Hi lonbeme and welcome to the Pool Forum!

You'll probably get varying opinions on this question. Personally, I don't cover my pool in the winter anymore as it is just a big hassle. I also have trees -- including a maple that has a few branches that extend over my pool. I get a lot of leaves in there and I just scoop them out. Once the leaves have all fallen, the pool stays relatively clean from that point on. Yes, I'll have a little dirt in there over the winter, but that is easily vacuumed up in the spring. Just my 2 cents. I'm sure others will be along later to offer their opinions. (You might want to tell what kind of pool you have --- inground, above ground.)

Hope you enjoy being a part of the forum!