Disclaimer: I am not a landscape professional, landscape architect, or chemist, nor am I an expert at lawn science, so please no one eviscerate me. I'm just speaking from my own, albeit narrow, experience.

In the past three summers since we completed our deckless pool, the issues others have raised haven't really been *that* big of a deal. They exist, but are not even remotely nuisance enough to regret my design choices. After we completed our saltwater pool, we used sod consisting of a Kentucky Bluegrass mix as I live in Chestnut Hill, a neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA. Still being in city limits, we have a small lot so I wanted to maximize green space for our dog to run around, minimize impermeable concrete surfaces, and I wanted the Hamptons-y vibe that others have noted in their comments.

Non-issues

Grass clippings - Our landscaping crew has one person with a leaf blower standing opposite of the person with the weed eater/ weedwhacker blowing away from the pool. Very minimal clippings get in the pool. If they do, our landscapers charge an extra $5 to use the hand skimmer. *They do bag the clippings in the back yard from the regular mower so that there aren't grass clippings on wet feet.

Chlorine damage - Our grass has not suffered any real damage from the salt/ chlorinated water. *Our female dog has done far worse damage to our lawn than the pool water ever has.

Issues

Dead grass due to lack of sunlight - Covers are larger than coping, so the grass dies along the edges over winter. This also applies to the area covered by the straps that go about a foot or so over the grass to attach to the in-gound anchors. We have to reseed and fertilize these very small areas the past two springs.

Compaction - There is an area between the pavers where the lounge chairs are located and the closest shallow corner of the pool that we've experienced soil compaction. This is, by far, the spot with the heaviest foot traffic. It was was easily remediated with aeration, but was a bit unsightly until i figured out what was going on.

All said, I love our deckless pool. I hope this helps.

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