If you're like most people, you don't want to have to constantly maintain your fibreglass pool. Can you imagine yourself spending your free time clearing flowers, twigs, leaves, fruits and other plant debris from your pool or the surrounding area?
When you bring a fibreglass pool home, you want to enjoy your time around the pool, with your family and friends. Hours of maintenance work may not be what you signed up for.
The first thing you should note is that you should avoid anything that has thorns. Also avoid plants that have small flowers, as these have a tendency to bypass the skimmer basket. There are also certain kinds of ornamental grasses, such as maidenform, that tend to hang over a pool when they get tall. They have sharp blades as well, and are too big to fit into skimmers should they fall into the pool.
Another thing you should avoid is flowering trees, take for example plums or cherries. When you’re selecting the plants you want by your poolside, check how far their root systems are likely to expand. This will protect your waterpipes from being affected by the roots.
If you want a more detailed list of plants you should avoid while pool landscaping, look no further. Here are the plants you should avoid:
1. Acacia
This is an evergreen that’s native to Australia. You can grow it as a tree or a shrub. It tends to have clusters of flowers that are yellow in colour. These flowers grow along the stem of the plant, from winter through to summer. However, this does depend on where you live.
Acacia plants come with pods and sap, and they are also resistant to fire. When the time comes for acacia plants to release their flower clusters, these could spread into your pool.
2. Azalea
Azaleas are also considered garden royalty. They are available in various colours (much like our fibreglass pool colour range), ranging from pinks to reds, and purples to whites. There are around 800 species of plants that fall in this group. Azaleas are a shrub that’s popular among many people for the long bloom time that it has, as well as its longevity.
So does that mean if you have a fibreglass pool, you can’t have azaleas? You can plant these, but they should be planted as far away from your pool as possible. Why? That’s because both leaves and flowers drop. Azaleas can either be evergreen or they can be deciduous. If your azalea is deciduous, all its leaves will drop in the fall season. The evergreen ones could also drop their leaves.
Evergreen azaleas appear evergreen because they actually grow two separate sets of leaves every year. Basically, if you want to avoid cleaning leaves out of your pool, keep your azaleas far away from the pool.
3. Bamboo
Bamboos are seen both as exotic as well as tropical. However, bamboos can grow quickly and they can spread fast as well. With bamboo that’s planted near your pool, there’s the danger of leaf litter falling in. Consider planting your bamboo far away from your pool instead.
4. Bottlebrush
Bottlebrush is native to Australia. They tend to be dense as well as compact. This turns them into great hedges for anyone who values privacy. The red flowers on bottlebrush plants, however, are known for shedding. When this does happen, the parts that resemble red needles end up scattering. If these plants are anywhere near your pool, these flower needles could scatter into your pool.
5. Bougainvillaea
This is an evergreen vine that is native to the tropical as well as sub-tropical regions of South America. There are a lot of gardeners who can control the mess that growing bougainvillaeas on the patio or the decks could lead to. They need to be printed often, and during the winter, they need to be moved to special areas.
Bougainvillaeas have vibrant colours, stemming from white to orange to yellow. You can also get them in pink, red, purple, and more. These colours don’t come from the flower itself but from the bracts that are surrounding the flower. If there are bougainvillaea vines that are growing near your pool, there are a lot of cleanups that you’ll have to do.
6. Crape Myrtle
These are subtropical trees that are known for being drought resistant. There are pretty flowers that grow on these trees, which range from pink to red. Crape Myrtle also has a bark that peels off annually. If you grow these trees near your fibreglass pool, then it will fill the surface of the pool with debris. It will also clog the skimmers.
7. Dwarf Arborvitae
These are becoming more and more popular as their growth habits are symmetrical. These plants, also known as Thuja, need to be pruned into shapes that are geometrical. They have golden yellow foliage, and in the winter, the foliage can look bronze.
However, they have leaves that are like needles and this can end up clogging the filters as well.
8. Cherry or Plum Trees
It’s beautiful to look at cherry and plum trees when they’re in full bloom. But they end up shedding their blossoms every year. And it will then be your responsibility to sweep them up. If planted too close to your pool, these blossoms will end up falling into the pool. And then you’ll need to clean them out from the filter.
9. Honeysuckle
Honeysuckles are known for having flowers that are fragrant, that attract hummingbirds. This plant produces purple or red berries after blooming, which are eaten by many birds. However, the vines as well as the shrubs of this plant can turn invasive. Your yard will also be littered with blooms that are spent.
10. Tulip Trees
This is a tree that grows fast and can grow up to 80 feet. It can also spread up to 40 feet wide. In spring, yellow flowers appear. At the top of the tree, there are blossoms. In the springtime, you’ll need to clean up flowers. In the summer, you’ll be busy cleaning up sap. In the fall season, you’ll need to clean up pods as well as leaves. And in winter, falling sticks can be a problem. That’s why it’s better to avoid this tree altogether.
Conclusion
There are several plants that could make excellent additions to your pool landscape. But there are also others that may not be such a good match. If you want to avoid cleaning and maintaining your fibreglass pool on a regular basis, then avoid the plants in this guide.
