We used oleander. They are growing REALLY fast. They can grow pretty high so that you can use them as hedges. The leaves are large enough so that they aren't troublesome to the pool, but so far we haven't even had one in the pool. You can get them with different colored flowers. (We chose white). The only downfall is that they are poisonous, so it's a no-go if you have small children or pets.

Here is a link that might be useful: Oleander picture

Thanks Lookingforapool, we do have small children, so oleander is def. a no-go for us, I do love this plant a lot but won't use it with small kids,
anyway,
thanks,
mokay

I have Crepe Myrtles & Oleanders and both are pretty messy, I wouldn't put either of them near the pool. The Crepe's drop tiny flower petals all over the place, and they lose their leaves in the fall -through- spring so there goes the privacy for those months. I dont know how the Oleanders handle winters yet, as mine were just planted this year.

@ jasonlmarsh, as much as I love the Crepe Myrtle, I can see the mess already, I m looking for something pretty, maybe an evergreen, maybe a cypress, but something what will def. make not a lot of mess and don't grow roots that will ruin my walls. I do have to plant something real close to the pool for privacy,right now I'm thinking more of an arborvitae also like the large grasses, I'm planning on stopping at our local nursey today, hope they have some ideas too,
thanks so much for you posting.
mokay

We used ornamental grasses along our raised wall and they look awesome. In the picture they were freshly planted and small but they went from about 3" tall to about 3ft tall in about a week!!!!!

@paradigmdawg,
what a beautiful pool.....love the shape......

love your planter too...after your pics I'm pretty sure ornamental grasses will do well around my pool too and I think the wheater here in Atlanta is perfect aswell,
where are you located ?
what kind of grass did you go with,is that bermuda, it looks so thick....?
Thanks for sharing your beuatiful pictures.
best,
mokay

Thanks.

We live in North Texas. Grass is Tifway 419 Bermuda.