Only one right-off-the-bat: don't plant anything - trees especially - that have berries or debris that can drop into the pools. I'm thinking of redoing ours with all tropical-looking plants that usually behave themselves: like Palms and Cycads; desert trees; and maybe DT grasses.

Just a tip, Giant Bird of Paradise in the back ground would be really striking. Once established they are suprisingly drought resistant. I hardly ever water mine expect in the hottest months I'll do a deep soak. I would do the fescue on both sides... try not to use too many varieties of plants as your pool design is elaborate so I would stick to just clean , bold plants. Some phormium would be lovely too... Instead of blue fescue, have you considered Senecio (blue chalksticks)? Would be striking against the sandy colored coping. Blue Fescue tends to get a bit bleached out in the summer...

Have to add, this is what I would do- Fill in both right and left side with the senecio mandraliscae, and add some phormium such as Wings of Gold (doesn't get too big) , Maori maiden or maori chief as accents. Maybe some fox tail agave ( you will have to maintain and transplant them as they get huge) or aeonium zwartkop. All drought resistant and tropical. Birds of paradise at the top (if there is room)and some spillers such as parrots peak.

Kangaroo Paw would be awesome too. Yellow or red. What is your soil like?

Sabine, my home is in upper Laurel Canyon. It gets the best microclimate in the city. Never too hot and never too cold. Plenty of coastal fog. The pool is in shade, more in the winter than the sumer. Anything seems to grow there with minimum maintenance.

That's a lovely area. I live pretty close by, in Thousand Oaks. The only thing i would say is to pick plants that don't depend on full sun... Lots of full sun plants are fine with half day sun though... especially in our area. Also, pay attention to your soil. Is it heavy clay like much of the area? If so, some plants don't like clay... you will need to ammend the soil before planting. Good luck!!!

We have sago palms around our pool with a little bit of society garlic for a color punch and some dwarf agapanthas. No mess from those things. You say the pool is shaded most of the time. Look for shade loving plants. Most love full sun, but the Sago Palms are dwarfish and do fine in part shade. Sorry, I don't know the technical name for Sago Palms.. Stay away from bee attracting plants. No fun swimming with bees!

Thank you all for your suggestions. I'm getting a really good grip on what to do based on your feedback. Can't thank you enough!

Sago palm (Cycas revoluta) females do drop big orange seeds once they are mature. I don't know about the males.

The Sago's have spines on the tips of the "fronds", best to keep them away from where you might have to walk through them. I would definitely go symmetrical at the edge of the pool and do something a bit taller in the background along the base of the walls. If you are going into the succulents try Agave attenuate 'Blue Flame' as the accent or Aeoniums, both will take part sun and tolerate the occasional splash of chlorinated water. Both have interesting sculptural forms.