Do you ever feel like you don’t have enough privacy around your pool? We’ll show you how to landscape for privacy around your pool with fences, hedges, hardscapes, and privacy roofs.
With today’s modern landscaping options, you can have privacy without sacrificing your Dallas yard’s perfect ambiance, and we’ll show you how.
Fences
One of the best ideas to make your pool private is to put a fence around it. Fences act as a barrier between your pool and the world outside, allowing you to enjoy life with your family without any worries. You can get pool fences in various materials like wood, aluminum, vinyl, etc, to match your landscape style.
You can install a fence yourself, but you’ll probably get better results by hiring a contractor. The average cost to install a fence is $3,400.
Note: For safety reasons, homeowners in the state of Texas are required to install a fence of at least 48 inches high around swimming pools. The fence can have no gaps larger than 4 inches wide, and chain-link or slatted fences that are easy to climb don’t count.
Hedges
Hedges are known as living barriers. If your fence doesn’t provide enough privacy, hedges can be a natural, stylish alternative. Well-placed hedges with a height ranging from 5 to 10 feet serve as an excellent privacy screen around a pool.
The best privacy hedges for Dallas include:
- Boxwood
- Cherry laurel
- Holly
- Leyland cypress
When landscaping around a pool, plant hedge species that do not shed a lot of needles or leaves so they don’t clog your pool filter. Consider regular hedge trimming and pruning for better growth and visuals.
You can grow annuals like Lantana among the shrubs to add color and texture. Want to go for some tropical plants for privacy? You can use palms, like dwarf palmetto, as specimen plantings in a privacy hedge. They are drought-tolerant and thrive in North Texas.
Trellis or Lattice Screens
Trellis and lattice screens are similar types of privacy sources for your pool. A trellis is a framework commonly made of metal or wood that supports growing plants and shrubs. A lattice is a bit thicker, crisscrossed wooden frame. Either of these can be used as privacy screens when installed around your pool.
To add some visual attractiveness to your landscape around the pool, you might grow vines like fig ivy. Vines will beautify your trellis or lattice screen and provide extra coverage from the unwelcome eyes of your neighbors.
Privacy Plants
Plants can be a great source of privacy, as they both protect your pool area from neighbors’ prying eyes and enhance your landscape design. Growing Texas native plants, including trees, vines, and succulents, is one of the best privacy options, as they require low maintenance and are adapted to the Dallas climate.
Just be sure you know where your backyard and pool are vulnerable to outsiders, so you can place plants and trees accordingly. If done correctly, plants can also reduce noise pollution in the pool area.
Go for tropical trees like palm trees which can survive the Dallas temperature to cover your backyard poolside. For added privacy, grow smaller tropical plants like hibiscus to fill in the gaps at the lower levels of your landscape.
Some ornamental grasses, like Mexican feather grass, can also serve as a privacy screen for an inground pool in Dallas. This species thrives in hardiness zones 6-10 and is drought-tolerant. Its mature height is between 18 inches to 2 feet, making it a good choice for seclusion.
Layered Flower Beds
Layers of flower beds act as a privacy barrier around your pool deck. In these flower beds, you can use flowers native to Dallas, like lemon beebalm or purple coneflower. You can arrange various grasses and shrubs in the bed from shortest to tallest, starting at the front. This attractive landscape feature will improve the look of your pool while preventing nosy neighbors from seeing into your yard.
Hardscapes Around the Pool
Of course, a pool’s privacy solution doesn’t have to use merely plants or flowers. A gazebo or pergola are examples of outdoor living spaces that can serve as effective privacy screens for your pool. Keep in mind your privacy and then strategically place them along the poolside landscape.
Adding drop-down screens or shades to a pergola or gazebo creates an exclusive environment to enjoy the outdoors with your friends and family.
Privacy Roofs
Sometimes it’s not strangers at the street level that are the problem. You could be trying to block the view from the second floor of the house next door. If your privacy concern is above your pool, a privacy roof may be what you need. It does double duty and protects you from the harsh Texas sun, too.
If you don’t have construction experience, you should seek professional help building a privacy roof above your pool. You want seclusion and shade, not stuff falling in the pool — or even worse, falling on people in the pool.
FAQ
Depending on circumstances like your location, weather, the time of year, and the size of your pool, a new pool may be built in 6-12 weeks. That includes preparation, permit acquisition, excavation, and installation.
Pool areas should be constructed with materials that are non-slip and have a low heat retention rate to minimize injuries from falls and burns.
Mulch shouldn’t be used close to the pool, as it displaces easily. Use gravel, pebbles, or other decorative rocks instead.
Have Fun Enjoying Your Private Pool in Dallas
An attractive pool area may be both an investment and an escape from the stresses of everyday life, but how can you make the area surrounding your pool intimate and inviting?
Create a pool landscape in Dallas following your local climate and unique privacy needs. You can do this yourself with some of the examples listed above, or you might hire a landscaping professional in Dallas to help design a private poolside landscape. If you need pool installation or maintenance, hire a local pool pro.
Main Photo Credit: Pexels
