I think you have a sago in your garden already ..the one remaining plant..the other thing that looks really great in pots is mass plantings of mother in law tongues .. Not sure of proper name. Low maintenance, low water, only occasional removal of the odd dead leaf. No leaves to drop in pool. You can get different sorts, to hind the fence go for really tall ones, in long rectangular pots or mass grouping of round, get a few big pots I always think they look better than groups of little ones .. Good luck

I don't know how big the existing plants were that have now been cut to ground level, but consider that as the root systems of these trees breaks down, there will be subsidence. This will then affect the paving surrounding your pool. I'm just mentioning this so that you are aware of the possibility in future years - it takes some time for this to happen, depending on the size of the trees and the root system. If they were all palms, then the problem may not be so bad as they have a fibrous root system. But underground can be as big a problem as above ground. If in doubt about what to put in pots, something as simple as a Lomandra grass-like plant would look really good - as long as each pot has the same plant. If you can get Lomandra Nyalla - this is a really good one and hardy.

Thanks annb1997 and Julie... Yes, I think it's time I invested in a water meter, it is hard to know how much water to give it sometimes. Its been potted for over a year now and I do think the soil has probably compacted so I may repot and will also mulch the top soon. I am also thinking to move it to an eastern facing balcony because the western sun is too hot for it come summer (and yes, the pot gets pretty hot to touch by the end of the day).

You could look at murraya (mock oranges). They are fairly fast growing, don't drop too many leaves and look good hedged or left as they are if you want less maintenance. They cope with sun and shade and wind. They have small white flowers which would drop into pool at certain times of year (normally in rainy periods). We live in Brisbane and have lots of murrayas in our garden and are very happy with them.