| Everybody Out of the Pool and Start Weeding! |
|
|
|
advertisement
|
 |
|
Clovis, Calif. -- Ryan and Pamela Gregg loved Hawaii, so much, they used palms, feathered grasses, banana trees and a variety of colorful perennials for their pool landscaping. "The look and feel is great," he says. Tropical schemes are popular in pool landscaping. (SHNS photo by Kurt Hegre/The Fresno Bee.)
|
By Kathy Barberich
Fresno Bee When Ken and Donna Olson of Clovis, near Fresno, California, put in a pool late last year, they had only a few ideas about the landscaping. "We had some sago palms we wanted to use, and we knew we wanted an English look with hedging," Ken Olson says. "That was it." They put in pipes for irrigation and wiring when the pool and cool deck were built, so when they landscaped in the spring, everything was ready. Ken Olson installed his own lighting but enlisted the help of landscape contractor Tim Friesen of Fresno for the rest of the project. "We wanted to make sure that the plants were ones that should go near pools, ones that would still be suitable years from now," he explains. "We decided to get help." Which is precisely what experts recommend when it comes to landscaping around pools: Know what you'd like to have, then ask someone who knows what's realistic. "Everyone should have a plan," says George Schantz of Evergreen Garden Center in Clovis. "When people come in and want to landscape around their pools, we ask them to tell us what look they want: tropical, formal. They can look in shelter magazines such as House & Garden and House Beautiful to get ideas. "They can bring in pictures from magazines or pictures they've taken of other people's pools that they like. Finally, I suggest they bring in a picture of their own pool and yard. Then we can make suggestions and tell them which plants will adapt well to their environments and what should be planted where." Evergreen does not charge design fees, Schantz says. "We charge only for the plants." Friesen concurs that people should have some idea what they want their pool area to look like. They'll also need to know about root systems of trees, how large trees will get and how messy they and other shrubbery are before planting. "A lot of trees have invasive roots," he says. "I've seen a lot of cool decking and pool equipment ruined by tree roots." Friesen says knowing what look you want around the pool helps determine the types of plants you'll need. "A few years ago, the mountain look, with lots of boulders and redwoods, was popular," he says. "Today the tropical or Mediterranean look is pretty big." Some tree and shrubbery suggestions for the mountain look include redwood, crape myrtle, dwarf mugo pine, stone pine, Tanyosho pine, evergreen maytenus and strawberry tree. "Redwoods are very popular," says Friesen. "They are beautiful, do not have an invasive root system and aren't terribly messy. But they do grow to a 15- to 20-foot spread. People think if they have 10 feet of space behind a pool, they can plant them. They should have at least 15 feet. You shouldn't plant them close to a fence. You can't control their growth." For tropical looks, Friesen recommends queen and excelsior palms because they have good root systems and look tropical. He likes excelsior palms because they aren't huge. They grow to 15 feet tall. "They will grow just about anywhere, and they don't drop anything," he says. "When a frond dies, it doesn't drop off. You have to cut if off." Queen palms grow taller and, unlike excelsior palms with hairy trunks, have smooth trunks and plumes at the top. Humulis palm is multitrunked, shorter than the excelsior, but has a 15-foot spread. Friesen likes to plant two or three palms for variety. Other tropical foliage includes tree ferns, cannas, red and green banana trees and regular and giant bird of paradise. "The banana trees freeze back in the winter, but they come back and grow to 10-12 feet in the spring," he says. "The bird of paradise offers a leafy look." For color, hydrangea and azalea are good, he says, and crape myrtles and agapanthus work well for both mountain and tropical landscaping. "The best way to add lots of color is to plant annuals in pots near the pool in spring and fall," Friesen suggests. Ryan and Pamela Gregg of Clovis put in a pool with a smooth-rock waterfall earlier this summer. Because they love Hawaii, they wanted a tropical feel to their landscaping. "I figured we wouldn't be able to afford any more tropical vacations, so we would make our back yard our paradise," says Ryan Gregg. They used palms, feathered grasses, banana trees and a variety of colorful perennials. "The look and feel is great," he adds. Getting the look you want is important, but staying away from some plants is a must, too. Schantz and Friesen recommend against leafy trees upwind from pools, where debris would blow right into the pool. They point out that sharp plants such as yucca and rose bushes near pool decking easily can stick pool users. Roses are OK if planted out of the way of traffic. Planting large shade trees near a pool is fine if you don't want the pool to get much sun. "And, a good rule of thumb," Friesen adds, "don't plant any fast-growing tree or shrub because if something grows fast, it probably has invasive roots. Slow growers are better. Ash, birch and weeping willow trees are very invasive." Schantz's suggestions for tropical looks also include philodendron and grasses such as red fountain, zebra and acorus, known as sweet flag. For some color, he suggests bougainvillea, hibiscus, dwarf crape myrtle and dwarf oleander. "They bloom beautifully in 100-plus degree weather," he says. He also likes the fancy-leafed cannas and the new shades of agapanthus, which also bloom in the heat of the summer. For a formal look, Schantz recommends boxwood hedges, topiary privets, iceberg roses and begonias. "If you plant correctly, it adds to the enjoyment of your pool and you don't have to worry that something won't be right 10 years from now," he says. Gary Nasstrom of Champagne Pools of Clovis encourages pool owners to take into account what the whole family will like when it comes to pool landscaping. "You are creating an atmosphere in your yard," he says. "You are setting a mood for the whole family." While his company does not do landscaping, he does offer his customers landscape design. "I will sit down with them and come up with a design that they can do themselves or hire done," Nasstrom says. "Many people like to do the plantings themselves and hire out the sprinkler system. Some people might not be able to do all of the plantings at once, but if they have a plan, they can do a little at a time. So, having a plan is very important." Besides sharp or thorny trees and bushes such as pyracantha, Nasstrom says plants that attract bees and other flying insects also should be avoided, as should trees, such as eucalyptus, with greasy and oily defoliation that will stain and clog pools. "A good design will always be that, a good design," he says. "The worst thing people can do is plant by impulse. Go to your local nursery and see what plants there are. Talk to the people there. Check out books on landscaping. Whether you are doing it yourself or hiring it done, do your homework." (Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.shns.com.)
| 
)
