Thanks for all the suggestions and advice. I love Bald Cypress so I think I'm leaning towards that but I'll have to look into Black Gum and Princeton Elms and see if they're sold around here. I guess Princeton are resistant to dutch elm disease? Nevermind I see in your link it says they are.They both look like awesome trees. I considered oak but I thought they were a denser shade. If there are any oak recommendations though let me know. We had 2 huge Pin Oaks growing up and I don't remember seeing any surface roots and one was very close to the driveway. Ken, we will definitely be removing the Bradford Pear too. We've already removed one from the front yard. We had 2 Bradford Pears and a Silver Maple when we moved in. Lucky. We didn't know anything about trees then or what they were or we would have replaced them immediately. This post was edited by ajMilo on Mon, Jul 1, 13 at 19:01

I am looking for a evergreen tree to plant near a swimming Pool. What I am look for : 1- Has some canopy to provide shade, 2- low litter, has no or very small amount of flowering, no fruit. Will accept minimal amount of litter. 3- Small to medium size, so it does not damage pipes and deck. 4- Prefer drought resistant types. After research, I have ruled out palms and giant bird of paradise, for they don't provide canopy and shade. I have narrowed down to three , and will to pick one for least amount of litter Australian Willow (Geijera parviflora) Bronze Loquat (Eriobotrya deflexa) ; fruitless Shoestring Acacia Does anyone had planted those trees near pool? What was your experience with those trees' drops and littering I live in S. California Thank you very much. Monkeyta

roots generally spread out AT LEAST as far as the limbs do. so if hte limbs overhang your patio then yes, it will have root issues later. i have seen roots from an oak tree lift the sidewalk 20 ft away. it is not an uncommon site in my area.

I think the benefits outweigh the risks. The fig tree will be dormant when the pool is, any problems can be handled then. Ripe fruit can be picked from the water, the tree will have additional reflected light from the pool so it should grow quickly. Get a breed of fig that makes monster leaves to shade you and the ice bucket of Corona and limes. If bugs become a problem, just encourage bats to your pool and let them eat the bugs. It will also help with enforcing the pool hours - when dusk comes so too will hungry bats.