Best trees around pool

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A

adiaconu

0
Jun 15, 2010
5
San Rafael, CA
Hi all,

I just moved into this house that has a pool with bottle brush trees 3 feet away from the pool. Their flowers are nice but made my pool maintenance a night mare as the leaves and flowers drop in the pool continuously.

I've been thinking to cut them off and replace with a different type of trees that don't lose so many leaves.
Can you please suggest some species?

Thanks,
Adrian
 
I agree with John. I have worked with landscaping for years and tree selection around a pool is tricky. When I built my pool (last fall) several folks on here made some really good suggestions. You need to determine why you are wanting the tree (screening vs aesthetics vs shade) and that will focus your decisions. Then add climate and try to find things that don't have cones and are evergreen and your selection gets down to a very small number of options. Post where you live and I'm sure others will have suggestions. I also googled landscaping, north carolina, pools (or something like that) and got some good ideas.
 
Remember you can also use large bushes and trim them up to resemble trees. People often do that with Waxleaf Ligustrums and Wax Myrlte. Palms are good if your climate will support that. I am very fond of the Giant Bird of Paradise that was 15' tall before the Big Freeze this winter and is now 2' tall and returning from the roots.

As Grant said, climate is key, but also it matters what the purpose is for the plant. And how much actual room there is; you don't want a tree crashing into the eves of the house when the wind blows, if there is only 4' between the pool and the fence you need something that does not have big roots or too large a spread.

Some trees have a season where they are a pain, but it is short, like the Loquats that are near our pool decking. Smallish evergreen unremarkable except for spring when they develop fruit - very tasty but all manner of critters come to eat and spread seeds as they eat, and lots of fruit drops with out being picked. So a sweeping chore and pulling of seedlings, mostly before swim season starts.
 
Also keep in mind height and horizontal spread. Will it block all your sunlight when it matures?
 
JohnT said:
No trees are good. Some are less bad than others. You'll need to post where you live, because that makes a huge difference.
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This is some good advice. The best trees for pools are no trees at all. But then, that's not very nice at all so we must find a compromise.

We have Mexican fan palms (3) right up by our pool. We also have wax myrtles (2) right up by our pool as well. The wax myrtles are a year-round nightmare between the berries, pollen, and leaves. I am constantly digging trash out of the pool from them. Not to mention that they are very heavy trees, snapping in two at the least provocation, and then send off runners everywhere. One nice thing is that they grow quickly and therefore, if you want quick shade, they will deliver.

Our palms don't cause really any problems. Nothing drops into the pool. They are beautiful and quite hardy.
 
257WbyMag said:
JohnT said:
We have Mexican fan palms (3) right up by our pool.

Our palms don't cause really any problems. Nothing drops into the pool. They are beautiful and quite hardy.
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Click to expand...

:lol: :lol: :lol: We call those "bird poop palms" out here! Birds eat the seeds and poop them out, and then they pop up everywhere. If you don't trim the skirts, rats like to make nests in them. Most people out this way hate them and cut them down as soon as possible! It's funny how we each see things differently!
 
I have a Pindo Palm as a centerpiece at the back of the pool. Quite majestic however now it is full of what will become fruits that can be made into jelly if the squirrels don't take them all. The green ones fall into the pool and fill the Polaris quickly. We cut what we can before that happens, or hope to, it really needs doing now.

Dwarf Canary Island palms were tender and half died this winter.

As for large shrubs, look at Viburnums, there are several, some spread to become rather large and dense, others are more managable. Mine, not sure of the type, is evergreen and blooms in winter/early spring.
 
Thanks for replies!

I live in northern CA 15 miles north of San Francisco so the climate is mild. The reason I need trees is privacy since the pool is a few feet away from the street and there is a street uphill that overlooks the yard. I've been thinking to plan some cypreses, what do you think?
 

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I know this is an old thread but I didn't see any answers to the question so I thought I would chime in. A Mastic is a smaller tree (or large shrub) that is good around pools and should work in CA. It does offer total shade however rather than filtered sun. You may also be able to grow Aloe Trees in CA and elsewhere in the Southwestern States. Aloe Hercules, Aloe Goliath, Aloe Ferox, Aloe Marlothii and Aloe Dichotoma all bring interesting looks and are nearly 100% maintenance free and no mess. Many are also show stoppers when blooming. You may also find that some cactus may be appropriate if it is an adult pool. Not all of them have nasty thorns and taller varieties like the San Pedro Cactus and some varieties and hybrids of Myrtillocactus are perfect by pools.

As someone has pointed out, a Mexican fan palm is a great option. The palms make a nice sound in the wind and they are pretty much care free except for one day a year when you trim them. The key here is to wait until summer has brought the "horns" out which are the flower and later seed clusters. Once they come out, get them trimmed and skin the bottom and you have yourself another year of maintenance/litter free tree. No flowers or fruit (mess) to worry about.
 
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