Creative Above Ground Pool Landscaping Design Ideas

Above-ground pools can be an excellent addition to your backyard, providing a refreshing way to beat the summer heat. However, a plain pool can look uninviting and out of place in your yard. With the right landscaping, you can transform your above-ground pool into a stunning oasis that adds to the overall aesthetics of your outdoor space.

Installing a swimming pool in your garden or backyard guarantees beautiful moments of pleasure throughout the summer. For maximum comfort, practicality, and well-being, you should take great care to achieve an ideal outdoor layout around your swimming pool that best suits your needs and desires. You can choose from joyful tables, garden furniture for relaxation, and idleness on deck chairs. Or, you can opt not to choose and benefit from a space for every moment!

DIY Pool Ideas

Build a Deck

One of the best ways to enhance the look of your above-ground pool is by adding a deck. Not only does it look great, but it also provides an excellent place to lounge and soak up the sun. You can choose from a variety of materials, including wood, composite, or PVC.

Build a Retaining Wall

A retaining wall can add visual interest to your pool area and also help to prevent soil erosion. You can use natural stones or concrete blocks to build the wall, and you can also add plants or flowers to soften its look.

Install a Waterfall

A waterfall can add a calming element to your pool area, creating a serene and peaceful environment. You can choose from a variety of waterfall styles, including natural rock or contemporary designs.

Create a Rock Garden

A rock garden can be a beautiful and low-maintenance addition to your pool area. You can use various sizes and colors of rocks to create a unique and visually appealing landscape.

Add Lighting

Adding lighting to your above-ground pool area can enhance its look and also increase safety during nighttime swimming. You can choose from a variety of options, including string lights, lanterns, or underwater LED lights.

Furniture

Depending on the size of the pool deck, you can install deck chairs and a parasol, or you can create a real outdoor living space by including garden furniture such as sofas, armchairs, a coffee table, or even a space to have meals by the pool.

Natural materials like wood, cotton, and wicker provide comfort and softness, but a contemporary atmosphere may be more suitable to create harmony with the pool’s surroundings, whether it’s the house’s appearance, the outdoor furniture, or the garden’s decorative elements.

Plants

Placing plants around a swimming pool has specific aesthetic benefits. They break up the straight and flat side of the pool and its deck, making the whole area more lively and colorful.

What Are the Best Materials for Pool Landscaping?

The plants chosen around the pool should be well thought out. You can choose slender shrubs that are well-provided with foliage but not necessarily very dense. You can also select plants that blend well with your garden’s style for decoration. An important point for reducing pool maintenance is to favor evergreen plants.

Choose plants that resist chlorine (or salt, depending on your water treatment choice) and favor those that don’t shred their leaves and flowers quickly. For example, bamboo (Fargesia type, non-tracing), boxwood, olive trees, and cypresses are good options. Planting ground cover plants along the pool deck will soften the lines.

Equipment

The right choice of pool equipment and accessories can make your pool a real living space for the whole summer season, both practical and providing great day-to-day comfort.

• A solar shower may seem like a small piece of equipment, but it’s one of the most useful, whether you’re getting out of the water to rinse off chlorine or for a quick refreshment if you don’t feel like diving.
• A summer kitchen may seem complex to build, but a simple work plan with a sink will ideally accompany the barbecue or plancha. Shelves to hold dishes on-site and a dining area nearby allow you to spend the most time at the water’s edge and feel like you’re on vacation.
• A pool house is a shelter that can be used to protect the pool pump and other equipment and can also be extended to accommodate garden furniture or a summer kitchen.
• Privacy screens are perfect for isolating the pool from the rest of the garden, restricting people from peeping in, or even protecting them from the wind.

Some Ideas to Inspire You

Here are some excellent above-ground pool landscaping ideas that you can incorporate into your backyard:

1. Pool Deck

Build a pool deck to make your above-ground pool look irresistible. This form of landscaping involves building a surface around the copings. To achieve this project, you can use stones, wood, concrete, tiles, etc.

How about a stone structure with wooden paving around half of the basin? It can be equipped with magnificent mixed steps to break up this above-ground aspect of the pool. Arrange two to three designer pool deck chairs on its surface and a few plants to refine your decoration.

The swimming pool deck offers other layout possibilities. It all depends on your preferences regarding architecture and the space you have. A wooden deck that covers the swimming pool is a good idea for those who wish to have a separate area that can be personalized.

2. Aesthetic Cladding

Building a pool deck can be expensive. However, remember that it is possible to make your relaxation space a paradise, even on a tight budget. This time, opt for stylish and timeless cladding to embellish your above-ground pool.

We naturally think of a concrete coating to carry out such a project. It is a timeless and easy-to-maintain material that gives character to the garden. It can be decorated with wooden duckboards and a few plants.

Another above-ground swimming pool layout tip that could appeal to you is the synthetic fiber panel cladding. A trendy material for making garden furniture, it is also used as a coating for swimming pools. You will find many patterns and shapes to beautify your outdoor space. The advantage of aesthetic fibers is that they are effortless to install. This cladding adds undeniable charm to your outdoor space in cream, gray, and coffee colors.

