Mike- If you're talking about filling a 10' wide space with 3 B. lako of that size, I think -- depending on your growing conditions -- that it will be a good 5 years before you get them to approximate a filled-in hedge...or even have to think about topping them. The other concern I have about B. lako (and other large bamboo) is that, once it matures, it tends to have less foliage near the ground than the top, so you could be topping a lot of the higher up foliage, and leaving lower culms that look a little bare. If you must top, don't do all the culms at the same height, so it will look a little more natural. I know B. lako is beautiful, but I also have an alternate suggestion: get a smaller clumper (say, Bambusa multiplex 'Golden goddess'), that you won't have to crop. Or get an open clumper, like Yushania anceps, which acts like a clumper, but will spread out faster than a true clumper. However, it won't be so fast that you can't easily rhizome prune if it starts to move in the wrong direction (it simply doesn't send out long runners), and it only reaches a height of 12', so you wouldn't have to top it. Here is a picture of 3 of them (they're to the right of the lantern) that I planted against a 9' high fence. That was right after planting; they've filled out nicely over the last 3 years, but I don't have a picture of that since I sold that house. My only concern in making this recommendation to you is that Y. anceps prefers something less than full sun, and your spot looks pretty sunny. Maybe someone here has some experience with growing it in your conditions.

I'd also suggest using succulents in these containers, because most can take the full sun and reflected heat with just once a week handwatering. Aloes, soft Agaves such as A.attenuata or A. bracteosa, Bulbine frutescens, Aeonium simsii and A. haworthii, and other South African plants such as Arctotis cultivars(winter into spring blooming daisies in a multitude of colors), Kalanchoe pumila, Ice plants such as Lampranthus, Drosanthemum, Crassula 'Campfire', are all plants that can give lots of year round color with just once or at most twice a week handwatering. Phormiums will tend to burn in inland S. California sun. Make sure you have new good potting soil and work in enough time release fertilizer, and maybe even incorporate some of the water absorbing polymers into the soil mix to help retain available soil moisture between hand waterings.

Welcome to gardening! I'll be a bit blunt here, and maybe others will disagree, but I don't think either of those trees are good choices for your situation. Here's why. When you say 7-8' away from the pool, do you mean the trunk will be that close or the edge of the tree canopy will be that close to the pool? That is not far enough away if you mean the trunk. You may be able to find citrus trees on true dwarf root stock that would be okay, but the canopy of a fully grown citrus tree is wider than fourteen feet, and they drop leaves. Can you plant the tree farther away? The olive tree gets far too large to consider it as a possibility. The trunks rise and would impact your decking, and it would be a disaster for your filtration system. They drop a lot of tiny white flowers and yellow pollen. If you got a fruiting olive you would have a purple-stained deck and pool and be bobbing for olives every time you took a swim. They also require a great deal of pruning. The Sunset Western Garden book has a section on trees suitable for planting around pools. You might want to take a look at it to see if anything strikes your fancy. It sounds like you are interested in a Mediterranean theme for your back yard, which will be lovely. Good luck with your project. Renee

Welcome to Garden web and Ozarks Forum. Hope you'll love it as much as i do. I've learned so much here. I started container gardening last year and so far have had good luck. First the size of your containers need to be right for what ever plants you want to grow. most of my containers are 14" by at least 18" high. Perennials need these planters such as daylillies, peonies,sedum,minuture roses. If there is any room left in planter, i add shallow rooted annuals like petunias,marigold,zennias etc. Next is soil. I use fertilome ultimate potting soil or Baccto all purpose potting soil that i get from a local nursery.It has fertilizer and stuff to retain water. I've been told that i could mix half and half with garden dirt but so far have just used potting mix. My daylillies, sedum,peonies look healthier than the others i left in the ground. Leaves a darker green, thicker (amt) of folage. The peony has more buds than ever before. I'd suggest using a liquid fertilizer regularly if you use regular dirt and of course plenty of water. That's all of my knowledge. Hope i've helped some. If not there's a container plant forum here you might read up on their site too. vickie