4 of Our Favorite Swimming Pool Landscaping Ideas

The liner is in place, the hardscaping is complete. You’ve filled the backyard pool and adjusted the chemicals and temperature to your liking. Everything is ready to go; time to grab your towel and head to your brand-new lounge chair…right?

Wait a second — now that your swimming pool construction is finished, it’s time to make it truly part of your landscape, and there’s no better way to do that than with some outdoor greenery.

First, a few “what not to plant” thoughts: Stay away from anything that drops too many blooms, has thorns or attracts bees and other unwanted wildlife.

Beyond that, it’s really up to you. But we love easy-care plants with bright blooms and endlessly green foliage that allow you to step away from the garden gloves and pruning shears — and simply enjoy your modern pool!

Here are a few of our favorite pool landscaping ideas for New York and Connecticut landscapes.

Pool Landscaping Design Idea #1: Attract welcome wildlife

Weigela ‘Wine and Roses’: This trouble-free plant grows very quickly and provides dark, glossy foliage with lovely pink trumpet-shaped flowers that hummingbirds love — all season long.

Buddleia (any variety): Butterfly bush is beautiful on its own, but true to its name, it will also attract tons of harmless fluttering friends to your poolside, from butterflies to hummingbirds.

Pool Landscaping Design Idea #2: Focus on foliage

Little Spire Russian Sage is a terrific perennial for your swimming pool landscaping.

Russian Sage Little Spire: This lavender alternative is a great cold-hardy perennial that requires very little care once it’s established. It provides beautiful light-purple blooms against a gray-green backdrop of foliage.

Andromeda: A beautiful shrub that will provide great coverage and green foliage year round. The evergreen leaves are deer resistant, and in the early spring, the plant produces beautiful sprays of bell-shaped blooms.

Pool Landscaping Design Idea #3: Get great color

Magic Carpet Spirea: In full sun, this spirea’s bright-yellow foliage spreads like crazy for tons of bang for your buck. Prune after it flowers for even bigger explosions of pink blooms!

Astilbe (any variety): This lovely, feathery plant is great if your pool is in a somewhat shady area. Depending on the variety you choose, the blooms may be pink, peach, red, violet or white, but the fernlike foliage is gorgeous even without flowers.

Hydrangea Penny Mac: This classic macrophylla hydrangea has gorgeous mophead blooms throughout the summer and is advertised as “perfect for the lazy gardener,” meaning you can enjoy the blooms from your raft, drink in hand!

Pool Landscaping Design Idea #4: Think outside the box

Grasses: Fountain grasses and maiden grasses are two types of grasses that yield impressive growth. Fountain grass’s mounding habit creates a beautiful shape, and its feathery plumes create fluid movement in even the slightest breeze. And maiden grasses have a clumping habit and can grow to up to 8 feet tall when they bloom in the fall (the dead stalks even look great in the winter). The experts at our custom pool company are here to help.

Trees: Many different varieties of tropical plants, palm trees and birch trees offer the perfect amount of filtered shade for a little relief from the sun on the warmest summer days.

Do these pool landscape ideas inspire you to get planting? Get in touch with the landscape designers at Neave Group to start planning your plot of perfect pool area plantings. Don’t even have an inground pool? The landscape design professionals at Neave Pools can help you get set up with the watering hole you’ll need before you can really enjoy that poolside landscaping.

If you’re in Hudson Valley, call (845) 463-0592. Westchester, call (914) 271-7996. Cold Spring, call (845) 463-0592, and in Connecticut, call (203) 212-4800. Or fill out our contact form, and we’ll get in touch with you to schedule a complimentary swimming pool landscaping consultation.