first thought: How much of that space beyond the wall do you own?

If it were me, and the wall was the edge of my property (which may or may not be true), I'd make it an asset. Paint it a mossy green to blend in and disappear. Or, better yet, find an artist you like and commission a mural. Could be totally cool, or classy, or modern, or ... any style that appeals to you. What a canvas you have!

Oh, and what kind of tree do you want -- are you sure it will fit in your space?

@junco East Georgia zone 8a Good questions! Southern California - Zone 10a. Our house faces south with our backyard facing north. (The planter runs the entire north and east side of our yard.) We get intense afternoon sun from the west during the summer so will probably do vegetables in the far north/west corner (?) although I did veggies along the east side last summer and it worked out fairly well with the exception of my pumpkin/squash that ended up with really bad powdery mildew right from the start. Yes, it's a potted dwarf blood orange. It would fit in the corner of the planter where it's currently sitting but the rest of the planter is only 2 ft wide.

@User We don't own anything beyond the tall block wall. In California, fence/walls between properties are shared ownership/responsibility. We have a pretty good relationship with our neighbors so I wouldn't see us having any problems with painting or doing something like that on our side.

I don't have a specific tree in mind yet but want something for privacy here ( green circle). Our neighbors yard is at higher grade than ours so the block wall is only about 4.5 tall feet on their side. It's direct line-of-sight to our kitchen window too so I'd also like something nice to look at. The patio will be coming down and replaced with something a bit smaller but that might not be until next year.

Thanks for the ideas!

thanks for the quick responses, Megan. I have no experience with your area, maybe someone else can recommend trees and/or plantings. Maybe a tall trellis archway over a water feature for outside your kitchen window.

A large shrub may be better than a tree in the space with the green circle. You can find something that will mature to 6 - 8 feet and save yourself a lot of work pruning and eventually removing it. There's not much room for tree roots there.

My vote would be to leave block planter & work with it. From lowered depth view of the planters sitting in it looks like it needs a good amount of soil added to it before planting. To cover the wall, tall & substantial trellis structures could be added at several key spots, the area you‘ve highlighted with green circle for one. This would give the long narrow area a place for plants with height that aren‘t trees & things that will spread out into your yard space. Vining plants such as bougainvillea on the trellises could be show stoppers for color & continue your tropical theme. Once you have that long planter filled, and also have your ground base either filled with grass or hardscape, you won’t even see the planter! Right now it’s empty so it is the focal point & all that sun bouncing off the wall & planter is hard on the eyes

I live in So California also ( coastal ). There are many varieties of vertical ( columnar) shrubs / hedges that would work well in your planters. Just to name a few , Podocarpus ( both macro & micro ), privets, Texas Laurel, Emerald Holly ( doesn’t resemble what we commonly think of as holly, etc. etc. Visit an independent nursery ( not HD etc.) and get their suggestions. They’ll be happy to help. Also,, a side benefit, the plants I mentioned grow to 8’ or more & stay green year around providing the screening you desire.

I like the planter. Maybe you will like it better when it is full of plants. I would indeed use it to plant veggies in the sunniest areas. Shrubs, vines (to cover the wall) and perennials would be lovely too, and some weeping varieties would also break up the long stone front.

Linda

How wide/deep is the planter? It appears to be narrow. If so, that would drastically limit what you could grow there. Roots of trees and shrubs could actually push-out and ruin the wall if they didn't have enough room to grow because roots don't typically go down, but rather spread out just below the surface. If you want to plant trees and larger shrubs, you might consider putting those in the ground in front of the planter.

It sounds like a lot of work to remove it. Why not amend it and grow veges and/or flowers? Use what you have! The rest of the yard looks like it will be lovely with a shaded patio! Maybe add some sort of vine boganvilla? to the posts? For privacy, potato vine grows fast and flowers.

I would remove it in a minute!

Jane

I would keep it. As others have said, picture how it will look filled with vegetables, herbs, shrubs, vine-covered trellis, etc... add some flowers that will tumble over the side. It will be beautiful, and I think you will appreciate the added dimension from the raised beds. And the ease of weeding.

Thank you so much for all your ideas! I think we’ll try keeping it, at least for now. We have plenty of projects to keep us busy and I think we will work with what we have for the time being.

I would remove it and give myself more "floor space". In an already narrow space it would certainly open it up and give you a lot more planting options. I'd put a coat of paint on the block wall also.