris into the pool. In winter they look dead and unattractive.
Read our article on The Best Pool Landscaping Design
Conclusion
Before you consider landscaping ideas for pools & spas or doing anything with your backyard pool or I recommend you start with a good landscape design. Most homeowners don’t know where to start with a design. They simply call in a professional landscape contractor which is a very expensive option.
I recommend starting with Ideas4Landscaping to enable you to fully research design ideas that match your requirements and budget. You can decide to landscape the yard yourself or have contractors quote on your landscape designs.
