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.

Hey Paul, check out a place called ecooutdoors.com.au for inspiration. I'm not sure if they're up your way but I'm sure you could get materials shipped. They have such a beautiful store with brilliant ideas. I'd be considering a stone that is cool under foot on hot Brisbane days and at least 30mm thick. You have an oval-ish shaped pool so you might consider a small coping stone to replace the brick then move on to a larger stone instead of the dated pebble, maybe a 'cush' limestone or go a bit glam and do a herringbone pattern with the right stone. Good Luck.

Hi Amy, Isn't Houzz fantastic - it's easy to spend hours here looking at ideas and hearing other peoples ideas. If you've not already done it, get the high pressure hose out and give the pebblecrete a clean to get the colours to come up (give the lower stones in your retaining wall a clean up too so you can check their colours). Looking at the colour of the pebblecrete now and seeing that the area will be shaded for at least part of the day and you won't want it to feel too dark - especially in winter, I'd go for the sandstone look unless it's completely at odds with the retaining wall. Most places selling pavers will sell you or give you a single paver that you can bring home to check the colours in situ. I'm sure that it will look fantastic when it's done.

Hahaha, I'll be happy to do that, but I think it'll be a long wait. I'm kind of an odd one when it comes to doing stuff. I like to think things through, plan and plan again and again, and I'm trying to use as much discarded material as I possibly can. In other words, I'm trying to keep the cost as low as possible. I see so much stuff which can still be used end up at the tip, it's shameful. For the aquaponics system, I will try and replicate the ecosystem that exists in nature (safe for the air-lift pump to circulate the water). Some ways to go on how to do that on a flat piece of limited land. Like I said, lots of plans, but tough to get all the required materials. Thanks for the interest.