What to do with poolside garden beds?
We own a rental property with a pool, and it has two garden beds adjacent to it, one a small corner set above the pool, the other a longer bed that runs along the back of the pool deck by the screen enclosure - it's about 18" deep and 8' long. You can see the small corner bed on the step in the attached picture - the longer bed is out of sight from the bottom right hand corner of the image.
In the past we've always covered both with pebbles and just left it plain, but I've been thinking of sprucing it up with a few plants to brighten the area up. Every tenant who's ever been in the place always says how much they would like to do something with the two spots, but no one ever does. So whatever goes in will have to be fairly tenant-proof and hardy in terms of neglect, though I can get out there occasionally to do some weeding if need be.
During the summer months they'll get plenty of rain, it's only in the cooler months where they might occasionally need watering. I was thinking of tossing in a majesty palm and a few crotons in the corner bed, but not sure what to do with the longer one by the screen. I thought of a Yucca plant in the middle - or to one side - with four or five crotons lined up next to it (or two either side if I place it in the middle) but I'm not sure if I like the repetition. I'm not much of a green thumb, so I'd appreciate some suggestions.
Oh, and the picture was taken when we first bought the house and had the pool resurfaced - the corner planter was still overgrown with weeds back then!
In the past we've always covered both with pebbles and just left it plain, but I've been thinking of sprucing it up with a few plants to brighten the area up. Every tenant who's ever been in the place always says how much they would like to do something with the two spots, but no one ever does. So whatever goes in will have to be fairly tenant-proof and hardy in terms of neglect, though I can get out there occasionally to do some weeding if need be.
During the summer months they'll get plenty of rain, it's only in the cooler months where they might occasionally need watering. I was thinking of tossing in a majesty palm and a few crotons in the corner bed, but not sure what to do with the longer one by the screen. I thought of a Yucca plant in the middle - or to one side - with four or five crotons lined up next to it (or two either side if I place it in the middle) but I'm not sure if I like the repetition. I'm not much of a green thumb, so I'd appreciate some suggestions.
Oh, and the picture was taken when we first bought the house and had the pool resurfaced - the corner planter was still overgrown with weeds back then!
