Grading dilema

[Dirk]

Grass right up to the pool. No fertilizer in the pool, no dead grass from the pool water and no grass in the pool.

Cool. Does it still look that way? I sure couldn't pull that off, even with mine 5' away. But @Alhebling, apparently it can be done!

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

Over time you learn what works best in your advantage like time of day, wetting the coping so the grass will not slide over it before entering the pool and soaping the surface of the pool water. Picture taken today.

 

[Toxophilite]

Over time you learn what works best in your advantage like time of day, wetting the coping so the grass will not slide over it before entering the pool and soaping the surface of the pool water. Picture taken today.

I have grass mowing headache on backside of my pool. Can you explain "soaping" the water?

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

On this particular pool, after mowing, any grass clippings on the surface can be easily pushed the edges of the pool by first turning on the pool pump to activate the spa spillway, then spraying a water/soap mixture on the pool surface in front of where the spillway water meets the pool surface . This creates a surface tension that will push anything on the surface to the edges within only a few second and that can be netted easily. Used this trick back when I serviced pools.

 

[Dirk]

Over time you learn what works best in your advantage like time of day, wetting the coping so the grass will not slide over it before entering the pool and soaping the surface of the pool water. Picture taken today.

That looks great. But it sounds like you're at least cognizant of the challenges of grass near a pool, as you've come up with some work-arounds. That's all I meant to suggest to the OP. Same goes for any landscaping near a pool, always challenging. The trick (for me, anyway) is plant selection that helps minimize pool maintenance. The less leaves, or dead flowers, or pollen or grass clippings, the less work.

You certainly can fertilize landscaping without getting it into a pool. I was just pointing out that it's very easy to get fertilizer in the pool when you're working right up to the coping. Of course it's possible to have lawn right up to the coping, but at what cost (in terms of trouble and labor)? My idea of yard and pool maintenance is as little as possible, so I admit my "advice" is all projection. I'm lazy. There. I said it!!

 

[Dirk]

I have grass mowing headache on backside of my pool.

Not just me, then.

 

[Toxophilite]

On this particular pool, after mowing, any grass clippings on the surface can be easily pushed the edges of the pool by first turning on the pool pump to activate the spa spillway, then spraying a water/soap mixture on the pool surface in front of where the spillway water meets the pool surface . This creates a surface tension that will push anything on the surface to the edges within only a few second and that can be netted easily. Used this trick back when I serviced pools.

Thanks!! I do the first 2 before I start mowing and edging there, but have been using blower to push everything to skimmer area. Lately, the wind has not been in favor. Neat trick!

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

I advise my customers that it’s the look of the finished product that you don’t want to compromise on. Yes it does take work to achieve that and is something they have to consider strongly. Starting off in the service end of swimming pools before getting into the construction aspect helps me better understand what’s at the end of certain decisions.

 

[Dirk]

I advise my customers that it’s the look of the finished product that you don’t want to compromise on.

I don't 100% agree. Yes, most people would want their pool environment to be visually appealing, of course. Landscaping is a key component of that. But it is landscaping that contributes most to pool cleaning maintenance (in most pools). If plant types A,B and C can achieve the same general visual appeal as plants X,Y, and Z, but XYZ plants shed, drop, goo and otherwise muck up pool and deck, where ABC don't (or do so a lot less), then ya want ABC. (Or at least I would.)

The guy that designed my yard's landscaping (contracted by my home's previous owner) did a fantastic job (whether he intended to or not). I read here all the time, and hear it from my neighbors who have pools, the nightmares caused by leaves, pollen, dead flowers, bugs, bees, birds, etc, etc. Complaints about vacuuming, and brushing, and filter cleaning, and stain removal, and crud on the bottom and crud on the surface... the full range. I always find myself thinking "Gee, I don't have to deal with that." And my pool is completely surrounded by plants as close as 5' away. It's almost always spotless. The surface is almost always clear. No stains. I clean my filter once a year (and actually went two years this last time). I can let me skimmer basket go for a week or more. It's pretty luxurious even compared to the guy across the street, who has to dredge leaves out of his pool every day, because his vac can't keep up.

If ya gotta have a certain look, and that means a certain plant (like grass), and you don't mind the work that's going to take, then more power to ya. If you'd rather do what you can now, to design a low-maintenance landscape, taking into consideration how it affects your pool, so that you can sit around your pool instead of working around it, then now's the time to research what is best to plant. 'sall I'm sayin'...

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

That’s Very true, most pool owners don’t have trees or shrubs that contribute to the detrimental water conditions of their pool.

 

[Toxophilite]

This was my first inground. We paid a lot of attention to the front side and porch, leaving much of the back coping to just terminate above grass. This does create a ton of pool litter when edging and mowing now matter how you aim the cuts. For just a few feet of surround, I could have eliminated a bunch of skimming, skimmer dumping, and vacuuming every time I mow. I'm sure that's something many, many before me already know about designs. That will mean a bed of something later to move the mowing out, and that's another bed to weed

 

[Dirk]

This was my first inground. We paid a lot of attention to the front side and porch, leaving much of the back coping to just terminate above grass. This does create a ton of pool litter when edging and mowing now matter how you aim the cuts. For just a few feet of surround, I could have eliminated a bunch of skimming, skimmer dumping, and vacuuming every time I mow. I'm sure that's something many, many before me already know about designs. That will mean a bed of something later to move the mowing out, and that's another bed to weed

Well, it's always gunna be something! I replaced my lawns with Myoporum. It's a ground cover, evergreen, gets about 4-8" tall. Never needs mowing! You plant a few of them and they grow from there to be about 9' in diameter. Which means you only have to drip irrigate them in that one, original spot. It's lawn like, and gives the same general look, but with a fraction of the water and a fraction of the work. I have to edge it a few times a year, that's about it. It also does a good job of choking out weeds. Some will poke through, but not bad. And because I only water those nine-foot patches in a single spot, weeds aren't getting much in the way of light or water that would otherwise make them go crazy. Takes a few years to fill in though, so you mulch at first. You could plant more, closer, and get it filled in faster, but then you've got more watering spots. It's working out pretty well, so far. I can walk on it, and the kids can cross it to go get their ball or whatever, but it's not a play surface like a lawn, so that's the compromise.

 

[Dirk]

This isn't mine. Just grabbed it off the 'net. But this is what it looks like. Has a white flower part of the year. The more you squint, the more it looks like a lawn!