Hot Tubs & Portable Spas- Backyard Planning
Hot Tub plans seem to greatly fluctuate from person to person. Whether you write your hot tub plans down, or just think about hot tub spa strategy, planning is necessary to create a backyard habitat for your hot tub that will be enjoyed by everyone. Creating a good backyard for your hot tubs takes time, observation experience, and study. Remember that over the years, your plantings will mature, and you will add new vegetation and features that will enhance what you have done already in preparation for your outdoor hot tubs backyard.
Unless you are planning on purchasing a portable spa, much thought should go into hot tub backyard planning to ensure you are happy. If you don’t have the time it takes for hot tub backyard planning, maybe you should consider buying portable hot tubs that will be easier to move if anything unexpectedly changes. A portable hot tub is a good choice for anyone who has doubt in their mind about their hot tub backyard planning.
Sketch a map of your yard & draw in the buildings, septic tanks, fields, power lines, driveways and anything else in your outdoor hot tub backyard. Remember to sketch the existing plants, trees, hedges and other vegetation that you wish to keep. It’s not always necessary to remove existing plantings for your hot tub. You might start with what you have and add others for a beautiful backyard for your hot tub. On your map include features of neighboring lands, such as ponds, trees or a rock walls. Habitats do not conform to our property lines, so think like wildlife, and see the greater possibilities offered. To your map, add information on soil and light conditions, such as wet areas, dry areas, shady and sunny areas. Identify soil types, and, to find out if there are nutrient deficiencies, consider having certain areas tested through your county Extension office.
Develop a hot tub plan. Check the library and the bookstore for references that may be helpful for planning your backyard for hot tubs. Visit nurseries and greenhouses to see what plants are available. Talk with people, such as your county Extension office staff, nursery owners, local garden club members and neighbors. Are you looking for shade-loving plants, plants that like wet soils? Your map information will help you decide what plants you need to make your outdoor hot tub backyard the best it possibly can be.
After careful hot tub backyard planning, the next step is to actually go through with your hot tub spa plans. Identify which area or areas of your yard you want to do first, and get specific about your choices of plants, shrubs and trees. In choosing and placing them, follow the principles of backyard habitat, including function, diversity, arrangement and seasonality. What are you trying to accomplish with your outdoor hot tubs? Do you want your hot tubs to be away from vegetation, or would you like trees and shrubs surrounding your hot tub for privacy? Each season, add the new plantings to your backyard hot tub spa.
Change hot tub backyard plans as needed. Habitat management is part science and part art. Reflect on what you do each year, what you observe about how different wildlife species use your yard, how the plantings are doing, what you like or don’t like about how your hot tubs sitting. Consider what you will do next year, thinking again about the principles and components of a backyard hot tub habitat. Learning about wildlife and the plant materials will help you to make good choices. When a choice turns out to be not what you had in mind, learn from it and make better future choices for your hot tubs backyard. You might take photographs, keep a record book of the common and botanical names of what you have planted, and of wildlife you observe to better your outdoor hot tubs backyard environment. |
