Should You Mulch Around a Pool?

The area around your swimming pool deserves as much attention as the pool itself. If you’re looking to enhance the beauty and practicality of your pool area, mulch will sort you out. In this article, we cover all options for using poolside mulch, and discuss its role in reducing maintenance efforts. We highlight mistakes not to make, and how to foster a more enjoyable outdoor experience for you and your guests. Pools can be quite an investment. How can you protect your investment by keeping your pool clean and the surrounding area maintenance-free, safe, and pleasing to the eye?

Mulch

Simple, but you’ll want to get it right or risk doing more harm than good.

Main Benefits of Mulch Around a Pool

If you’re like me, your pool is for leisure and you’re not interested in the additional maintenance of cutting grass and managing weeds. Luckily, mulch can handle these tasks easily and add some great aesthetic appeal with a little landscaping. Just make sure that you choose the right one. Mulch also has some hidden benefits that most won’t consider right away.

• • The right mulch can help keep your pool clean

• • Mulch suppresses weeds

• • Mulch controls erosion around your pool protecting your investment

• • Mulch removes the need to mow around your pool

• • Mulch increases the aesthetics of your pool

Choosing the Right Mulch Around a Pool

Getting this step right could make or break your home oasis. Choosing the wrong mulch could leave you with a clogged filter, or worse yet a hole in the lining or side of your pool. With careful consideration, you can select the mulch that will add a world of beauty and convenience to your pool so that you can spend your time relaxing rather than weeding.

Rubber Mulch Around A Pool

As someone who’s opted for rubber mulch around my pool, and many other areas of my garden I can vouch for its practical benefits. Rubber mulch never fails to impress me with it’s durability. Buy it once and you’re done for years. Unlike traditional mulch, it withstands poolside moisture without a hitch, saving me the hassle of frequent replacements. Walking on rubber mulch is a delight; It’s softness is a welcome relief for bare feet, and surprisingly I’ve noticed that it stays cooler than other surfaces, even in the summer heat. Safety-wise, it’s a winner – the slip-resistant texture keeps the pool area accident-free, which is a big relief. I also love the fact that it’s low-maintenance. It doesn’t attract bugs or mold, making my poolside upkeep a breeze. Aesthetically, the color options allowed me to get creative. I chose a shade that complements my pool deck perfectly, enhancing the overall look of my backyard. Plus, it doesn’t float away in the rain, so my pool stays clean. All in all, rubber mulch has been a fantastic addition to my pool area – it’s functional, safe, and stylish.

Playsafer is a great option for larger chunk rubber mulch. It currently comes in 6 colors. There is a reason it’s used in playgrounds all around America!

Rubberific looks indistinguishable from regular wood chip mulch and currently comes in two colors. Black and Brown.

Rubber mulch has been known to cushion a fall or two poolside in my lifetime.

Woodchip Mulch

Woodchip mulch is my favorite when it comes to pure looks. You’ll gain similar benefits to rubber mulch with the only drawback of needing to replace it yearly or biannually. If you use the larger almost nugget-sized chips you’ll improve your odds of keeping it in place.

• • Wood chip mulch is fairly cheap

• • Provides excellent weed prevention

• • Ability to plant flowers into it to further increase aesthetics

• • Prevents pool-shifting erosion of soil

If you’re concerned with pests opt for cedar mulch as it has natural pest-repelling properties.

Pea Gravel

Pea gravel is a decorative, long-lasting mulch. It’s a great option for low maintenance landscaping. The big upside is that it does a great job of keeping your pool clean especially since it’s the most bare-foot-friendly mulch on this list.

• • Attractive to the eye

• • Not attractive to pests

• • Weed suppression

• • Erosion control

• • Keeps your pool clean

Pea Gravel gives that beach feel. I found the best deal here. It’s maybe the cheapest that you can get shipped!

Mulches to Avoid Around a Pool

While I am a major fan of landscaping around a pool, there are a few that you might want to consider avoiding. You’ll want to ensure that you choose a mulch that stays on the ground rather than in your pool water.

• • Fine or loose mulches: mulch like sand, straw, and decomposed gravel are easily displaced and tend to end up in your pool.

• • Shredded bark mulch: the fineness of this mulch can keep it from sinking if it ends up in your pool. As the bark floats in your pool, this can cause problems in your skimmer and filter.

• • Gravel: Gravel is often one of my favorite no-maintenance mulches. There are however some risks when using it poolside. The most dangerous thing about gravel mulch when placed directly against your pool is that it can wear scratches into your pool. Depending on the material this can cause rust, or actually puncture your pool.

Tips for Landscaping Around a Pool

As important as the beauty of your pool is, I also like a little bit of privacy around my pool. There are a number of pool landscaping options that can add privacy around your pool. Plants and trees are some of the best. When considering trees, evergreen is the way to go. Evergreens are easy to maintain and they won’t drop their leaves into the pool. An azalea bush would be a perfect pick for an inground pool. The colors can be stunning, and you also have great control over the mature height of the bush. Daylilies are a wonderful flower option that can even be planted in a planter box on the deck. They are a pretty hardy perennial and can tolerate quite a lot. After all, the goal is low maintenance, right?