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.

Thanks Fiona. We'd love to landscape the far side but sadly that is our neighbour's property and the river rock lined area right beside the pool fence is an easement that runs like a creek when we get rain so can't plant in there :). I do plan to sneak in a few more of the Golden Cane palms onto the neighbouring paddock as some have self seeded anyway- hopefully create a nice screen. I have my eye on some nice pots and two lovely wooden loungers with cream cushions, all in budget. But I'll only get them once I decide what to do with the paving area to better blend with the pool surround. I've just had the area pressure washed about 2 weeks ago so my thinking is to go with the repaint in the medium grey and hope we get 5 years out of it.

What a great pool for starters. I do see your dilemma though. For the fence: I would give it a paint, choose a colour that ties your house in. Add laser cut screens or put in a vertical wall garden as you don't have a lot of room to have a row of pots. In saying that a few large pots around are great to add some interest and colour. Strelitzia's are great plants to use. Tough, can handle sun, lovely bright orange flowers. Certain sun loving bromeliads, great colours. Clumping palms are always a winner. Just watch yuccas, as previously suggested, as they are often spikey, with kids running around I would stick with softer foliage. Somewhere to sit is always important but again you don't seem to have a lot of space and you don't want to overcrowd the area. Perhaps a long bench seat along the far fence, include outdoor cushions and built in storage under seat for pool toys. A large umbrella in the corner for some shade. All of these can add colour while being practical. However I do like the idea of extending the back pool fence out to create more space, Bali hut here we come! This may not be an option.... Good luck, I'm sure with a bit of planning you can turn this into a beautiful space for everyone to enjoy.

We have 600x400x30mm limestone pavers and would like to replace our old clay pavers with a more modern look. Question: Can a 400mm wide paver sit on top of a 350mm wide pool coping bed? The coping bed is raised about 150mm above the soil. About 20mm of the paver will go over into the pool side as an edge, 350mm lay on the coping bed, leaving 30mm hanging over, well, nothing. The limestone pavers are dense, heavy, 30mm thick. Question : do you think they will crack or break? Is it do-able or should we cut down the pavers to 350mm width (extra cost). Appreciate your advice Houzzers.