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| Landscaping Design Basics |  Swimming pool landscaping design may need a little more planning than landscaping your backyard, but it is still something a non-professional can grip. Get your swimming pool landscaping design right and you can create a little piece of paradise right outside your door. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Planning Your Design
As soon as you first start gathering ideas for your swimming pool landscaping design, pay attention of the colors, textures, and patterns of straight lines and curves in your house and any close garden structures. Work with these same colors and patterns, or ones that are companionable with them. This will lend a feeling of stability to your landscape that makes it look well organized.
Plant Choices for Swimming Pools
Plantings make softer the lines of swimming pool equipment, give privacy, and help the pool area blend in with the rest of your home's landscape. For a low-maintenance swimming pool landscaping design, broad-leafed evergreens, ornamental grasses, and ground covers are the best alternatives. One or more trees on the south side of the pool can offer shade on hot days without blocking the sun on cooler days. When you are looking for swimming pool plants, keep away from deciduous trees, plants that attract bees, bear fruit, have thorns or prickles, or expand invasive root systems that could damage the pool.
 Fences for Safety and Privacy
If you are going to have small children or pets, a fence is very important for safety reasons. Locking up the whole pool area gives you calmness and can even save lives. The right fence design can present privacy as well.
Windbreaks and Baffles
Even a light breeze can steal warmth from a pool area. Luckily, you can redirect cold air currents with the help of a windbreak or baffle. Start by identifying the wind currents in your yard and then decide where you will need to place the fence or baffle for greatest effectiveness. You do not have to use a solid wall or fence for this; dense bushes can also provide good protection.
Swimming Pool Lighting
Outdoor lighting is one more security feature necessary for every swimming pool landscaping design. At a minimum, lights should be added to the pool's deep end, on the steps, and around the perimeter. Though radiant and halogen quartz pool lights of both 120-volt (at 300 or 500 watts) and 12-volt (at 100 or 200 watts) are still on the market, fiber optics last longer and give better lighting.
Patios and Decks
The right paving and decking guarantees a secure, slip-resistant surface that is easy on bare feet. Pavers may cost more than elements and concrete, but they are a better alternative for a swimming pool landscaping design. Not only do they allow for dissimilar patterns and colors, but they also move, rather than crack, with the ground's movements, so they' will last longer. Common brick can work, but make sure the bricks you decide h ave somewhat rough surfaces, so they give some traction. In any case, avoid using wood. When exposed to water, wood can splinter and warp over time and it is greasy for bare feet.
If you are just starting to plan your swimming landscaping design, take some time to look through photos and pictures either in landscaping books or online. In such a way you can get a good idea of what is possible.
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