Hello, I am inquiring about softscaping the area around my pool. I love in zone 6a and I am looking for shrubs, trees or plants that can provide privacy and visual interest but are low maintenance.
I only have 2 feet of planting space along the sides of the fence.
I have approximately 5-6 feet behind the pool to the back fence. The back area is a swail where all the water drains down the backyards.
Any suggestions for trees or shrubs that can fill that space and love to grow in a water soaked environment which gets full sun all day.
As you will see in the photo the back of the pool will have a water feature and will be lined with armour stone on each side of that feature.
I have attached a drawing of my backyard plans
Thank you
It looks like you have two very different areas for planting around your pool: one along the back of the pool, and the other along the two shorter sides of the pool.
The area behind your pool has wet soil (i.e. standing water), full sun, and 5-6 feet of planting space. The following plants should provide privacy while being tolerant of wet soil and are low maintenance:
Evergreen
- Eastern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis)
- Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides)
- Inkberry (Ilex glabra)
- American holly (Ilex opaca)
Deciduous
- Siberian dogwood (Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’)
- Silky dogwood (Cornus amomum)
- Gray dogwood (Cornus racemosa)
- Redosier dogwood (Cornus sericea)
- Possumhaw (Ilex decidua)
- Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
- American elder (Sambucus canadensis)
- Highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum)
- Arrowwood viburnum (Viburnum dentatum)
- European Cranberrybush (Viburnum opulus)
- American Cranberrybush (Viburnum trilobum)
The areas along the shorter sides of the pool have only 2 feet of planting space. Given the limited space climbing plants may be preferable here. We hesitate to recommend specific ones since we don’t know the sun exposure level or soil condition.
In addition, take a look at our detailed response to planting for privacy around swimming pools, where you will find additional planting suggestions and other factors you should consider before finalizing your plant choices.
We wish you the best of luck with your swimming pool planting.