Beautiful Pool Hardscaping Tips You Can Use

Owning a home with an in-ground swimming pool is one great amenity. It’s not only perfect for escaping the warm summers here in Sarasota, but also to entertain family and friends most of the year. Strategically placed lighting can make an outdoor space come alive during the evening hours, adding substantially to the ambiance and the aesthetics.

Maintaining the area around an in-ground pool can prove difficult. Keeping small stretches of grass neatly cut and hedges and bushes from encroaching is a constant challenge; and, mix in the ever present weeding, and it loses some of its glamour. Tired of the toll of maintenance, you decide it’s high time to uproot the grass, and put in hardscaping. That little change will make a big impact on your quality of life and that’s a very welcome change.

What you don’t want to wind up doing to yourself is replacing your current set of problems with a slew of new problems. That would be nothing more than an exercise in futility and a one-way ticket to a constant reminder of landscaper’s remorse.

About Hardscaping a Yard

There are several advantages to replacing grass and other greenery with hardscape materials such as patios and extra water features. Chief among them is cutting out the cost of cutting grass, weeding, fertilizing and repeating the process on an exhaustive basis during the long summer. Another big benefit is reducing sanctuary space for pests and critters which can cause all kinds of problems.

Hardscaping is an attractive feature and offers many appealing options, from a rustic stacked wall to a fully developed outdoor living room and kitchen. Once you’ve decided to create an outdoor space, you must plan carefully to meet your hardscaping goals. ‘Research really pays off, especially when you consider that a fixed object in the landscape is not going to move easily — and you don’t want to put in a lot of effort and then have your materials or design fail within a couple of years,’ says Samuel Salsbury, a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers and partner with Sabrena Schweyer, APLD, in Salsbury-Schweyer, an Akron, Ohio-based landscape design group. —HGTV

You’ll also have more space to roam, usually it’s not a huge amount of square footage, but generally enough to add extra creature comforts. It will likewise reduce the “tracking inside” problem, which is nearly inevitable with small children and accident prone adults. A few more lounge chairs, a swing, or a hammock will then be possible, which will make good use of that bit of extra space and allow guests to spread out.

If there’s enough room, it could make way for a spa, nearly connected to the pool, and just right for adult guests who want to unwind and enjoy a cool drink. Or, it could be just enough room to add a partial or full outdoor kitchen you’ve always wanted. At the very least, it gives you the space to add a wet bar and refrigerator.

Beautiful Pool Hardscaping Tips You can Use

To get the most out of the area around your pool, start with an initial concept and begin to qualify its ability to accommodate your plans. You’ll be able to quickly decide whether or not some of the features will work. For instance, if you do want to go all-out and install an inground spa, think about things like plumbing, filtering, and the electrical load. On the flip-side of the coin, simply additions, such as chairs will require sufficient space for guests to walk by them when occupied.

The point of course being, keep it simple and thinks about what will be able to serve the best uses. Here are some more tips and tricks for hardscaping around a pool:

  • Keep small boundaries from the fence to the patio or deck. Though you don’t want grass to populate the space between the patio and the fence, you do want to keep it looking great and natural. Stones will work, but use the proper materials to keep weeds and other things from growing up among the stones.
  • Understand the impact of installing big ticket items. An outdoor kitchen, be it partial and small or full and big, is a great functional living and future selling feature. However, think about it in terms of the most important things, such as garbage collection, dirty dishes, and meal preparation areas.
  • Leave enough room for family pets or a garden. If you have pets, you don’t want to deprive them of all their backyard space. In addition, you could also cultivate a vegetable or flower garden.

In addition, think about the overall flow that will be present once the pieces are in place. You want the space to have enough room to comfortably navigate and be easy to hose down from time to time.

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