In the winter months it'll get 4-5 hours of direct sun and the summer months it will get 7-8 hours of sun.

I would not stop with only one. I would plant that entire fence with different

kinds of trees.

Search passion vines. See if there is one you like. Plant it on the fence and cover that entire wall. The vine and flowers are pretty nice.

i would be tempted to plant at least one full size fruit tree to block the neighbors Windows.

Bloomsweet lemon, sanboken lemon, and/or New Zealand lemonade tree

Thanks Tim and steve for the suggestions. Steve looks like the only tree I can get in Cali is the lemonade, the others are not available in my state. Tim, I had originally planted the mesquite there for that exact reason.

Evan

I love your idea but won't the tree absolutely bake against the brick wall in your heat? Maybe you could paint the wall white to cool it?

I'll bet that a Sweet Lime would do good in that spot also. My most mature tree is such and it is the most fertile tree in the yard.

I went the opposite way, closer to Tim's suggestion and purchased a Duranta erecta sky flower plant, I figured a flowering vine would be an easier plant to try my first espalier with. If I end up successful I will pick another spot on my wall to attempt a citrus espalier. I appreciate everyone's suggestions.

Evan

Buy your trees and get them in the ground. Espalier trees are not difficult.

even if you don't prune them right away. Initially you cut the branches facing the fence. Then you can let them go for a full growing season.

after you prune off what you don't want.

really not much more work than a regular tree.

Did you happen to look up passion vines. They would take the "hardness" from your brick wall. A Passion flower and a plum espalier.

Hi Evan. I am trying an informal fan espalier about 8 inches away from a fence on a trellis. It's a western exposure fence line. A eureka lemon would have been the best choice probably for my area since it's a fast grower and pretty easy here, but a friend gave me a cara cara orange and I needed to find a place for it.. so I decided to try espalier with it. It's not a super fast grower, but I think thats fine for my first try at espalier. I have climbing roses growing on trellises also along the fence surrounding it and I think it will look fantastic once they all grow in together. I put it in the ground in the fall and this is the start of it's first spring. It looks good so far and seems to like it. Lots of new growth.

How far away from the wall are you doing your espalier and how are you supporting it?

For me, I think a vine would be a little too vigorous for espalier. It would end up just covering the fence/wall... which would also be pretty. But I'm going for a more cultured, manicured look. Even so... I'm doing informal fan espalier instead of an actual design. An actual design seemed a little intimidating and like it may really bring out my OCD. ;-)