Don't want to burst your bubble, but all trees drop their leaves, including conifers.

I have a row of some sort of conifer that has little round seed pods. In addition to the leaves that fall naturally seemingly all year round, they are also incredibly messy whenever it is windy and gutter cleaning is a regular chore. The hard round seed pods are a real joy to walk on - hurt muchly if you are bare foot, very easy to turn your ankle if wearing shoes.

And if that isn't enough, in spring the trees flower. And discharge huge amounts of pollen - yellow dust which covers everything.

And do remember that these trees are not going to stop growing at 3-4 metres.

If it were my swimming pool, I think I would prefer a deciduous tree that dropped it's bundle once a year.

If you have a neighbour on the other side of the fence, do remember that these trees are also going to affect his/her gardening in the area of the trees.

Your choice of tree is going to depend on climate, soil and your personal preferences.

If it was my garden (and this is just my personal preference) I would choose something that gave a tropical looking background to the pool. And tropical to me, in my area of hard winter frosts and occasional snow, is an evergreen with dark green, shiny leaves.

Would any of the Lilli Pillis grow in your area - for example Syzygium luehmannii - very dense, usually narrow and can be pruned. There's a nice photo at the site mentioned below. They grow well in Wollongong - would depend on your climate.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.brisrain.webcentral.com.au/database/Syzyg_leuhmannii.htm

This site has a list of lilli pilli which may interest you.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.greengold.com.au/greengold/CARENOTES/CARENOTES/lilypily.htm

Hi Prem
We have the Castwellean Gold along the outside of our swimming pool fence but as we are on acreage the size doesn't matter. But they don't drop any pods, leaves or anything else. YOu're right thought - eventually they will become too big for where you want them.

Juniper 'Hibernica' grows to 3 - 4.5 m tall and 0.6 - 1.2m wide - they are dense with a blue-green foliage. I have one in the garden and I love the colour. No problems with dropping anything that I can see.

xCupressocyparis leylandii (Leyland Cypress) is fast growing and takes well to trimming - deep green - can grow after 10 years to something like 100 feet if left untouched but .. if you want privacy??? Naylor's Blue has a more bluish green foliage and is more columnar in habit.

Barb