And yes, I posted this in shrubs...I just decided to post it here too since I don't need an exact planting plans, just a general drawing or idea of where to go from here.

Anyone have a minute to weigh in?

Besides privacy, which you've already solved, what are your objectives? Why does this wall exist?

It's the wall that the city puts in to surround the neighborhood. So I guess you could say it's because we are at the edge of the neighborhood. There is a semi-decently busy-ish street behind it. The other side of the wall has a long long long row of Photinia up against it. Then there are, what I think are, Japanese Blueberry trees...They are equally spaced all along there too, but a few behind our back wall aren't very tall yet. I think the city planted those later than the really tall ones. Once those grow in and our pittosporum grow in, it will be a fairly dense screen.

I think my objectives got buried in a wordy sentence. I'd like to add color and interest (maybe something that flowers at different times of the year than Loropetalum and Grevillea) since that section of the wall is the part straight off the patio. I know I should mix up textures and colors, and should not plant things in a row (that's why I was saying I'm going to fix the Nandina soon). I am now stuck and indecisive about how to finish this up. :)

I VERY much appreciate your help. At least a rough sketch or something to get my mind going on what it could look like would be super helpful. I'm afraid of making mistakes. I've googled to find pics I like, but it doesn't get me very far since usually I don't know if it's a pic from my growing area or whatnot.

If your goal is to "add color and interest," wouldn't it be the case that plopping a large enough patch of cleverly arranged flowers in the center of the space would resolve your goals? It would! But I think to have that now as the primary goal is neglecting the overall space and its possibilities. Adding color and interest is pretty much a sub-goal of almost any landscape project, but focusing on only that potentially leave a lot of other things neglected. A better goal would be to create a beautiful view. In that case one would need to look comprehensively at the space and determine how they can improve its whole. I don't think you're showing enough of the space. If you would, please return to the original camera position and add the following photos...

Regarding what has already been done, I would not have been inclined to cover the stone pilaster -- an important decorative element that adds interest -- with a plant. It seems contrary to a good overall goal. Also, the arrangement of the Pittosporum seems a bit haphazard, rather than well organized. Wouldn't it be true that if one walked out into the space toward the left end, that the screening the Pitts provided would end? Given these two negatives, I think it would have been better to focus the Pitt screening all at the left fence panel. Then the balance of Pitts to wall panel would seem coordinated and the pilaster would not be covered. (There is a tree at the other side of the wall, behind the pilaster, that will take care of screening the background.)

Even if they were over there I'd have the same questions.

That tree you think would screen behind the pillar is in the median of the road and is deciduous. We use our patio year round which is why it was decided to put a pitt there. We dont want to see those houses over there.

The pics depict the whole back wall. The pics that are missing are the side fences. So turn the corners and it's more border space along the side fences that are also unplanted. Nothing to see really. The focus this year is to finish the back wall at least.

Thanks.

Then it could have been solved by the plant spacing skipping being in front of the pilaster, but where the tree tops grow together above it.

I would be inclined to go in a direction more like this...

I can make it work to not have anything rather large in front of the pillar as it is, because the trunk isn't going to be super huge and it's to the side of the pillar. I don't really care to make that a focal point anyways. I know that may be "wrong" in the design aspect, but I'm not all that attracted to it.

That pic is pretty and might have considered it if I saw it that way back when I posted about needing ideas for privacy. Doesn't solve the privacy in the middle when it's winter, but I do like it. I do like it the way we planted it though, especially when the loropetalum get large.

Let's not play the "should have" game because they're planted, they've been there since last year, and they aren't getting moved no matter how "wrong" that makes me. We don't have the time to move stuff around now, in fact I don't have all that much time to figure out what to plant and how to go about arranging it. I came here to get help in figuring out how to go about arranging something planted around the pittosporum so I have a general idea and can make a plan and shop the nursery picking out shrubs accordingly. I don't know if it would make more sense to get the same shrub for in between each pitt and then vary it around those or if I should just vary it all. And when I say vary I do not mean 1 of a ton of different shrubs, but just a simple but mixed arrangement.

I was reticent to get involved in this thread because you were going in a direction that was unappealing to me. There's just not a way I can help you go there. But there are lots of people of this forum who disagree with the directions I go so perhaps one/some of them will jump in and give you some advice you like.

So let's pretend the wall is only as long as the part with the pittosporum... Ignore the rest. Chop the photo so it's just the Pitts and make me a drawing of how you'd fill it in.

The problem is that I wouldn't be fitting such plants in with the pitts. If you were going to have shrubs in the planting bed along the wall, the only way I'd do it is separate from the pitts ... they as one group and the shrubs as another. But a single line of shrubs against a wall does not seem appealing! Instead, I would do a double, staggered row (larger row in back) with the intention of creating a mound like effect, or more like a half-mound, which will partially need to be accomplished by how they are trimmed. You'd need to adjust the bed line to accommodate the shrub group.

Below the pitts I would install solid groundcover that was between 6" and 18" height.

In general, I think you are thinking at too small a scale, and too busy, for this fairly large, open space.

The only thing I can add to this is bear in mind that the wall is going to reflect heat onto the plants you have planted darn close to it. That will stress them. Since they are already planted and you can't give them more breathing room, you'd better baby them. Things can block your view from both close up or far away. you have many options and they don't all need to be stuck right up against that wall. If it were me, I would search under "wall plantings" or "dressing up a fence" or "Landscaping along a wall" on Houzz or just google images and maybe you'll find some inspiration to get your creative juices flowing.

Thanks I pinkmountain. The shrubs and plants are only going along the border. Not everything will be plastered against the wall though. Smaller shrubs can be a bit staggered and layered to fill it up since it's 8 feet deep.