Hot Tub Landscape Ideas

Create the perfect landscape to surround your hot tub. Let your landscape shield you from unwanted sights and sounds. Fill the air with relaxing aromas. Watch flowers unfurl each night in a showy display. Put your mind at ease as you enjoy all the comforts of your hot tub, knowing that you have prepared the area to make it safe for your friends and family.

Increase Privacy

Add tall plants with dense foliage to create a barrier between your hot tub and people's prying eyes. Take note of the angle from which others can see you and choose plants that will block the view from that direction. If people can see you from the ground level, whether passing by or while in a neighbor's yard, then dense shrubbery should block most of those views. Consider planting Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum), Swiss Stone Pine (Pinus cembra) or Southern waxmyrtle (Myrica cerifera). If your privacy is being invaded from above, a hillside or a neighboring window or deck, add taller trees. Black Hills spruce (picea glauca) and Colorado spruce (picea pungens) are examples of suitable trees. Do not plant trees too close to a structure, or where tree roots will interfere with underground pipes and wires.

Enhance Nighttime Interest

Plant a moon garden in an area close to the hot tub. Because many people prefer to use their hot tubs during evening hours. A moon garden is a collection of plants that reflect light. As noted by the Master Gardeners at Colorado State University's Extension program, "White flowers and plants with variegated foliage glow softly as they reflect the moonlight." Popular choices are moonflowers (ipomoea alba), evening primrose (oenothera biennis) and angel's trumpet (datura innoxia). The blooms on these plants typically do not open until the evening hours. As an added feature, the flowers tend to be highly fragrant to help them attract nighttime pollinators.

Make it Fragrant

Let your sense of smell help you to relax. Surround the area near the hot tub with lavender, rosemary, nicotiana, hyacinth and lily of the valley. Try out different scents in nurseries, friends' and neighbors' gardens to find the ones that appeal to you. The Extension Service at Purdue University advises gardeners to consider the direction of the wind when placing plants for their fragrance. They note that a south or west exposure will often produce higher temperatures in the area and may help plants release their scent more readily. Put some of the plants into containers so that you can move them around as needed and to create the best conditions for each plant.


Keep the time you spend in your hot tub carefree by planning for safety issues. Use low-voltage lighting along the path from the house to the hot tub so that you can see where you are walking. Use small spotlights to brighten areas under large trees and bushes. Do not plant prickly plants where you may brush against them accidentally as you enter and leave the tub.

Keywords: hot tub landscaping, hot tub plants, hot tub flowers

About this Author
