The Best Plants for Around a Swimming Pool
- The area around your swimming pool is a heat haven with the hot concrete and reflecting water that can be hazardous to your poolside landscaping. Heat-tolerant plants such as the cutleaf lilac, or Syringa laciniata, is the answer to this matter. This plant tolerates high temperatures and sunlight, and is resistant to mildew, making it the optimal plant around a swimming pool. It is deciduous and grows up to 8 feet high. Small lilac flowers provide a sweet fragrance, and the dense green leaves add color in the late summer and fall by turning yellow-green in color.
- Shrubs add dimension to your poolside landscape, but it can be too hot an area for some shrubs. It is a good idea to plant drought-tolerant shrubs around a swimming pool. These kinds of shrubs can withstand long periods without water and intense heat and sunlight. Another factor to take into consideration is the types of twigs and branches the shrub produces; these can become safety issues around a pool. The alternate leaf butterfly bush, or Buddleja alternifolia, is just the kind of shrub for a poolside area. It is heat- and drought-tolerant, requiring moderate watering. The drooping branches have lance-shaped leaves attached and the blooms that are showy.
- Palm trees or banana plants add to the tropical environment you can create around your swimming pool. Banana plants appear to be trees but are, in fact, perennial plants that can grow up to 20 feet tall, providing screening and privacy for your pool area. These plants are instant conversation starters around the poolside, with the large sheaths of leaves and flowers that create fruit stems.
- There may be areas around your pool landscape that are adequately shaded due to nearby trees or housing structures. Impatiens is just the right plant for these areas. These hardy annuals are heat-tolerant and thrive best in shaded areas; however, they can tolerate moderate sunlight as long as they receive sufficient water.