Say you’ve picked out the perfect hot tub or swim spa for your home, and now you’re brainstorming all of the landscaping ideas for your backyard. It’s only natural to want to create your dream backyard when adding a spa to your home. Here are some of our top practical tips for landscaping around your hot tub or swim spa in 2022.
Backyard Landscaping Tips 101
1. Privacy is Key
First thing’s first is establishing the right area for your hot tub or swim spa. If your backyard is like most and your neighbours are close by, then it’s likely that you’ll want some privacy. There are many ways to achieve this, whether through the addition of a fence, gate or trees and bushes. It all depends on the backyard aesthetic you’re going for, the space you have, how your spa is being installed (above or in-ground) and your budget. However, it’s important to remember that while large trees provide excellent privacy, they can also come with some potential downfalls. For starters, they can potentially offer a lot of shade, which isn’t necessarily always the best. Having sunlight not only keeps the water warmer for longer, but makes the entire experience more enjoyable for those using it.
2. Trees and Shrubbery
As previously mentioned, trees can provide you with the privacy you desire, but may also cause potential problems. For example, if you’re putting your hot tub right next to very large trees, ensure the roots won’t become an issue down the line. For instance, you don’t want to be dealing with a shifting surface of your swim spa or hot tub because a tree’s roots have made their way to this part of the ground. If you are planning on planting new trees to provide privacy, it’s best to become familiar with the growing patterns of the trees themselves and their roots. Because, of course, this isn’t to say you should be fearful of adding some nature to your backyard, but rather, simply be informed of what that tree could look like years down the road.
With the addition of trees or shrubbery also comes potential leaves, bugs, etc. This is another reason why you want to ensure that your hot tub or spa isn’t directly under trees or shrubs, especially those that have a tendency to drop leaves often or have fruit or pollen that could fall into your spa. This more so has to do with how clean you’ll be able to keep your spa rather than safety issues. This one is more about convenience than anything else.
3. Choosing the Right Plant Life
Surrounding your swim spa or hot tub with plant life is an excellent choice. Not only does it create a yard with more depth and colour, but it is also a way to express creativity and make a space your own. However, when it comes to choosing the right plant life, ensuring that they won’t be harmed by chlorine is key. Although it’s very unlikely that your hot tub or spa will have too much water spilling out, when the whole family gets to playing or swimming, at least a little bit is bound to spill out. With this spilled water will come whatever chemicals are in it to keep it clean. Therefore, choosing more resilient plants that are chlorine-resistant is important. This will allow your plant life to last longer and remain in a healthy state regardless of what might come it’s way!
4. Think Long-Term
Of course, when choosing a swim spa or hot tub, we plan to have it for many years to come. And although it will surely be difficult to find plants that will last the upwards of 20-plus years that some swim spas do, it’s still best to look at them long-term. Whether part of your landscaping work involves planting a tree or many different types of foliage, try to imagine how they’ll hold up. Alternatively, it’s also important to note how large these plants or trees can get. If, say, in 5 years, a plant is projected to grow rather large, then ensure you’re allowing enough space for it to grow when initially planting it. Once again, you don’t want anything you plant now to potentially interfere with the structure of your hot tub or swim spa, so just keep this in mind. If you have any questions about landscaping work that you’d like done around your new hot tub or swim spa, you can contact a local swim spa dealer for help.
When it comes down to it, there are endless possibilities to create the backyard of your dreams when adding a hot tub or swim spa to your home. The landscaping can be as minimal or as much as you want it to be! By following these tips, you can ensure that this transition will be smooth.
To learn more about choosing the perfect swim spa for your home, download our free buyer’s guide.
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