With pools and modern houses, I think bold simple schemes work well. Ornamental grasses planted en masse would look effective. We surrounded a pool with Miscanthus sinensis interplanted with Verbena bonariensis in thin beds for one job. However, given the size of your planting area, this might be too large an area for this treatment. My other suggestion would be to go for a sort of Mediterranean scheme using blocks of small shrubs such as Cistus, Lavender, Hebe, Rosemary and Euphorbia wulfenii. These could be planted in drifts to a selected colour palette and then infilled with grasses and drought loving herbaceous like sedums, salvias and agapanthus. The shrubs work well in that their evergreen foliage and twiggy nature trap the leaves and prevent too much debris blowing into the pool.

This is probably the toughest poll out there - they're all pretty amazing! Purely on the basis of the image I like the best, I'm going to have to go for the Tuscan farmhouse (although the Canadian, other Italian and Swedish home come so so close)!

Yes ma'm, i know that, but i built a second home in somewhere Borneo island, and in here don't have any speacialist or even exterior designers in this island.. So, i the one will find all by myself and paid the contractor and the workers to built it.. i even bought the tiles and the things in the borneo city and its quite far from here cuz im in the quite small island in borneo.

I worked in Australia building swimming pools, including some celeb clients. If you can, try to get hold of a copy of ‘poolside’ magazine from Australia. This is a consumer magazine and should give you lots of inspiration. Construction-wise we would normally pour a concrete ring beam around the pool deck that would anchor into the top of the pool sides with metal rebar dowels. Next the bullnose pavers would be overhung around the edge of the pool and then paved up to, before grouting. By the looks of it you’d be retrofitting this pool surround so could cause structural issues if the ground around the pool is not well compacted, and the ring beam moved, while being attached to the pool itself. With this in mind, you may want to look at something like compacted hardcore with a resin bonded gravel over the top. This will be non slip, can flex, if the ground moves, and by the time you’ve poured concrete and then paved it, would be cheaper and faster to install. Aesthetically, it may also be a good fit? Am not sure on compatibility for use around pools - perhaps seek reassurance from a U.K. provider first and then contract a reputable local provider. Decking is another option but slip resistance could be an issue on natural timber and the synthetic stuff fades and warps. Hope it goes well : )