The whole idea of a pool is to enjoy time with family and friends while maybe getting in some exercise, in the privacy of your backyard. Hours of maintenance is not what you signed up for. “Anything with thorns is a ’no,’ as well as plants with small flowers that will bypass a skimmer basket,” advises Myles McMorrow, owner of Pool Services Network, a swimming pool service company based in the Washington DC area. He continues: “Some types of ornamental grasses (like maidenhair) hang over the pool when they get too tall. Their blades are sharp, and they’re too large to fit into skimmers and cleaners after they fall into the pool. I’d also avoid flowering trees, like cherry and plum.” But let’s focus on plants that shed. This list of messy trees, shrubs, and vines is presented alphabetically. If you must have an acacia, plant it in the front yard and hope a mighty wind doesn’t blow around the time of pod and flower drop.

USDA Hardiness Zones: 7-12Flower Color Varieties: white, cream, yellowLight: Full sun, partial shadeSoil Needs: Neutral to alkaline, well-drained

This is not to say that azalea lovers can’t have their beloved bushes inhabiting the same yard as a swimming pool. Just make sure the plants are in containers or beds that are as far away as possible from the pool. Why? leaf and flower drop. Azaleas are either evergreen or deciduous. Deciduous azaleas drop all of their leaves in the fall. In dry climates, the plants may shed their leaves earlier than usual. Leaves will then grow back in the spring. In warmer climates or during unusually warm winters, deciduous azaleas may keep some of their leaves through the winter, according to the Azalea Society of America. The other kind of azaleas, evergreen, may also drop their leaves. They give the appearance of being evergreen because they grow two sets of leaves each year. Spring leaves on evergreens are thinner, larger, and grow along the stems, then drop off in the fall. Summer leaves are thicker, smaller, are crowded at the branch ends, and continue through the winter. In colder climates or extremely cold temperatures, evergreen azaleas may drop most of their leaves during the winter

USDA Hardiness Zones: 4-9Flower Color Varieties: white, lavender, rose, red, orange, pinkLight: Full sun, partial shadeSoil Needs: acidic, well-drained

USDA Hardiness Zones: 6-10Flower Color Varieties: Rarely flowersLight: Full sun, partial shadeSoil Needs: Neutral to acidic, moist but well-drained

USDA Hardiness Zones: 9-11Flower Color Varieties: RedLight: Full sunSoil Needs: Acidic, neutral, loamy, sandy, moist but well-drained

Bougainvilleas are known for their vibrant colors, ranging from white to yellow and orange, and from pink to red and purple. However, that fabulous color does not come from the vine’s actual flowers, but from its paper-thin bracts that surround the flower. Double-flowered varieties tend to look messy because they retain faded blooms for a long time. After that, they lose their bracts, or twice the bracts. If the vigorous growing vine is near your pool, that’s double the number of papery bracts you get to clean out of your pool.

USDA Hardiness Zones: 9-11Flower Color Varieties: White, yellow, orange, pink, red, purpleLight: Full sun, light shadeSoil Needs: Acidic, well-drained

“The little tiny flowers fill the pool surface with brightly colored debris. It clogs the skimmers and when it sinks it’s so small a pressure-side cleaner won’t pick it up most of the time,” says Brian Alan Shirley, owner of Abracadabra Pool Technologies of Decatur, Georgia.

USDA Hardiness Zones: 6-10Flower Color Varieties: White, pink, red, lavender, purple, mauveLight: Full sunSoil Needs: Slightly acidic to neutral, well-drained

McMorrow says his customers like Thuja for their resemblance to somewhat larger bonsai trees. “But, they clog up filters and their leaves are like needles.” That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy dwarf arborvitae in your backyard. Just move them away from the pool—plant them in a bed closer to the house or in containers on the patio.

USDA Hardiness Zones: 2-7Flower Color Varieties: Does not bloomLight: Full sun, partial shadeSoil Needs: Acidic, alkaline, moist but well-drained

Ornamental species of the genus Prunus are evergreen and deciduous. Evergreens can be used as hedges, privacy screens or shade trees. Deciduous flowering trees and shrubs—like the gorgeous trees on display in Washington, D.C.—are prized for their winter or spring display of blossoms along with their attractive shapes. Even better: several of the deciduous flowering trees produce edible fruits.

USDA Hardiness Zones: 5-8Flower Color Varieties: Pinkish red bloomsLight: Full sunSoil Needs: Neutral, loamy, well-drained

Types of honeysuckle include evergreen, semi-evergreen, and deciduous shrubs and vines. Both the vines and shrubs can become invasive, along with littering your yard with spent blooms.

USDA Hardiness Zones: 5-8Flower Color Varieties: White, maturing to yellowLight: Full sun to part shadeSoil Needs: Neutral, acidic, or alkaline, well-drained

Also known as tulip poplars, Myles McMorrow of Pool Services Network comes across the trees often in his Washington, D.C., pool service business. “They drop something all four seasons,” he says. “In spring it’s flowers, summer, it’s sap, fall it’s pods and leaves, and winter it’s sticks. The leaves sink, get soggy and never make it into skimmers and end up clogging cleaners.”

USDA Hardiness Zones: 4-9Flower Color Varieties: Yellow-green, orangeLight: Full sunSoil Needs: Acidic to alkaline, moist, well-drained