There is a recent post....something like, what palms to plant around a pool....just posted last week, lots of pictures...and we all live in Florida:)

I just looked up the recent post, its called "what are the best palms for around a pool" on May 22nd.

Thanks gk5040. I saw that but there was only one home that actually showed pictures of their screen/landscaping so I was hoping maybe some others would post more. It looks as though a lot more people opt for no screen. That would be nice $$$$ wise, especially here in Florida...lol. I am excited to get a screen this time around as I think we will be able to enjoy our pool a lot more, especially with all the bugs, etc. Our permits have been approved so now we are just waiting patiently (well maybe not too patiently) for the fun to begin!

I cant imagine life without a screen. I was just outside cleaning out a mess the pool guy dumped into my garbage can and I got eaten alive by mesquitos. The bugs and animals would make it impossible to enjoy the pool if we didnt have a screen. Someone just posted a blog about mice in their pool...we would have armidillos, snakes, frogs, alligators, etc if we didnt have screens in FL:)

Our pool job is a remodel, that is why the landscaping is so mature. Though when we moved here last year we ripped a lot out and have spent $$$ relandscaping. We removed dying wax myrtles that were around the pool....now there are mature areca palms and another big queen palm (pic in that other post). We took out 5 philadendrons in the front and replaced them with palms. The other side of the house had half dead shrubs too....the previous homeowners had the roof washed and the chemicals killed all the plants. The post I mentioned lists some good books to invest in. I am not sure what zone you are in, it helps to post that so people from your area can respond....Florida is a big state, what I planted may not work where you are or you may be further south and can plant things I cant. Search in the pool forum, it took me forever to realize the search section was at the bottom of the screen. I would search on Garden web and get nothing but words related to the wrong topic. Good luck.

Thanks....I will need it. I am in no way a plant person so this will be interesting. Luckily we have an L shaped home, so that will be helpful. I have no clue what zone I am in, I live in Central Florida. I will have to check out the books that others were recommending. I have heard that our PB will be digging in one week.....wooohoooo! I think us parents are more excited about this than our kids. :)

I'll post some photos soon. We put viburnum shrubs to make a hedge between our house and our neighbor's house. One neighbor has a vinyl fence and we planted viburnum there, too. Our lot is a preserve lot, so we didn't want to block the view in the back. Also, we need to see outside when our dog needs to be a "good girl". There's lots of gators out and about in our development. I don't want her get eaten.

i'll try to post some pictures soon too. ours is still a work in progress. i choose to plant flowering bushes and palms directly against the screen and am just starting to plant hedge type plantings at the property line (i didn't want a closed-in feeling). you're probably zone 8 or 9a, so there will be plants you may want to avoid due to freeze potential. i picked my plants based on minimal watering and maintenance once established. i also picked them based on availibilty (HD, Lowes, or Wal-Mart). I found out at my last house that you can buy a $5-$12 3 gallon plant and, with fertilizer and water, it will grow to a decent size in no time.

here are the plants that i typically see for taller hedges:
Sweet viburnum
Walter's viburnum (native...lower maintenance that sweet)
Cocoplum (native)(http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/flgard/msg061935232221.html)
Ligustrum
Hibiscus (gets leggy and requires fert and water...not a big fan)

one other thing that i've noticed in the month we have had our screened pool.... the screen really hinders the sun from heating our pool. it is the middle of june and up until last weekend, our average 3PM pool temp. was 79. my wife and young boys are 87 degree swimmers. i would definitely consider solar because you are north of us (we are in Sarasota).

This pool belongs to someone on this forum but I don't remember who. I saved the pic because I thought it was nicely landscaped INSIDE the screen. i know you are looking for plantings outside the screen but figured this might give you some ideas for inside too.

Thank you for all the comments & pictures!! We have a few planters on the inside as well so I need to figure out what I want to do there. I will probably not go with something so big. On the outside I was thinking maybe Christmas Palms (there is another name for them) and something that looks like/is fountain grass and maybe a couple of other plants. I also see a lot of people putting up a hedge like surrounding but I am not sure that is something I want to do. I guess I'm afraid that will be so enclosed but yet I want the privacy. Choices...choices.... I am going to be busy researching!! We are getting solar this time so I am excited about that. I definetly like the water warmer.

i am also in the process of selecting the right landscaping for my pool. i really am looking for something which will add privacy and i will run it along my property line. need a hedge which i can maintain at about 4-5' high. scrapula- would the viburnum schrubs be good for this? does their root system bother the pool?

Christmas palms are also known as adonidia palms. They are widely available and are self cleaning....but they are susceptable to frost. It appears that they are not successfully grown north of the Tampa/Orlando area. We have two doubles around our pool along with four foxtail palms (another self cleaner). For some color we have plumbagos, pentas, and ruellia (purple showers).

My neighbor has viburnum around his air conditioner. I'm 5'2" and they are taller than I am. I think they would make a nice 4-5' privacy hedge.