i wouldnt plant a large tree that close to my house ... the weeping types tend to spread their canopy and might become a stair issue ...

what is your primary goal????

fill the space... ???

shade ????

any further info beyond the dimensions of the space would help

ken

Any weeping tree is inappropriate for that space. Any short, multitrunked shrub/tree (e.g. crape myrtle) is inappropriate for that space. IMO you want to plant something in the lawn to shade deck and house.

Dan

I'm thinking some foundation/basement level screening. e.g. shrubbery or some trellis covered in vines. climbing roses maybe.
You may be able to fit something in there like an arborvitae just for the pretty of it. OR maybe a slender siloutte sweetgum. Although I always thought those look kinda strange.
For trees, I'd concentrate more on the sides of the deck. Whatever direction that sun is beaming down from.

Oh and.. Unless you're at the coast, forget about crepe myrtle. You asked for hardy so I'm just sayin.

My Goal is to just fill the space with something hardy that looks great and some color. You can see from above from the deck also. Eventually, I will have trees all around the other side of the deck. I'm not convinced that something weeping will not work here. I appreciate the input.

A weeping tree will work until it outgrows the space.
You have another problem with that space that I just noticed and that's that the roots will extend into areas that are sheltered and will not receive as much rain water.

That is a very small space -- you have room for perhaps a medium sized shrub and that's about it.

Weeping cherries are big honking trees. That need full sun. And are otherwise fussy buggers. Just not a good choice.

The sun exposure (or lack thereof) is at least as a big a limitation on your choices as the lack of space. For example, crape myrtles want full sun. Full sun = at least 6 hours per day of direct sun. A japanese maple would take what I'm guessing is the light exposure in that area and be ornamental, but still gets too big for that spot generally, even though they grow very slowly. I don't know the cultivars of a. japonica well enough to know whether there's a dwarf that would work with the space limitations.

I don't know the cultivars of a. japonica well enough to know whether there's a dwarf that would work with the space limitations.

There are several specialty JM nurseries that have dozens of cvs that would fit the spot, but much amending would have to take place to make it work there, then you'd have to remember to water it and cover it when you wash the deck/sand/re-stain. Surely mary is correct that a shrub is much more appropriate than a tree, for all the reasons from so many people above and for the simple fact you can cover it when the chemicals from cleaning come raining down.

Dan

My first inclination looking at that space would be a beautiful vine. You'd have to build some sort of trellis, but still, it's the perfect spot! Maybe a wisteria (they are kind of aggressive, though), or a trumpet vine. That would look great there!!! I agree with a previous poster, an arborvitae or two would look nice there.

The only tree I could think of that would do well there is maybe an upright growing cultivar of crabapple.

Maybe an amur maple that you trim to not be excessively wide would be good.

Beautiful house and deck, btw. I live in the city so I am all too familiar with these type of small spaces!!!!

If it gets enough sun, you could try a lilac, too.

Not the easiest spot to work with, BUT I like the layout as well. When you figure out what is going to live/look good its going to be all the better.

I do hostas as a low foundation anyplace that has decent soil and gets shade near my house.... Impatiens spilling out of a fancy planter above them....

Great spot for a rock waterfall & koi pond.

It's definitely a cool deck and deserves some thought and creativity to place some outstanding plants in that difficult spot

Dan

You could try {{gwi:367919}}. It does ok in shade (tho better in sun). Look for nootkatensis 'Green Arrow' or 'Van Den Akker'.

tj