Above-ground and in-ground pools all have their own advantages. Although in-ground pools raise property value, give you imagination fit and design and offer many accoutrements, above-ground pools need little maintenance, install easily and provide flexibility in regards to positioning in your landscape. The landscaping in the area around an above-ground pool has a huge affect on the aesthetics of your lawn. Irrespective of the features that accentuate your above-ground pool — if they’re ornamental stones, privacy lights or illumination fittings — proper maintenance and cleanliness of the landscape and its characteristics can break or make your lawn’s look.
Go through the area around your above-ground pool and also eliminate nonornamental rocks, rubbish, animal waste and natural debris such as twigs and fallen leaves. Insert the organic material to your compost stack and dispose of unnecessary products.
Pull as many weeds as possible by hand around the edges of the pool and set them in the compost pile. For those you can not pull by hand, and those growing between landscaping rocks, around paving stones and at sidewalk cracks, use a general purpose weed-killing herbicide containing the active ingredients 2,4-D, MCPP or dicamba.
Mix with 1 teaspoon of mild dish detergent and 1 gallon of warm water to use as a cleaning agent for landscaping rocks round the pool. Scrub the rocks using a stiff-bristled nylon brush wetted with the soapy water and rinse using a high-pressure water hose. Spray general-purpose weed-killing herbicide on any landscaping stones which have algae growing on them. Allow two weeks to get the algae to die, scrub the rocks using the nylon brush and then rinse with water from the hose.
Mow the grass around the pool to its recommended height. Mow cool-season grasses, such as Kentucky bluegrass and fine fescue, to 2 1/2 inches in spring and fall and also to 3 1/2 inches in summertime; cut warm-season grasses, such as Bermuda and centipede, to between 2 and 3 inches in spring, summer and fall. Trim the grass round the pool’s edge using a string trimmer.
Manage the development of any shrubs and shrubs planted as a member of this pool’s landscape via proper trimming and garnish with lopping shears or hand pruners. Regardless of the plant’s variety, remove all diseased and damaged branches first, as well as the weakest tangled, crossed and inward-growing branches. If cutting a thorny plant, prune to make sure no branches hang over walkways or the pool. When redesigning a privacy hedge, trim off all old and dead timber — up to one third of this plant’s branches. Allow only the hardiest shoots to remain on all kinds.
Disconnect all landscape lighting around the pool from its power source and permit the lights to cool to the touch. Mix with 1 teaspoon of mild dish soap and warm water in a bucket and fill another bucket. Remove all debris gathered around the fittings, moisten a lint-free cloth in the soapy water and then wipe down the exterior and glass of the fittings. Utilize a soft-bristled nylon brush and soapy water to clean out the fittings’ crevices and detail work. Wash the fixture using water and rub dry using a lint-free cloth.