i love bamboo, giant bird of paradise etc but do NOT put next to your pool. In our last build we used Zanadu. Big leaves that do not drop and bullet proof. Perhaps find another way to cover the fence other than plants that almost always drop their leave and have invasive roots.

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.

Also, if you take a look under the "Find Pros" tab on Houzz you can search for tradespeople in your area - tilers, landscapers etc.

@ Ba Beltramo, I think this dilemma might be better solved if we we had pictures, as suggested by rahnch but if that is too difficult to provide, it would help if you supplied more information about exactly where this pool sits as opposed to the home and what size and shape it is including the lay of the land, pool fencing etc... I'm a little concerned about some of the suggestions that even talk of possibly destroying the pool although I have nothing personally against the suggestion providing you are well informed and take into account what will best suit you personally. After reading you dilemma heading again, "Re-design the space AFTER pool" I'm now assuming that the pool may already be gone and you have a huge hole where it once sat?? If that's the case, then it could be as simple as filling the hole in as you suggested yourself. If the pool is still in place and you are considering filling it in, then I would be concerned about your thoughts to effectively destroy it when I personally know just how costly is it to have a pool in the first place with many people who could only dream of having one!! At the end of the day, your property must work for you but I would hope you give it allot of thought before you do anything.