Sounds like you are on the right track! Keeping it is a blessing IMO.

Is there cast stone elsewhere on the house? I would suggest getting in a mason and replacing just the damaged bricks.

Rather than leaving the planter colorless and bare, I would add flowering annuals and a watering line. Perennials’ root systems could eventually cause damage to the planter wall, so I would avoid them.

It sounds like a good plan. I'd lose that hedge and work on better landscaping. Use the planter box for flowering herbs and annuals.

Yeah, that brick is a little monotonous and overwhelming for me.

Yes, just fix the broken ones or the entire row if you can't find machine brick or cement over this row . But add some annuals ...to add color.. , good luck !

I wonder how successful it would be to plant in the planter.....does the roof overhang prevent rain from dripping into the planter? That coupled with the narrowness of the space makes me think you may be watering on a daily basis? Do you have photos of what was once planted there?

Lots of good feedback! Yes, the roof hangs over the planter box. It's been shared that the house used to known for its beautiful azaleas in that planter box. Seems odd to me and don't want to go back to that.

There is no cast stone on the exterior of the house at the moment, but I do have a new cast stone block that will replace the current address plaque.

If you get sun in that space and fill the planter with a well-draining medium then lavender could work.

I would plant some nice vines and succulents.

Azaleas look great for a week, then they don't. I agree that vines, succulents, green stuff will look good. I had long planter boxes like that on my long front porch but it was a new build and I was able to have irrigation installed. Do consider if you like watering things (I don't) and what does/doesn't need a lot of water.

Ivy geraniums would be another choice If that space gets at least some light. The ivy variety (vs. zonal geraniums) are perfect for containers. They grow up, out and over and bloom year round here in Southern CA. No full sun needed. We have a similar brick planter. I bought long, rectangular planter boxes to put inside the planter. They also have trays that go under them for drainage.

Can you post a photo of the entire front so we can see how cast stone would look with the rest of the house.

Sure thing.. we’re considering replacing the decorative wrought iron posts with wood ones too

We have a long planter box like that. Ours faces west so gets blazing sun late afternoon and hardly any rain as the eaves come out as far as the planter. We are putting in a drip system with lariope. It stays lush and green, I lay the drip pipe first and plant a lariope at each emitter location.

I like this kind of succulents

This Purple queen is so nice and easy care.

I think the cast stone will look nice as long as you are ok with a defined line going across the front of your house. I even thought the last photo you posted that the top of the planter box looked light enough so that you can imagine what the stone will look like. My grandparents built a house in the 50's and they had planter boxes that were next to their front entrance steps and on top of those they had either cast stone or maybe limestone so you wouldn't be doing anything unusual to the house for that time period.

Looks like you are getting plenty of suggestions as to what to plant in the box. Enjoy your new home.

yeah

I‘ve been meaning to update. This is the after with some purple sage in the planter box.

That turned out very nice. Good job and thanks for the update.

Definitely cover the metal posts too. Then it would look fab.

Looks great! Have you considered planting another slightly taller plant behind the sage for a nice layered look?

Nicely done!

Very nice, I think the capped stone complements the house well. Thank you for the update.

Yes, we do plan to put some more plants into the box. We figured this would be a good start.

Before you replanted, did you check for moisture issues and/or do waterproofing inside the planter box?

No, we didn’t check. We assumed it’s fine since it’s been there since 1963 and we had a structural engineer inspect the house, as well. There were holly ferns in the planter box when we bought and neighbors say there were beautiful azaleas in it before that.

Your home is lovely; it looks comfortable and well cared for. I like what has been done to the planter. I still see the wrought iron porch posts and think you said you are thinking of replacing them. Would there be a possibility of making new posts to match the new planter topper?