Pool Plants

The plants for our pool area need to meet certain rules:

1. Leaf and flower drop needs to be minimal to limit the amount of daily cleaning. For example, ficus benjamina is a very attractive small tree for beside the pool. But it can result in significant leaf drop, especially if you forget to keep the soil moist. Impatiens are another problem plant. While it produces bright flowers in the more shady areas of the pool, the dead flowers produce a sticky mess on the pool deck.
2. Several of the plants need to be large enough to define the garden boundaries, but we will have an enclosed pool area, so none of the plants can exceed 10' in height. That will mean relying on clipping the shrubs, using dwarf varieties or replacing the plants that have become too large every three to five years.
3. The two most common approaches to pool landscaping appear to be either natural or structured. The natural approach uses a pool design with curved edges (i.e. kidney shaped) to mimic a pond along with pavers and plantings that create a vague illusion of a forest with stones going down to the edge of the water. The structured approach uses straight lines (i.e. a rectangle pool) and planters to create a balanced, formal combination of textures, colors and shapes. For me the structured approach makes me feel uncomfortable - too much of man trying to control Nature. So we went with the natural approach with our pool and threw in a waterfall for good measure.
4. The plants need to do well in semi-shade, since the screen will reduce the available light.

Here are the plants we use in the pool area:

• Pygmy Date Palm Thankfully, this is a slow growing palm. Regardless, in 5 to 10 years it will ultimately start to scrape up against the top of the screen and will need to be replaced. That is a job I'd rather not think about now.
• Stromanthe
• Cordyline
• Flax Lilly
• Mandevilla We planted a slow growing, low variety.
• Heliconia - Since the space is very tight in the garden and Heliconia is an aggressive spreader, I keep the plants in pots buried part way in the dirt. The bracts, while long lasting, do drop the flower portion on to the ground, which creates a slight mess. It's a small trade off in order to enjoy the brilliant colors.
• Bromeliads - The Bromeliads have not worked out as well as we hoped. Since the plants are essentially exposed to the elements, their flowers become ragged pretty quickly and the foliage is not prominent enough to make a statement. Instead, we have substituted a low growing Mandevilla to add color.
• Brugmansia - We have an Angels Trumpet in a large pot to the left of the plantings in order to balance out the design.