Plants Suitable For Planting Around a Swimming Pool in Melbourne

Mar 12

In Melbourne, plants around swimming pools need to be able to withstand extremes in climate including frost, rain and hot summers. If you think that this means you can’t achieve a tropical Balinese garden, then think again.

Find out the best plants for swimming pool landscaping. Achieve a tropical feel in your Melbourne garden. Whether you have a chlorine or saltwater pool, these plants are perfect as they are hardy, salt resistant and easy to maintain.

We’ve covered the best palms to plant by your pool if you live in Melbourne in our previous article. These palms offer wind protection and privacy, while these plants will complement these palms, adding shade and pops of colour to your garden.

Plants to avoid around your swimming pool:

Although it is tempting to minimise the number of trees around your pool, this will also get rid of valuable shade. Avoid plants with:

Leaves or small flowers that will fall into your swimming pool.
Thorns or spikes. Problem varieties include cacti, succulents, silky oaks, roses and jacarandas.
Extensive or robust root systems, such as bamboo or umbrella trees. These plants can damage your pool’s pipes, shell and paving. Please note: Although running bamboo should be avoided, clumping bamboo is ideal as it offers privacy and doesn’t spread. We have a dwarf variety called ’Dwarf Stripped Buddha’ which has a 75cm clump and grows to 1.5-1.8 metres high.

The best plants for swimming pool landscaping in Melbourne:

Bromeliad:

Create a Balinese style, tropical garden with bromeliad plants. These stunning plants come in a variety of species, with flowers ranging in colour from grey, pink, red to yellow. With long-lasting flowers and vivid foliage, the flowers last up to several months.

Grow in a sheltered or partly shaded area. Bromeliads can grow up to 1.5 metres wide, and the flower spike can take up to 15 years to be 2.5 metres tall. However, most bromeliads only grow to 20cm in height and diameter.

At True Green Nursery, we stock many colourful varieties of bromeliads, with vivid, long-lasting flowers that grow between 20-30cm. We also stock the silver plum bromeliad, a relatively rare collector’s plant. Silver plum is one of the only full sun bromeliads and can grow to 1.5m tall which is much larger than most bromeliads. Good drainage is important, and it tolerates light frost.

Benefits of bromeliad:

Adds some contrasting colour to your swimming pool.
Salt tolerant.
Easy to grow.
Hardy and tough.
Low maintenance.

Anna Red Flax:

Phormium Anna Red

Add a tropical feel and ‘pop’ of colour with Anna Red Flax, commonly known as New Zealand Flax. This striking accent plant grows to a height of approximately 1.5 – 1.8 metres. Phormium colours range from red, pink, green to burgundy. A hardy, evergreen perennial, this plant is a versatile landscaping plant that is known for its bold foliage. Prefers a well-drained position. Should be grown in part shade as it can burn with hot overhead sun.

Benefits of Anna Red Flax:

Adds some contrasting colour to your swimming pool.
Salt tolerant.
Easy to grow.
Hardy and tough.
Low maintenance.

Cycad:

Cycas Revoluta

A salt-tolerant coastal species, cycads are adaptable and slow growing. The plant features striking architectural foliage, and the fan-like leaves make it look similar to palms or ferns. The bold foliage makes it an excellent feature plant for garden beds or containers.

Grow in a sunny to a partly shaded position, with good drainage. Fertilise during the warmer, growing months.

Benefits of cycad:

Easy to grow.
Hardy and tough.
Low maintenance.
Salt tolerant.

Cordyline:

A hardy plant that can be planted near a chlorinated or salt water pool, cordylines have vibrant pink, red and green waxy leaves. These striking plants are ideal for adding dramatic contrast and a tropical feel around your swimming pool. Cordylines compliment palms because they grow well in the shade and can block excessive sunlight underneath a palm. Although they look tropical, they are tolerant of cold.

Create a striking foliage feature in your patio tubs or garden beds with Electric Fire, Electric Pink or Red Sensation. The exotic colours of these varieties will add a pop of colour to your swimming pool. Grow cordylines in well-drained soil, in a sunny or part shaded position. Can tolerate periods of dryness and frosts. In winter, allow the soil in containers or pots to dry out before watering. These will stay as a strappy leaf style plant and grows to a height up to 1.2 – 1.5 metres.

Benefits of cordylines:

Easy to grow.
Hardy and tough.
Low maintenance.
Salt tolerant.

Dwarf stripe buddha bamboo:

Bambusa Vulgaris ‘Wamin Striata’

Dwarf stripe buddha bamboo is a clumping bamboo that is one of the easiest to grow. This fast-growing variety is ideal for around the pool as it grows 1.5-1.8 metres high, and offers excellent screening and privacy. This variety creates a windbreak and noise barrier, around your swimming pool.

A compact bamboo, with an ornamental rounded ‘Buddha’s’ belly. Bamboo can tolerate a range of soil, but good drainage is essential. Best suited for a full sun position, but can grow in part shade.

Benefits of dwarf stripe Buddha bamboo

Hardy and easy to grow.
Fast growing.
Frost resistant.
Salt tolerant.
Low maintenance.

Mondo Grass:

Ideal as an edging around your swimming pool, and a low cover, mondo grass tolerates most soils and positions. The spreading clumps of dark green, grass-like leaves, makes it an attractive edging plant.

Benefits of mondo grass:

Hardy and easy to grow.
Salt tolerant.
Low maintenance.

Liriope Grass (Evergreen Giant)

Similar to Mondo Grass is Liriope Grass (Evergreen Giant), which is a popular solution for edging paths and gardens or planting under trees. An attractive evergreen perennial, Liriope Grass has a clump-forming habit that produces glossy, grass-like arching leaves. During spring and summer, vibrant violet-purple flowers bloom. Grows best in a full sun or partly shady position with well-drained soil.

Benefits of Liriope Grass (Evergreen Giant):

Easy to grow.
Hardy and tough.
Salt tolerant.

Want to add a tropical Balinese garden around your swimming pool in Melbourne? Check out our range of cordylines, bromeliads, cycads and mondo grass that are versatile, hardy and suitable for swimming pools in Melbourne.

At True Green Nursery, we offer FREE DELIVERY on orders over $300 within 15km of Melton in Melbourne. Browse our range now!