Low maintenence and good coverage,natives like Callistemon,s Grevillea,s all different colours,birds love them.They like any type of soil,just a bit of Blood &Bone fertilizer in spring is all they need.There are a big range at stores,and nurseries.Good luck,Graeme.

natives are nice in theory but they end up getting straggly and need lots of maintainance, also they would probably drop leaves. If you did want natives, go with some native clustering palms for around the pool and plant a native/bird attracting garden somewhere else.

Nothing nicer than a Frangipani near a pool even when it drops a few of its flowers in the water, ferns muliply quickly.

Hibiscus grow very fast, Gingers grow tall and fast all these you can grow from cuttings or pieces, there are lots of palms out there. Do go to the Sunday Markets have a look around you will see lots of plants there and cheap too

MM.

Oh dear,what tres don,t drop leaves,and where theres a pool,leaves will get in.Gardeners generally prune every year.Nicky when you go to say Bunnings ask and you,ll be right.Cordylines,Dracaenas,Elephants ears(taro),Mistymorn has some good ones picked out for you.

Crotons are great around pools as well, they don't mind a bit of splash on the leaves. They are tropical, colourful, not too fast growing and have larger leaves that are easy to fish out of pools.

Andrew.

Adam said:

natives are nice in theory but they end up getting straggly and need lots of maintainance

Adam, I know what you mean re 'straggly' when the word is applied to Australian natives, but I disagree strongly with 'need lots of maintenance'. Natives only become straggly if they are denied the same care given to the majority of exotics : composting, adequate water, weeding and, most importantly, pruning. This totals somewhere between 30 minutes to an hour per week on my 700 sq metre block, and it would be less if I used irrigation.

The difference lies in the attitude of the would-be gardener : those who feel that natives should be able to 'look after themselves' will get correspondingly poor results in most cases. Admittedly, I have seen 'bush gardens' which have been blessed with the right microclimate to survive unaided, but I have to wonder what they look like after the past 2-3 years of drought here in Queensland.

If you do the initial preparation correctly, and plant the right combination of habitat plants for birds and other predators, you will suffer far less from insect attack than in a conventional garden, and viral diseases are also minimised. These are plants which have adapted to this country over millenia, and have only been threatened by the arrival of white civilisation - the least we can do is plant a few in our back yards.

Consider the hardy native rainforest spp. like Attractocarpus (formerly Randia, = Native Gardenia), Syzgium cultivars labelled 3-4m might need a prune once a year. There are others, can't think of them right now, should be outside. These are genuinely hardy, don't be put off by the r/f description, and tend to hang onto their leaves.
Actually I don't mind a tidy de-suckered clump of GC palms :) but their roots are pretty unfriendly to underplantings IMO. The native Macarthur palm less pushy. And I wouldn't let a GCP anywhere near the important parts of the pool plumbing.
Rose

Yes GCP's are a great screener eventually andn planted at about 6-8 foot apart would give you top growth of a good 10 foot spread, Maybe a bit slow though. What Rose says about roots is true though shallow-rooted things like azaleas vireya rhodos or camelias would probably survive and you can always tuck in pots for colour once you've got the shade - bedding begonias, the others I mentioned but tubbed, cliveas, crotons bromeliads.
Natives are a great way to go for fast screening and have the advantage of flowers /fruit to attract birds. I love grevillias some not so hardy as others bottlebrush seem to be stayers and may lovely colours and alow maintenance but a prune keeps them nice and compact and keeps the screening effect. Lillypillys also there are some fantastic ones with that new leaf growth colour if you get something resistant to psyllids (spelling) leuhmannii (also spelling) seems to be one of.

Hi Alison,

If its the last thing I do, I am going to compile the definitive list of (commercially grown) lillipillies which are resistant to psyllid attack (!). I have a host of different species, and the *only* attack has been on my Waterhousea Floribunda : I got rid of them with a spray, but I'd try to find something a bit kinder to the environment next time. I dont know if its the drought, or what, but they havent shown their tiny dimples since :)

As insect pests go, psyllids are reasonably harmless to the actual plant - more a cosmetic nuisance than anything else. Lillipillies would have to rate as one of the hardiest rainforest species available.

I did not mean to offend anyone, natives are good but you can't just plant them and leave them. I think you would have to do a fair bit of research regarding the best natives for your situation. You cant just stereotype them, give them the same treatment and expect them to look good. I did not tell nickyz to forget natives, just reconsider where they are to be planted. Palms (natives) do not cause the same leaf (and root) problems as other plants near pools to that would be the best option for this situation. On the gold coast I imagine that you can grow a very pleasing tropical native garden. If you do choose natives, you have to look after them. A really good book to get started is "Starting out with natives" by John Wrigley and Murray Fagg.

Aussie Southern Lilly Pillies with Macarthur palms/Golden Canes in between. Bootiful.

Only one thing to do with the smaller natives like lilly pillies and grevilleas, give em a top/side light prune each year.

Jaboticabas are great. They are a dense shrub which can be kept trimmed into a shape.
The bonus is the fruit, we have just picked 30 kilo off one bush and we have six.
The fruit makes great jam, bit like Rosella, can be eaten fresh from the tree and can make wine.
Birds and flying Foxes do not touch nor do Fruit Fly.
Would make a great hedge.
Also known as Amazon Tree Grape.
Will have some seedlings at our Open Garden in November if you cant get elsewhere.
Ian

Ian,

The birds love my Jaboticaba! The leathernecks and Noisy minors have a taste for them. I have to learn to share them.

Andrew.

no mention of foxtail and black palms yet, may i suggest syzygium cascade, tidy growth habit flushes of pink growth, syzygium northern lights, just beautiful, actually the range of new dwarf lillypillies is awesome. for some variety of leaf shapes heliconias can be quite stunning given a sheltered situation. reading all the replies you have received you have the startings of a magnificent garden, forget the golden cane palm though, common old supermarket plants, see them everywhere ad nauseum.

Thanks everyone for some great ideas, I'm now feeling so much more confident in planting out our "quarry". Now if I could just get someone to do the planting for me I'll be set. Just kidding, I'm just impatient. With working full time and looking after my 18 month old, not a lot of time left over for gardening and of course I want it all done now - I can't wait to get started!

Everyone seems to be ignoring the fact that small leaves, fruits etc will end up in the pool and cause no end of problems. I would start off with a list of things that WON'T drop small bits in the pool, and see what you can do with these. If they are not the answer for you, only them would I go back to the earlier suggestions.
My suggestiom to break the monotony of massed golden canes (and in my view they are QUITE monotonous) wound be some tall gingers and cycads.
Tony

Somehow I think Nickies backyard won,t be monotonous when she is finally finished,listened to a lot of ideas and will make up her own mind for something special,Graeme.

If you want a screen don't bother with Foxtail or Black palms. Both are lovely palms but won't form a screen.