If you're like most people, you don't want to have to constantly maintain your fibreglass pool. Can you imagine yourself spending your free time clearing flowers, twigs, leaves, fruits and other plant debris from your pool or the surrounding area?
When you bring a fibreglass pool home, you want to enjoy your time around the pool, with your family and friends. Hours of maintenance work may not be what you signed up for.
The first thing you should note is that you should avoid anything that has thorns. Also avoid plants that have small flowers, as these have a tendency to bypass the skimmer basket. There are also certain kinds of ornamental grasses, such as maidenform, that tend to hang over a pool when they get tall. They have sharp blades as well, and are too big to fit into skimmers should they fall into the pool.
Another thing you should avoid is flowering trees, take for example plums or cherries. When you’re selecting the plants you want by your poolside, check how far their root systems are likely to expand. This will protect your waterpipes from being affected by the roots.
If you want a more detailed list of plants you should avoid while pool landscaping, look no further. Here are the plants you should avoid:
1. Acacia
This is an evergreen that’s native to Australia. You can grow it as a tree or a shrub. It tends to have clusters of flowers that are yellow in colour. These flowers grow along the stem of the plant, from winter through to summer. However, this does depend on where you live.
Acacia plants come with pods and sap, and they are also resistant to fire. When the time comes for acacia plants to release their flower clusters, these could spread into your pool.
2. Azalea
Azaleas are also considered garden royalty. They are available in various colours (much like our fibreglass pool colour range), ranging from pinks to reds, and purples to whites. There are around 800 species of plants that fall in this group. Azaleas are a shrub that’s popular among many people for the long bloom time that it has, as well as its longevity.
So does that mean if you have a fibreglass pool, you can’t have azaleas? You can plant these, but they should be planted as far away from your pool as possible. Why? That’s because both leaves and flowers drop. Azaleas can either be evergreen or they can be deciduous. If your azalea is deciduous, all its leaves will drop in the fall season. The evergreen ones could also drop their leaves.
Evergreen azaleas appear evergreen because they actually grow two separate sets of leaves every year. Basically, if you want to avoid cleaning leaves out of your pool, keep your azaleas far away from the pool.
3. Bamboo
Bamboos are seen both as exotic as well as tropical. However, bamboos can grow quickly and they can spread fast as well. With bamboo that’s planted near your pool, there’s the danger of leaf litter falling in. Consider planting your bamboo far away from your pool instead.
4. Bottlebrush
Bottlebrush is native to Australia. They tend to be dense as well as compact. This turns them into great hedges for anyone who values privacy. The red flowers on bottlebrush plants, however, are known for shedding. When this does happen, the parts that resemble red needles end up scattering. If these plants are anywhere near your pool, these flower needles could scatter into your pool.
5. Bougainvillaea
This is an evergreen vine that is native to the tropical as well as sub-tropical regions of South America. There are a lot of gardeners who can control the mess that growing bougainvillaeas on the patio or the decks could lead to. They need to be printed often, and during the winter, they need to be moved to special areas.
Bougainvillaeas have vibrant colours, stemming from white to orange to yellow. You can also get them in pink, red, purple, and more. These colours don’t come from the flower itself but from the bracts that are surrounding the flower. If there are bougainvillaea vines that are growing near your pool, there are a lot of cleanups that you’ll have to do.
6. Crape Myrtle
These are subtropical trees that are known for being drought resistant. There are pretty flowers that grow on these trees, which range from pink to red. Crape Myrtle also has a bark that peels off annually. If you grow these trees near your fibreglass pool, then it will fill the surface of the pool with debris. It will also clog the skimmers.
7. Dwarf Arborvitae
These are becoming more and more popular as their growth habits are symmetrical. These plants, also known as Thuja, need to be pruned into shapes that are geometrical. They have golden yellow foliage, and in the winter, the foliage can look bronze.
However, they have leaves that are like needles and this can end up clogging the filters as well.
8. Cherry or Plum Trees
It’s beautiful to look at cherry and plum trees when they’re in full bloom. But they end up shedding their blossoms every year. And it will then be your responsibility to sweep them up. If planted too close to your pool, these blossoms will end up falling into the pool. And then you’ll need to clean them out from the filter.
9. Honeysuckle
Honeysuckles are known for having flowers that are fragrant, that attract hummingbirds. This plant produces purple or red berries after blooming, which are eaten by many birds. However, the vines as well as the shrubs of this plant can turn invasive. Your yard will also be littered with blooms that are spent.
10. Tulip Trees
This is a tree that grows fast and can grow up to 80 feet. It can also spread up to 40 feet wide. In spring, yellow flowers appear. At the top of the tree, there are blossoms. In the springtime, you’ll need to clean up flowers. In the summer, you’ll be busy cleaning up sap. In the fall season, you’ll need to clean up pods as well as leaves. And in winter, falling sticks can be a problem. That’s why it’s better to avoid this tree altogether.
Conclusion
There are several plants that could make excellent additions to your pool landscape. But there are also others that may not be such a good match. If you want to avoid cleaning and maintaining your fibreglass pool on a regular basis, then avoid the plants in this guide.
