7 Backyard Landscaping Ideas for Your Inground Pool

Don’t leave your new beautiful pool to languish in an uninspired backyard! With the right pool landscaping, you can transform your outdoor pool from a pit for laps into a full aesthetic escape.

Check out seven of our favourite backyard pool landscaping ideas below for the inspiration you need to get started.

Transform your poolside into a captivating jungle-inspired plant oasis, invoking the essence of a tropical getaway in your backyard. Embrace the allure of lush greens by strategically surrounding one side of the pool with various enchanting plants, including ferns, hostas, hibiscus, and resilient cold-resistant palms. Beyond the aesthetic charm, this landscaping choice offers countless opportunities to enhance your outdoor space’s beauty and functionality.

Enjoy natural privacy as the dense foliage forms a visually pleasing screen, shielding your pool area from prying eyes. The cooling effect provided by these verdant additions creates a more comfortable environment during warmer months, while their low-maintenance nature ensures year-round appeal. Embrace biodiversity, attract wildlife, and prevent soil erosion as you immerse yourself in the fragrance of aromatic blooms. This thoughtfully curated jungle-inspired oasis turns your poolside into a harmonious blend of visual delight, practical advantages, and a continuous tropical retreat.

Create Inviting Spaces with Built-In Benches

Elevate the functionality of your pool area by seamlessly merging aesthetics with comfort by including built-in benches. These strategically placed seating additions redefine your pool landscaping, creating inviting spaces with more than just a visual appeal.

Concrete pool builders like Watchman Pools can help you work benches into your outdoor pool design. Perfect for areas requiring a retaining wall, the built-in benches serve a dual purpose: structural support and comfortable seating! The integration of these seating elements enhances the overall ambience and encourages social interaction, transforming your poolside into a social hub for friends and family.

Benches, when paired with outdoor pillows or cushions, become cosy retreats, ideal for relaxation and sun-soaked lounging. Beyond their inviting aesthetics, these benches contribute to the practicality of your pool area, offering convenient seating options for gatherings and creating a seamless blend of hardscaping comfort and social functionality.

Whether enjoying a refreshing dip or simply basking in the sun, built-in benches enrich your poolside experience, providing a harmonious balance of style and comfort.

Create a Relaxing Poolside Cabana Space.

Transform your poolside into a haven of relaxation with the addition of a shaded lounging paradise. Embrace the soothing comfort of a poolside cabana space effortlessly created by installing a sail shade complemented by inviting lounging chairs. The benefits extend beyond mere shade, introducing practical features that redefine your pool area.

Perfect for warm summer days, the sail shade provides respite from the sun and contributes to a cooler microclimate, enhancing overall comfort. Paired with comfortable lounging chairs, this shaded retreat becomes ideal for leisurely reading, socialising, or simply unwinding by the pool.

For those seeking a touch of luxury, consider the opulence of an open-air pool house reminiscent of 5-star resorts. This elevated addition offers shade and transforms your pool area into a true sanctuary, providing an exclusive space for relaxation, entertainment, and escape.

Whether opting for a sail shade or indulging in a poolside retreat akin to a luxury resort, the shaded lounging paradise brings a perfect blend of practicality and luxury to your pool landscaping, ensuring that every moment spent by the pool is comfortable and indulgent.

Expand Pool Decking Space with Minimalist Landscaping

Optimise both style and cost-effectiveness by embracing xeriscaping around your pool deck. This minimalist landscaping approach, centred around drought-resistant plants and features, not only introduces a chic aesthetic but also presents a range of practical advantages, making it a smart choice for your pool area.

One of the key benefits lies in cost minimisation. By selecting plants that thrive in arid conditions, xeriscaping reduces water consumption, lowers maintenance costs, and increases sustainability. The overall result is a visually appealing poolside oasis that remains environmentally conscious.

Moreover, xeriscaping allows for expanding your pool decking space without incurring exorbitant expenses. By strategically arranging drought-resistant elements, you can maximise your Palm Springs-like vibe, creating a stylish and budget-friendly pool area that seamlessly blends modern design with sustainable landscaping.

Incorporating xeriscaping into your pool landscaping not only demonstrates a commitment to eco-friendly practices but also establishes a visually striking and economically sensible outdoor space for your relaxation and enjoyment.

Lounge into the Night with a Poolside Firepit

Transform your poolside into a captivating retreat that extends well into the night with the addition of a built-in firepit. This thoughtful landscaping choice not only introduces an element of evening elegance but also offers an array of practical features, enhancing the overall allure and functionality of your outdoor space.

A professionally installed propane-burning fire pit becomes the focal point of your pool area, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere. Beyond the aesthetic charm, the firepit is a gathering point for memorable evenings with friends and family, fostering cosy conversations and relaxation by the pool.

Practical benefits include the convenience of a controlled flame, providing both warmth and illumination. The firepit’s presence adds versatility to your poolside, allowing you to enjoy the ambience of a crackling fire, turning ordinary nights around the pool into extraordinary experiences.

Embrace the enchantment of evening elegance with a built-in firepit, turning your pool area into a year-round haven for delightful gatherings and serene moments under the stars.

Plant Flowers to Engage Your Senses

Elevate your poolside experience into a captivating sensory delight by introducing strategically placed aromatic flowers. Opt for tried-and-true choices like lavender and geraniums, renowned for their pleasing scents and adaptability to various climates. This landscaping choice not only enhances the aesthetic charm of your pool area but also introduces an array of practical benefits to enrich your outdoor space.

The fragrance of aromatic flowers engages your senses, creating a serene and inviting atmosphere around the pool. These strategically positioned blooms contribute to a continuous sensory journey, making every moment spent by the pool a multisensory delight.

Extend the blooming season by cultivating your favourite flowers in pots, ensuring a fragrant and visually appealing pool landscape throughout the year. For a touch of sophistication, train wisteria or star jasmine along retaining walls, fences, or pergolas, creating a fragrant wall of colour that adds elegance and olfactory pleasure to your poolside retreat.

Immerse yourself in the beauty of scented blooms, transforming your pool area into a sanctuary that not only pleases the eyes but engages all your senses for a truly enchanting outdoor experience.

Infuse a touch of natural grandeur into your pool landscaping with the addition of a rock wall, elevating both aesthetics and practicality. This landscaping feature, whether seamlessly integrated during pool construction or retrofitted later, introduces a bespoke charm that transforms your pool area into a visual masterpiece.

Real or artificial boulders, strategically placed along a portion of the pool, enhance the landscape and provide a customised and natural feel. The versatility of this addition extends beyond mere visual appeal, with some boulders even featuring built-in speakers, creating an immersive audio-visual experience by the poolside.

From a practical perspective, the rock wall is a creative solution for both new and existing pools, seamlessly blending into the overall design. The strategic placement of boulders not only defines the pool’s edge but also adds character and a sense of refinement, creating an elegant and harmonious fusion of nature and design in your outdoor oasis.

Immerse yourself in the enchanting elegance of a rock wall, turning your pool area into a bespoke retreat that captures the beauty of nature while embracing modern functionality.

Watchman Pools can assist you with your full outdoor pool experience, handling pool design and installation. We can also bring your inground pool landscaping ideas to life to ensure your backyard is the envy of the block. Speak to us today to get started.