3. A Clean and Natural Style

For the exterior layout of an above-ground swimming pool with a wooden deck, opt for sofas or benches in wood, align them facing the swimming pool, and pair them with cushions in natural colors. Depending on your budget, you can build a pool house at the back attached to which you can install a summer kitchen with a barbecue. This shelter will be handy for lunch in the shade and slightly chilly evenings at the end of the season. And, incidentally, a place to store your furniture.

4. Colorful and Warm

The layout of this wooden deck, grayed by time, is harmoniously mismatched, which makes it welcoming and friendly. An exotic wooden bench, terracotta pots, designer lounge chairs, and a colorful Asian umbrella-style parasol have been combined, highlighting the tiles overlooking the swimming pool and the color of the liner.

5. Modern Blended with Classics

The outdoor layout of a garden swimming pool can be refined and contemporary to best match a modern house. Resin garden furniture is very suitable for these types of pools. They offer a natural appearance thanks to their braiding and modern look due to their pure lines.

6. Raised Sundeck

The outdoor layout of an above-ground pool often seems complex, while the pool itself requires less work and a lighter budget. The idea is to create a raised sundeck around the pool, on a portion or the entire perimeter. This also makes it possible to delimit the garden and swimming areas and to bring additional interest to the whole.

7. Foliage

Tubular swimming pools are the least expensive and easiest to install, without the need for authorization. The downside is its appearance is not the most graceful. To make its outline more aesthetic, surround it with a beautiful exotic wood deck. Then plan attractive bins or tall flower pots, which you can place all around your swimming pool, which will make you forget its exterior. A little extra: build a small wooden platform with a staircase at the level of the ladder to go down into the pool.

8. Assorted

When the exterior of a house is not very spacious, and a swimming pool is installed, it can be challenging to arrange the pool’s perimeter to take advantage of both a dining area and a relaxation area. An excellent way to achieve this layout is to choose furniture with the same look or select elements of the same color and style.

9. Pep

A small pool can seem lost in the middle of its deck. To give it more presence, play with plants and arrange furniture for character. Add bright colors that will make everything come to life.

10. Exotic

Trees arranged all around the swimming pool, the whiteness of the furniture and the deck, and the wooden parasol. Everything is done to bring a bit of the tropics and a lot of character around this swimming pool.

11. Invisible

Here, on the contrary, the emphasis is on the swimming pool and the wild nature that surrounds it. A light-colored deck, gravel, and brief furniture, two white wooden deck chairs shaded by a parasol of the same color, and two white deck chairs. Everything is done so that the furniture is functional, and its color is identical to the deck’s, making it almost invisible.

12. Mix and Match

A contrasting bias is taken around this swimming pool. The lounge chairs catch the eye and make you want to lie down there thanks to the thickness of their cushions and the welcome shade of the parasols, which are also very marked in terms of design.

13. Ramp/Access Stairs for the Pool

Whether you have purchased a tubular pool, a freestanding pool, or a wooden pool, one black point is always missing: the entrance. Most of the time, these types of pools are delivered with different ladder models, from the plastic one to the aluminum one, with or without a platform that is not aesthetically pleasing. Rather than using this type of material, build a ramp or an access staircase that allows you to enter the water the same way you go upstairs in your house, or get a high-quality pool stair for above-ground pools.

14. Relaxation Corner

You can make your bathing space more original with a bit of creativity. Use natural materials to cover above-ground pools. For example, lining your pool with wooden wicker is an excellent idea to give it more character. You can use reed as an alternative to wicker, which provides warmth for outdoor landscaping.

To make this space friendlier, take inspiration from exotic-themed decorations. Install a straw bar to serve refreshing drinks around your above-ground pool. This efficient idea frees you from going back and forth between the house and the garden. You can install a small exotic kitchen near the swimming pool if your budget allows it. The guests will have the impression of being invited to a tiki bar with a bathing area.

15. Getting Back to Nature

You can create a simple and natural above-ground swimming pool by drawing inspiration from your garden surroundings. If your pool doesn’t blend in with the landscape, it may be because it’s installed without considering other elements.

A great trick is to try hiding the metal structures of the pool with the help of attractive plants. Hanging flowers, shrubs, and perennials are all great choices that can give your pool a more welcoming appearance. Opt for plants that bloom throughout the summer season for long-lasting decoration.

To complete your layout, place attractive designer lights among the plants to create a romantic atmosphere in the space in the evening. If your pool is set on a hard surface, consider using steps made of similar material to create a pleasant illusion.

16. Composite Wood/Resin Cladding

Self-supporting swimming pools can easily benefit from a composite wood coating – a relatively lightweight material that resists high humidity well. Synthetic resin panels are another cladding option for contemporary design countertop basins.

17. Stilted Terrace

Another option is to build a deck on stilts that surrounds your above-ground pool. Raised decks are among the most attractive options to elevate your outdoor space and make it more practical. However, these constructions require a specific initial investment and may require authorization, especially if their area is more extensive.

18. Pebbles

They are the cheapest way to change the look of your pool.

19. Rock Garden

More Ideas:

These few outdoor landscaping ideas around a swimming pool may inspire you to create your layout to best suit your way of life and your desires. It would be best to draw the ideas that appeal to you or correspond to your configuration from these creations. Depending on the materials, the colors, and the installation, you will obtain an outdoor space that suits you. Have a great pool time!