Show a picture that explains the area.

This is before concrete which will be 4' on the left, 6' at the deep end, 14' at the right, and 10' at the shallow end surrounded by the 2' of river rock, the fence, and then 2 more feet of river rock on the other side of the fence.

You're saying that the concrete deck will be surrounded by a 2' border of exposed granular stone (like we see in the picture above)? What is the purpose of doing it like that? Why wouldn't you have soil meet the concrete deck edge? I don't get this. If you are using the stone for some sort of weed control, I'd rethink the idea.

I really hate walking on rocks. Will there be a path to get into the pool that does not have rocks? I like to see lawn next to pool decking.

You want to plant in a space of 2 feet of river rock between the concrete deck and a fence-- maybe just leave it plain river rock. You have not planned enough space to grow anything much.

I would wait until the concrete is in and then have a good look at the rest. As others have suggested, those rocks are something to reconsider. You will likely not have time to mess with landscape because you will be getting rocks out of your pool for the rest of your days ;)

Daylilies and a rose that gets pretty large but I just chop it back once or twice a season. The redbud didn't make it through last winter so there is a new baby redbud in its place.

I should say - I am in Ontario, Canada - very close to Detroit - so I would think this would all work for you.

I do like that there's dissent, especially when they supply good evidence -- including aerial photos! Gumper, your pool area looks pretty good and it looks like it works (though it is not as agreeable to plant changes as when without stone.) Hopefully the OP will use stone at least as nice. What are you using to retain it at the outside edge? And how are weeds dealt with? Or is it so cold in the winter that weeds don't survive? :-) (And that is quite a nice stream view you have!)

If I were you, I'd build a rock garden. It's foundations can be
laid even on a concrete and it looks very attractive. Similar
vertical constructions are very suitable for restricted areas like
the one you have. Here is an example on how to build your own rockery
https://www.rebelmouse.com/Jessica_Alinari/mothers-day-rock-garden-gift-idea-1082777019.html.
As you see, you can grow a lot of vegetation on it, even shrubs and
herbs.

Our pool landscaping was professionally installed and it has that black plastic landscape edging between the grass and the stone to hold the stone in place. Occasionally we have to kick a few stones back in place that the lawnmower may knock into the grass. The concrete pool deck is raised a bit and creates a lip to hold the rock on that side. There is landscape fabric beneath the stone, which I know is not very popular on these forums, but I'd be surprised if I pull a dozen weeds from the stone every year. So far it has been very effective. I don't know if the size of the stones helps; they are roughly the size of my fist, i.e. lots of space between them which perhaps doesn't offer the best growing medium?

gumper97, that is exactly the look we are going for, except our pool is a rectangle (in keeping with the straight lines of our FLW/Prairie style home). Thanks so much for those plant suggestions. We have about half of what you listed planted in various areas around the house so I know those will survive. I got the idea originally from a landscaped pool area that I saw on Pinterest. Yardvaark, the river rock we will be using is mixed color with some gray and brown tones and we are either going with the 1"-3" size or the 3"-5" size, tbd with some larger rocks like yours placed here and there for interest. I can make the width outside the fence larger than 2' if necessary but I'm not sure if too late to change the plans for the 2' within the fence. My husband wants to do stone instead of grass or mulch because he doesn't want that stuff getting into the pool and he doesn't want to have to mow within the fence since he already has almost 2 acres of lawn to mow. Emmarene, we will have a flagstone pathway leading from our front sidewalk to the pool.

gumper, any possibility that pre-emergent is used by you or any pros maintaining the area? I could not give landscape fabric credit. Could also be good up front control and few weeds in the area so not so many seeds blown in. Best weed prevention is not to have many weeds nearby producing bucket loads of seeds.

gumper, may I ask where you got your chaise loungers that are in the pool area? I have been looking for some like that.

No pre emergent used by us; not sure if the landscapers would have used it originally. Our yard is pretty weed-free and so are the neighbours' on either side, but the greenbelt behind us is pretty weedy.

The lounge chairs came from our local pool store that did the installation. Best money we spent on the whole project! We need to get a couple more now that the kids are older and we wind up fighting over them.

Do you cover them in the winter or store them away?

We do store them in the garage.

Do they have a brand name or anything? I can't find anything like them around here. What are they made of?

Sorry, no. I checked them all over and there is no manufacturer's name or serial number anywhere on them.

Thanks so much for checking.