Hey ya'll! We've finally decided on our pool and the digging begins in a couple of weeks. We live on a small farm and our back yard is probably close to two acres. We wanted to plant Red Oak trees throughout, due to their shade and high canopy. We were told that we could plant them around the pool as long as we're 22-25 feet away from any given point. Does anyone here have experience with this? Should we go with a different tree? We don't want palms, etc....we want the pool landscape/hardscape to be simple and clean and the focal point on our land. We love Red Oaks...but we certainly don't want a pool problem or water problem.
Red Oak Trees and Pools
- Thread starter DoubleJRanch
- Start date
red oaks are beautiful and they have great big leaves and love to find pools... also you want the sun to hit your pool as much as possible to warm the water.. a couple red oak trees in 5 to 10 years may block all sun from the pool and your water will be very cold in the summer... we like our water above 82 and below 90 and it will get there with a cover in the spring and fall..
This will all depend on where you put trees and the pool and the sun...
This will all depend on where you put trees and the pool and the sun...
panic_button
Bronze Supporter
We have a Live Oak near our pool, the acorns continuously fall in an stain the plaster. To do it over again, the tree would be removed prior to the build.
Thank you for your feedback! Maybe I should plant the red oaks closer to the pasture and find something simple like an evergreen for shade. Or...would you suggest no trees near the pool for warmth?
I have red and white oaks and they are messy messy trees. The drop leaves, acorns, flower snot string things, and dusty pollen. Being so tall the leaves collect whatever dust or dirt is blowing around up there and then when it rains it comes down in sludge form. 25 feet away is nothing. The wind will easily blow whatever its dropping up to 150 ft or more away. Except for the acorns, they'll pretty much drop like bricks.
My vote would always be an evergreen/ arborvitae / cypress type tree.
My vote would always be an evergreen/ arborvitae / cypress type tree.
Thank you for your feedback! This is very helpful.
We have 4 oaks that we need to plant soon. I’ll definitely be moving those further away from the immediate back yard. They’re beautiful trees but I’d rather keep the messiness near the pastures.
I just googled it and they grow around 2 foot a year and take about 20 years to mature. Maybe it won’t be so bad for a while. Lol.
If deciduous, you are looking for something with an open/airy canopy, very small flowers, no fruit and one that doesn't shed leaves beginning in July, slowly through October. And preferably drops it's leaves over short period. Take that tree, of which I have no examples, and plant it about 150' away as Newdude says. I would ideally never want any branches even over my decking.
Actually, many trees planted about 100-150' away won't be too much of a problem. Better if the pool isn't downstream of prevailing winds. But do avoid trees with small leaves that drop from midsummer on. You never notice it until you have pool. Small leaves float on the surface to the side. Then each wave in the pool pushes the leaves up higher on the tile where they stick until you remove them. My example of that is a 'Sunburst' Honeylocust. All the great attributes except tiny leaves that fall slowly starting in about July.
20 years passes like the blink of an eye.
But life isn't perfect (and we didn't need 2020's shenanigans to prove that to us thanks). I planted a scarlet oak and sawtooth oak before we had any dreams of a pool. Their trunks are 50-60' from the water. Oh well. But the (our) magic answer is an autocover. You can deal with many spring/fall tree issues with one. Only drawback, the $15K lighter your wallet will be for it.
Evergreens aren't trouble free either. I cut down most of a row of healthy Leyland Cypress because they were so tall enough and old enough (20 years old), that when a high thunderstorm wind (50+ MPH) would come through from the correct direction, the pool got 100% covered from the dead internal tree litter in 30 seconds.
Actually, many trees planted about 100-150' away won't be too much of a problem. Better if the pool isn't downstream of prevailing winds. But do avoid trees with small leaves that drop from midsummer on. You never notice it until you have pool. Small leaves float on the surface to the side. Then each wave in the pool pushes the leaves up higher on the tile where they stick until you remove them. My example of that is a 'Sunburst' Honeylocust. All the great attributes except tiny leaves that fall slowly starting in about July.
20 years passes like the blink of an eye.
But life isn't perfect (and we didn't need 2020's shenanigans to prove that to us thanks). I planted a scarlet oak and sawtooth oak before we had any dreams of a pool. Their trunks are 50-60' from the water. Oh well. But the (our) magic answer is an autocover. You can deal with many spring/fall tree issues with one. Only drawback, the $15K lighter your wallet will be for it.
Evergreens aren't trouble free either. I cut down most of a row of healthy Leyland Cypress because they were so tall enough and old enough (20 years old), that when a high thunderstorm wind (50+ MPH) would come through from the correct direction, the pool got 100% covered from the dead internal tree litter in 30 seconds.
