Too far away for me! PJ

The space is ~ 12 ft window to window and 6 ft deep, is that enough info. Don't have another pic that is closer.

What zone or county are you in? What type of soil do you have?

zone 8b and clay

Ilex 'Sky Pencil'. I've seen 'em at Lowe's just last week.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sky Pencil

You have lots of room there, you could do many things.

What look do you want? There are palms that would go, there are things like Desert Willow or Golden Ball Lead tree. There's the Will Fleming youpon. You could do a nice perennial garden with roses at the back.

I tend to want natives and things that look natural to be in central TX and low water use plants. Not much for a formal garden. All the other plants will be low water so don't want to interfere with that. Don't want roots that would mess with the foundation so not sure if there are any trees or large shrubs that wont.

Look would be informal, but something with interest. It doesn't have to fill out the whole space except for the height I feel I need something to balance the lower perennials I want to put in front and the height of the wall in that spot.

I will have to check out the suggestions ya'll gave. I will be planting deer resistant plants with some smell to help deter them, but deer resistant would be a plus too.

Golden ball lead tree - beautiful! Chitalpa, desert willow, eve's necklace, kidneywood, argentine senna, pearl bush - there are so many neat natives and "acts like native" trees and shrubs. How far are you from Dallas? The Texas Discovery Gardens in Fair Park is having a sale June 9 - there are always some really interesting trees there, and usually small so a good price.

Isn't there a sidewalk running from the driveway to the side of the porch?

That would mean that the space is shallow, like a flower bed, not deep enough for trees.

I'd probably use another trellis & something like Carolina jessamine, evergreen, vigorous, & bright yellow flowers (won't clash with your red rose).

Best luck, & have fun!

Thanks for more of the suggestions to check out. I love that Golden ball lead tree, but says Deer loves it so probably not a good option. Off to look at the others.

I like the cool shape of those pencil and Will Fleming yaupons. Never seen one of those before.

There is a sidewalk whose edge is 10 ft away from the edge of the wall. Hence the 6ft deep limitation I put on it in an earlier post.

If you click on the picture it takes you to other pics and in one of those you can see the side walk.

I think a small tree or large tree form shrub would work well. Yaupon holly, either the evergreen or deciduous. Something that might spill over the walk, but can be limbed high enough to walk under. There have been several good suggestions above for a tall specimen. With a 6' depth you can plant 3-4' away from the house. Then perennials and grasses for your lower level would look nice; salvias, autumn sage, rosemary, 4 nerve daisy, blackfoot daisy, muhly grass, the possibilities are endless. I can picture a really nice looking low water perennial garden there. I think it'll look great.

Lindheimer's muhly, Zebra grass (which is varigated green/white which would look great with the siding) or deer muhly would be nice. The grasses would be tall enough to be the vertical element you want, but also give it a soft look. You could edge the area in Mexican feather grass, and put in a few white salvia greggii to make a cool yet welcoming look.

Here's a link to the city of Austin's plant recommendations. They have the information in a spreadsheet. If you can open an Excel file, then you'll be able to sort the plants listed by size, water usage, or whatever else you're considering. Deer resistance is noted on some of the plants.

How about oleander? Could that be pruned and limbed up into a multi-trunk tree?

Here is a link that might be useful: City of Austin - Grow Green Plant List

Youpon seems the best choice and would look very nice year around. You will have to trim it away from the siding and plant close to the walkway. Another alternative would be to plant larger shade trees (or youpons) on the other side of the walkway (street side). It is always best to plant your big trees first (better yet, plant while bringing the moving boxes in!), as they will always be so very valuable and you will be glad to have them. But they will do what you want them to.......cast shade and that will make a difference in what other long term plantings you do. Your house is very very nice and you have so much acreage that it is difficult to envision plantings away from the prominent structures but they will be the best bet in softening the landscape. You are fortunate to have such a very nice home!

Thank you everybody - Some great suggestions. I've not had time to look at all of them yet (got to work), but definetly will. What is really cool is some of them I'd never heard of before and I really would like to try something different. I am very familiar with the Austin Grow Green list - it is stored in my brain. I used it heavily at my old house in Austin and was trying to find something different this time.

I'm leaning towards trying to use the narrow tall yaupon as it just is so different, but a little worried about it and windy conditions, but first I want to look at all the others too. I'm willing to try something and if it doesn't work out go to plan B.

Have anybody heard of "sycamore-leaf snowbell" ?? I found it while looking up one of the above suggestions on the tamu site where you can search for shrubs/trees and put in conditions such as water etc.

sycamore-leaf snowbell

BTW we are planting some larger trees further out from the house. One will be placed if you draw a line down from the porch corner and in the middle of the green area.

If I could only get our scanner to work I could post my plan. Maybe this weekend.

We'd love to see your plan!

Yupons are pretty tough plants, interesting as small trees and can be pruned or sheared to just about any shape, without damage and with good dense fill-in. Nice silvery look in the sun, red berries in the Winter and evergreen. I see the weeping kind used in Zen gardens in this area with their interesting form and easy upkeep. I have them growing in sun, in shade, with or without extra watering and pampering and they are all doing fine. The hedge I fed and watered earlier this Spring and it is going great guns. For a great easy small tree, I would go with the Yupon.