How To Specify Landscaping Materials For Your Swimming Pool

How To Specify Landscaping Materials For Your Swimming Pool Project

As climate change brings us sunnier summers and with the advent of covid restrictions more and more of our garden design and landscaping customers are reporting an increase in demand for home swimming pools.

Designing and building a swimming pool raises a dual dilemma.  First of all there is the challenge of all the engineering and the logistics involved in the build.  Those walls need to be really strong to withstand the pressure of water from within and soil from without. And then of course there is the need to ensure that ground water doesn’t gather beneath the structure and undermine it.

Secondly, how do you make a great big hole in the ground look luxurious, attractive and inviting for many years to come?  Your client is no doubt investing a lot of money in their swimming pool project and they will of course, expect it to add value to their property.

This swimming pool was created as part of a large garden makeover in Radlett, Herts. Click here to read the full case study

Building Your Swimming Pool

Unless you are uber-confident that you know what you’re doing, we’d always recommend that you  invite a specialist swimming pool company to guide you through the process.  Depending on the arrangement you make with them, that may mean that you complete the groundworks before they arrive on site. And for that you may well need to hire the right equipment.  After all, for a full sized swimming pool, a mini digger is probably not going to cut the mustard.  Arbour Landscape Solutions do offer a nationwide plant-hire service, so please bear us in mind when it comes to quoting for the work.
 

Garden Design And Landscaping Inspiration For Swimming Pools

Now for the fun part - deciding which materials to adorn your new swimming pool with. And as you’d expect, the team at Arbour Landscape Solutions has plenty of ideas and can support you however you decide to style your project.

Horizontal Surfaces

The one big consideration for swimming pool surrounds is, of course, safety.  The surface needs to be as slip-resistant as possible with no sharp edges that can be painful for bare feet.  Porcelain paving is the obvious choice but your client may prefer the traditional solidity of natural stone. Talk to us about the different finishes for pavers and the possibilities for supplying bespoke natural stone - cut and finished to your exact specifications. You can have pavers, coping stones and edging stones all cut

If you decide on porcelain surround for your pool, you’ll find a delectable choice of shapes, colours, and patination to suit any styling.  Spoiled for choice? Our team can bring examples to site to help inspire you and of course you can order samples direct from our website.

Explore Porcelain Paving And Steps

Drains And Drainage

The area around a pool is vulnerable to puddling - no matter how well you lay the paving, it will be splashed and splashed and water will accumulate temporarily.  Puddles of course create a slip hazard and so it’s a good idea to build some sort of drainage system into the pool surround.

You’ll find a range of very attractive slot drains on our website, but if you fancy something a little out of the ordinary - ask us about bespoke grids.

Explore Drainage Solutions

Vertical Surfaces

The inside of the pool is just as important as the surrounding area. Especially since it needs to keep the water INSIDE the pool. Talk to your swimming pool supplier about the finishes they recommend.  With careful choice of sealants and adhesives if it is to be underwater, X-tech porcelain cladding gives a fabulous finish to a pool. And of course that finish can be reflected by surrounding vertical surfaces such as outdoor kitchens, fire pits, planters and retaining walls.

 

Pergolas And Shelters

A swimming pool is all about comfort - will you provide your clients with some sort of shelter from the hot sun and/or chilly breezes?

An elegant pergola lends itself beautifully to ambient lighting - perfect for long summer nights beside the pool.

Will you commission a patio cover with louvred roof and/or removable sides? Or would you prefer to create a timber structure of your own design.  Maybe with a living roof for extra interest? Whichever you want, we’re here to help with technical advice and/or sourcing any of the materials you need.

Plants And Planting

Finally, let’s not forget plants. They’re probably not your main focus when building a swimming pool but those living decorative touches make all the difference.  Plants have a unique way of making an area feel super-luxurious. Plus, if you have enough of them, they can actually make the air feel cooler by way of evapotranspiration.

Keeping treated water away from plants and soil away from the swimming pool can be a challenge - unless of course you are building a natural swimming pond….but we’ll cover those in a whole other article.  We recommend using planters.  There are some stunningly beautiful planters available to order from our website - and a lot more that we’ve not had time to add to our online catalogue.  Contact us - let us know what you need.

For a truly solid and permanent planter, you could use the solid wall system to create the shape and then clad it with paddlestones, with porcelain cladding or with timber battens - depending on the styling you have chosen.  Fill it with beautiful plants. Not sure what plants to choose? The team at My Garden Design can create a bespoke planting plan for you.

Not confident that your clients will be able to care for their plants? What about an artificial green wall? They’re great at creating ambience and need virtually no maintenance.  Of course, if the budget allows, a living green wall would be far more eco-friendly! 

Here To Help

Suffice to say, that the Arbour Landscape Solutions team are here to support you at every stage of your swimming pool project. From finding a specialist pool builder, to specifying materials, hiring machinery and sourcing products - between us we have all of the expertise you need.  And at Arbour Landscape Solutions, introductions and technical advice are always 100% free of charge.

We’d also like to help you tell the world about your project.  All you need to do is send us photographs of the work in progress and the finished article and we’ll use all of our in-house resources to make sure that the world gets to hear about your garden design expertise and landscaping skills.  It’s a great way to win better work for your business.

Contact Us Today To Chat About Your Latest Projects

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