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For many home owners in Bahrain the eventual landscape luxury is to have a swimming pool. Apart from being a recreational delight, your pool can be an asset to your overall landscape design, complementing the other features in your garden and the surrounding property.
The paving around the pool is equally significant as a design element and safety. The minimum required width of a pool deck is one metre; if you want to have space for loungers or tables and chairs, you will need to make it wider. You need to look for a balance between enough paving for adequate living space and not so much that it becomes a vast wasteland.
The most common poolside paving is concrete, because it is both economical and versatile. But if you prefer a rough textured finish, leave the aggregate exposed. In addition to being nice-looking, an exposed aggregate surface is less slippery than smooth concrete.
As people spend a lot of time barefoot near a pool, you will want a fine textured aggregate such as pea gravel that doesn't have a lot of sharp edges. Another option is to tint the concrete. Choose a colour that will blend with other elements in your landscape as well as give the deck surface a warmer feel.
Tinted concrete also creates less glare, an important consideration where summer sun is intense. But concrete can become burning hot when it is exposed to hours of direct sun. A more expensive alternative to this is to have a special cooling surface trowelled onto the concrete when your pool decking is installed.
Other interesting possibilities for pool decking include wood, paving tiles, blocks, bricks, flagstones and granite. Your choice should be guided by budget, as well as how the material will blend with your overall landscape design. Bricks and flagstone laid in symmetrical patterns tend to look formal, while flagstones laid in a crazy pattern and wooden decking are more casual.
Planting around a pool relieve the plainness of paving and add much needed height to predominantly horizontal landscape feature. Bear in mind, however, that swimming pools can create specific challenges for plants.
Poolside plants should be tidy: Avoid plants that will drop leaves, petals or fruits, as well as plants with tiny leaves that will clog the filter. Select plants that don't have invasive or extensive roots, which can cause the decking to heave.
Choose chemical tolerant plants: It is attractive to have planting beds right next to the pool, with foliage dropping over the edge. However these plants are likely to have chlorinated water splash onto them. A good solution is to choose plants that are less sensitive to pool chemicals, ornamental grasses could be a good option.
Use plants to hide unattractive maintenance equipment: Evergreen shrubs, as well as ornamental grasses can be used for this purpose.
Use low-maintenance plants: When designing your poolside plantings, keep the beds as low-maintenance as possible so you spend your time swimming rather than tending plants that require high care levels.
Try potted plants instead of beds: Invest in several tubs or urns that are large enough to hold a large shrub or even a small tree. Fill several pots with a variety of flowering annuals to create colourful bouquets; then cluster them together to add weight and importance.
Include drainage in the pool decking: Whether you decide to include beds right up to the pool or place around the periphery, make sure the decking has a good drainage system which directs water away from the house.
