A well-conceived swimming pool landscape design can mean the difference between an area for fun, exercise and relaxation, and one good-looking enough to add some real value to your home. It's often comes as a shock to poolscape design professionals how little thought would-be owners of inground luxury pools spare for the design of a feature that could make their home and recreational area both more stylistically attractive and coherent. A plethora of factors will decide if your swimming pool landscape design promotes convenience, privacy and safety.

First thing's first, you're going to need to hire a seasoned construction company, and it had best be one that your friends or family have had a good experience with. It's the only one good option for busy individuals to ensure that attention is paid to the minutiae of their poolscape design's construction. Irresponsible or weakly run companies are notorious for dragging out construction work for longer than necessary, making them a very risky financial proposition indeed. With a little luck, you might be able to find a poolscape design company that'll quote you a flat rate, instead of a by the day or by the hour rate. The latter system encourages slow, inefficient work on their part and long-term debt on yours.

Among the best landscaping ideas for privacy, a poolscape design look that will look great and guard your pool area from prying eyes, is to surround it with foliage, creating a thick screen of protective greenery. These trees do, however, need to be chosen wisely. Big trees with extensive root systems can often cause damage to the foundation of your home or of your swimming pool. Large fruit or needle-bearing trees like pines are often not worth the bugs they're likely to attract and manpower you'll need to keep the water free of detritus.

The minimal amount of mess they'll create and their consistently beautiful, lush appearance makes evergreen trees your best bet, and they're also the most effective landscape privacy tool - with their year-round growth you won't suddenly find your private area naked (no pun intended) when the rainy season hits. Alternatively, you could install trellis walls and train vines to run up them. You can buy pre-trained trees, called Espaliers, which have been pruned and groomed to grow sideways, making them into a flat branch-barrier that will protect your privacy and even act as a windbreak.

Of course, if you're a parent or prospective parent, you may be more concerned about your young child falling in the pool than you are about good-looks or greenery. In that case, a fence or wall might be a good idea. You'll also probably want to double up on the security, and install a pool net. Not only will this keep your pool clean of detritus, but it should also hold the weight of any toddler or adult who happens to trip into the pool. Be sure that your hooks are solidly installed, and that the net is of a high quality polyfibre weave. If it's not, you're at a risk of a home drowning when the net wraps the person falling in - such accidents form a statistically significant percentage of home drownings.

Relaxing on the deck or patio surrounding your pool is one of the most decadent things about having a pool. Think about the way that people will arrange themselves and interact in the social space you're creating around your pool. Consider the materials that you're using - non-slip or tacky surfaces could make fun in the sun a lot safer for your visitors and loved ones.

Lastly, think about style. You'd ideally like your swimming pool landscape design to echo the architectural features of your home. Often people renovate their houses without giving any thought to the outmoded style of the pool in the backyard. Look at a variety of custom designs, remembering always that your dream swimming pool will be the one that fits seamlessly into your dream home.