@lottielong, Whatever you do do, seek professional help because no matter what, a pool RENO, can be a very expensive venture that you do want to get right. I'm not all for designers for this and that in the home, as I'd like to think I have a good enough idea myself but when it comes to a pool, mistakes are almost life long or simply too expensive to rectify. It's all about how much you are able to spend ultimately. Hubby and I are building a new home and we have allowed ourselves an indoor pool, very extravagant for a farming family, ha-ha.....anyway, we were lucky to be able to purchase a second hand fibreglass pool for a 1/3 of the cost. It is a little faded but we will give it a polish and see how it comes up or alternatively, we'll re-coat. We'll tile over the concrete base and it should be stuning when complete. I've attached a photo before the frame went up.

Hello, It looks like you have your work cut out for you. I would like to introduce our product that could be of use in your application. We manufacture Landscape Tanks. They are a Retaining Wall, Garden bed and Water Tank all in one. See Some example pictures below of how our tanks have been utilized in a similar application; To see more examples please click on the link below; http://landscapetanks.com.au/gallery/pool-surrounds-fences/

Thanks everyone for your further comments. No problem about it being an old post, always nice to communicate with people about design solutions/problems. Jilly, I posted some photos on 1st January 2016, they appear further up in the post. Garden Beet Pty Ltd, and Morel Construction Ltd, both of your solutions look great, but our problem still remains the western Queensland sun which is pretty vicious on anything that will either wilt, fade or break down. It was quite a difficult challenge to come up with something that was affordable, workable and durable. I would love to have had plants because I believe they soften large "hard" exterior areas, but we have decided that we will do that with pots around the pool area. Still have that to do, even after all this time. :) Thanks everyone for re-igniting this chat. Jilly, hope you find something that works for you.

Your problem is the heat generated by the fence and the pool and path. Anything you plant will have to be super tough. All plants loose and replace their leaves. Evergreen drop some leaves all the time and deciduous once a year. Adding pebbles will only reflect more heat and is becoming a dated look along with the cordylines. I'm not sure of your climate but a bullet proof evergreen plant that will cover the fence and take sun, drought and frost is the nandina domestica. Upright growing but no pruning required. There are new varieties of this plant but this one is just the right height to cover the fence. If you get cold weather in winter you will also get autumn colour. Will sucker from the bottom to fill the gap but not a garden thug. Has berries but because of the upright habit should fall into the garden bed. Sometimes called sacred bamboo but not a bamboo.