The Pool

The swimming area consists of a pebble beach, which slopes gently to about 45cm deep, from which you drop down into a 1m deep swimming area and then again into a 2m deep swimming area. The swimming area is 19m at its widest by 13m so plenty of room for everyone. You are free to enjoy the pool at any time of day or night. A cool bedtime dip after a hot sunny day can be wonderful.

When it is too cold for swimming its still a lovely place to sit and enjoy the views of the meadow and orchards and watch the birds. The pool is to the rear of the house, so you can enjoy the sunset from the deck.

As spring arrives the plants start to grow and the iris and lilies start to flower. The succession of different flowering plants give something new each month from April to September. There are three planting areas for oxygenating the water. These contain a mixture of flowering plants and water grasses. The plants are protected by walls built to stop the waves and damage from swimmers and jumpers and all those lovely water games disturbing plants.

How it works

A natural swimming pool is one that mimics a traditional pond but provides a designated area for swimming. A fairly new concept, which we only discovered while house hunting, they are becoming increasingly popular. Ours was constructed in 2017 and each year, as with any garden has brought new ideas and new plants. So the pool is constantly evolving. It’s an environmentally friendly option and was the perfect solution for a pool on our water meadow, which floods from time to time and could allow chlorinated water into the surrounding area from a standard pool.

By restricting animal life we can provide safe water to swim in. Therefore there are no fish in the water, they produce too much waste. However there are lots of insects such as water boatman and dragonfly larvae. These are excellent as they control mosquito numbers. Mosquitos are not generally a problem in the pool area as they only like stagnant water so the pools constant movement doesn’t suit them and the patrols of dragonfly are very effective.

Pool Safety

We don’t like to give our guests too many rules but we do have some safety advice and a few requests to protect our plants and wildlife.

Pool Shoes

Because the pool is a diverse ecology there are snails and frogs and lots of other interesting wee beasties in the water. Although they stay mostly in the planting areas the snail shell can be sharp and the pebbles around the pool very hot so we recommend wearing water shoes, as you would in a river or wild pond, to protect your feet. Entering the pool across the pebble beach area can be slippery and pool shoes really help with this.

The Walls

These are not structural or designed for climbing on, so we ask that you stay off the walls please, they are there to protect the plants.  The swimming area is large so please stay within this area people.  If your toys stray into the planting area please use a pole or net to retrieve them. The plants are trying to spread roots and many of our little friends will be hiding under the sediment.

Please shut the gate

The pool has a low fence around it, above and below ground. It’s there to keep out animals which could get in water, create contamination issues for swimming, eat all the plants and be very difficult for us to remove. They can also damage the liner and then we’d have no pool.

Suncream

We all know about the need to protect our skin from harmful rays, but the pools ecology also needs consideration. It only works if its not clogged with creams floating on the water. So please use the most water resistant cream you can, so less comes off in the water. With no chlorine the cream does appear to stay on very well. Put it on at least an hour before you go in the pool, and then wipe off any excess. We put suncream on the children first thing in the morning, before breakfast. By the time they are ready for the pool the cream is too. Most creams are good for 8 hours.