"You'll want something with a tap root."

A relatively few number of trees develop a tap root and many of those only as juveniles, losing the tap root as they age. And even tap rooted trees will develop wide spreading root systems.

Is 18" enough room for any kind of tree or shrub ? I don't know where you live, but it seems like almost anything would get too hot planted between concrete and brick.

Just to clarify, you only want to plant on the left side of your pic to hide that garage? What do the neighbors have beyond your 18 inches?

tj

I sincerely appreciate all feedback. I am a landscaping novice as evidenced by my lack of giving all relevant information.

We are in zone 8a, south Atlantic region.

We can use our pool 6 months a year with some mild heater use, and really anytime of the year with a day's worth of heating for the winter months. We have a shallow lot with some backyard space on either side of the pool, but I won't lie - I would choose differently if I had to do it over again (move from out of state from completely different region of US with limited options, but I digress...).

I have attached 2 photos, one of the current state with tree form indian hawthorns. About 3 years old. Should get to 12-14' per my understanding. We've been letting them fill in, but we need to get more aggressive with training them into tree form I think. The canna lillies in the pots need to be cut out for fall, but they also fill in height pretty nicely over summer. The 2nd photo is one where I added in my idea of taylor junipers. From what I find they get to about 3' in diameter and up to 20' tall.

Very valid concern with the area between the 2 brick walls getting too hot. In all honesty, we'd need about 40 taylor junipers (to cover 120') which means we'd have to buy them pretty small and wait years for them to get to the height of the photo, which is probably something we won't invest in. The back yard neighbors without the fence have some other type of evergreens, but with a big gap because the builder planted them around a huge walnut tree that has since been cut down.

Does anyone have any other ideas? Maybe this is just something we need to grin and bear.

My privacy solution is bouganvillea.

Here are some ideas using pleached Yaupon Holly. Variegated Shell Ginger & Dwarf Mahonia:

Impossible to give you suggestions without knowing your location, climate, orientation, etc. I would visit a local independent nursery for suggestions.

BTW, don’ t even think about bouganvilleas around a pool, your pool filter will clog up fast! Same for any trees that shed prolifically.