The Swamp Monster in our backyard is not my friend {our pool}
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Last week we opened our pool, which I have lovingly called the swamp monster in our backyard for the last week or so. Prior to opening the pool, a family of hundreds of frogs and their snake friends decided to call this place home for the past couple years. You see, our pool wasn’t opened last summer as the house was vacant while for sale. These guys were not quiet tenants either. They were up all night yelling and screaming. Needless to say, they were evicted early last week. Before we get started with the pool, if you haven’t seen our latest favorites added for outdoor furniture sales and cute weekend outfits, check out the My Favorite Shop Page. Everything is 40%+ off and a really good deal!
I made multiple trips to the pool supply store getting a tutorial via my phone pictures on how to get this thing cleaned. If you follow us on Instagram Stories, you know the pain! -ha.
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We hired our local pool company, Heritage Pools, to come take the cover off and add the necessary chemicals. You may remember that we had a pool at our previous home and my dad took care of it.
This system below friends has not been my friend. I mean, I am kind of like-able? Right? I don’t know why it doesn’t want to be friends. The cartridges are a nightmare to clean (a post coming soon on that) and it takes 2 people to literally get them out. I have done it alone 2x and it’s not fun. Once they get dirty, the pool has no suction. I had a heart to heart with it this past weekend and said if you don’t get your act together, we are getting divorced. Meaning, we will install a new sand filter system. It’s on probation so we shall see.
This pool is a completely different system and we have no idea how it works. We had a sand filter at our old house and this one is a cartridge system. We also had chlorine before, this pool is a salt water pool and has a heater as well. So we are dealing with a bunch of different components that we have no clue how to use.
The Swamp Monster in our backyard is not my friend {our pool}
The swamp monster had so much scum, algae and crap inside. Unfortunately, the cover that was on, dumped over a years worth of dirty water, leaves and god knows what else inside when they removed the cover. Hopefully we can get a new cover at the end of the season, a safety cover. The first day the cover was taken off we added 5 gallons of pool shock, 2 Alia lites, 2 Calciums and Algamycin 2000.
The rock garden wall is on my list to re-do. Do you have any ideas? I am thinking the mulch and trees are going to be a disaster waiting to happen as keeping the mulch out of the pool when it rains may be difficult. I thought about building up the rock wall to catch the mulch but now I am thinking about rocks? My dad wants to just rip the entire thing out but I kind of like it. What do you think?
I started power washing the pavers last Friday and after 10 hours (over the course of the weekend), the pavers in the pool area are clean. Restored back to their natural beauty. Stay tuned, I will share another Swamp Monster update this week!
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What started as a hobby, Jessica’s blog now has millions of people visit yearly and while many of the projects and posts look and sound perfect, life hasn’t always been easy. Read Jessica’s story and how overcoming death, divorce and dementia was one of her biggest life lessons to date.
get rid of the plants near pool more trouble then they are worth
Re: the rock garden – my friend has one that has the waterfall return water to the pool built into it (not as large as yours). The issue she has is that snakes find it ideal – crevices to hide in and warm rocks for sunbathing when they feel so inclined…. so I would make it a flat, open area without mulch – either artificial turf via a company (so not DIY) or flat, level hardscaping….
My friend had a rock waterfall feature that returned filtered water to her pool – though not as large as your area. The issue is that rocks created a perfect spot for snakes to hide and burrow when they wanted to and to sunbathe when they felt inclined ????. So I would either clear it (no mulch or debris possible for snakes or pool dirt) and do artificial turf via a company or I would do flat, level pavers …..
Wow, this looks like a job that I wouldn’t want to take on! You’re a better woman than I am.
I agree with your dad. We had a pool with vegetation that transitioned to mulch and finally rocks. We finally had everything removed and started from scratch. Make friends with a good landscape architect. You won’t regret it. Good luck!
First the salt system is fantastic because you use no chemicals and it’s easy on the skin and hair and eyes . Second it’s so much cheaper to maintain we add salt a few times a year acid once a month that’s it . If you use the heater you will need a cover and if it’s electric it will cost the same as AC to run ???? we have a new gas one that heats in a day so a cover is not necessary . As for the rock garden get rid of it the leaves will be a Constant source of aggravation when they fall . You can build a water feature or add Palm trees if they will survive there fan palms are very hearty you can keep them in pots and move them in the garage in the winter. Mulch will blow in the water and clog your filter. Once your Cartridge filters Are clean they are very easy to hose off once every few months . Looks beautiful
Tear it out! Out with the old in with the new! Quite an undertaking and God Bless you Girl!
I was in same pool situation as you in 2009. New to us house with saltwater pool. All the pool stores just wanted to sell me tons of expensive chemicals. I persevered and found real helpful advice in troublefree pool dot com. You will not regret getting help from this most knowledgeable forum. Good luck