First off, you can plant nothing in front of the hedges because there is no room. The hedges look fine. There doesn't need to be anything in front of them.

Start increasing the height of the trees. Let them grow on top and begin removing bottom branches. Until you can walk below them without getting smacked in the face with branches. Plant a full bed of something pretty and colorful below them. What grows in your area that would fill the bill?

Add a couple of large container plantings.

Done.

1. what can I plant in front of the hedges? - nothing, but you can put ice plant in the ground all around if you want to eliminate the soil cover.

2. what do I plant below 2 citrus trees or should I concrete to these areas? - same as above, do not concrete the areas.

3. how do I camouflage bare cement block walls behind the citrus trees? - you could maybe squeeze bougainvillea behind them - not sure cuz I can't see the measure. I don't know that it needs camouflage.

4.Should I use plants/shrubs in pots? - plants in pots - yes. shrubs in pots - no.

5. Should I add pots of flowers, statuary or fire pots to bottom side corners of water feature? - pots of flowers :)

I might put some large planters on the surround in the corner to the left (in pic) of the bench to help hide some of the wall. Maybe not this urn style, but something good sized with large colorful foliage and flowers. If you do as Yardvaark suggests and raise the canopy on the trees the trunks will look more sculptural and interesting behind the planters.

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Not sure how you enter the pool, but in the pic, the lower area that juts between the spa and pool, might be a good place for another planter, lower but substantial (if it doesn't get in the way of use) with more flowers.
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I might also try using the hedges as a trellis for some flowering vines like Bougainvillea or Passionflower (not sure of any petal/leaf in pool issues) or something else colorful.

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Maybe you have an open area for something dramatic like this?
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To my minds eye your space could use some textural layering to bring in some romance of space and color.
In front of the tall hedges I would suggest loose strappy plants that can take the root competition from the heges and will spill over the concrete to soften the edges. agapanthus, bid of paradise and bromeliads would all be potential candidates.
Bougainvilleas on the walls would bring in color, it bill also bring in a lot of foliage debris but it might be worth the added maintenance.
I'd also bring in some giant bird of paradise to add some foliage diversity along with a heavy layering of contrasting colored foliage plants.
A cluster of large Tunisian urns set into the border a nd spill out onto the concrete will also bring up the sence of romance and transform the space from static to one with emotional resonance.
Photo of Umberto Pasti garden poolside space.

Tried to find pots like in picture above but could not do so. Also do not want to spend thousands of dollars as there are other projects we need to finish as well.
I found a pair of heavy concrete urns in excellent condition on Craigslist. They stand on pedestals and are 39 1/2" high.
They are selling for $200 for the pair which, based on what I have seen online, seems to be a fair price.
I love all the ideas so far and they have really helped me in the right direction. The house has a Tuscan/Mediterranean look and so I thought it required a formal, "trimmed" look but now I am thinking that, in the pool area, at least, that might not be true.
I have added some more pictures so that you can see from different angles.

Under a tree.

Shady corner.

This is the most sun this area gets and it is not all day. Would I put I perhaps put something like California gold on top of the soil and place pots on that or keep pots on concrete?

Bare concrete wall.

Spa (hot tub area)

Let's see the bichon babies!

No space at front of hedges.

Pool view from other end (facing house)

This post was edited by bichonlover3 on Tue, May 27, 14 at 15:50