I think a useful search term for this space would be 'narrow garden' I've seen some neat makeovers of side yards that looked much like your entrance. It's pretty amazing what people are able to do with limited space and a lot of creativity. Personally, I would hesitate to plant bamboo because it might make it feel a little too enclosed and 'jungely,' perhaps some trellises for vines or espalier.

I spend a lot of time looking for inspiration online, so I've seen some things I think will be helpful to you.

This yard seems like it is similar to yours in the size and layout:
http://edenmakersblog.com/?p=893

Here are some good all around inspiration websites:
http://www.bhg.com/gardening/design/
http://www.sunset.com/garden/landscaping-design/
http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/1292069/thumbs/www.houzz.com/ideabooks/1292069/list/Narrow-Gardens

Those should give you a good start, and I'm sure you'll get a lot more helpful suggestions from other members :o)

You don't say where you are. Full sun in Pacifica and full sun in Riverside are two different beasts altogether!

To me plantings look better when they have some contrast in size and texture. The plants that you have so far are some of my favorites, but they are all the same size with small, dusty colored leaves. Xeric plants have smaller leaves for a reason, so finding variety that will fit in a small space can be tricky. Walk around your neighborhood and look for some things that interest you and snap us some photos, if you can't ID them yourself. Also, since you have a small space, selecting a limited palate will help.

I once saw container planting described as "a thriller, a spiller, and filler". That's pretty good advice for vignettes in a larger garden or your patio taken as a whole. You might think about potted small trees (citrus is easy if you go look at the "gritty mix" they talk about in the Container forum) or trellises to give yourself height without overgrowth. Bamboo contained in a pot can give you a touch of exotic without the invasion issue.

In addition to taller plants or trellised vines, you might want to consider a fountain or a some handsome pots or a sculpture as a "thriller".It's easy to turn a pot into a fountain. I have a piece of travertine as a fountain that I bought from a countertop guy who carves his waste material and sells it at street fairs. For "spiller" look for low growing spreaders like sedums, thyme, and rosemary and then fill in between the thrillers and the spillers with the sweet scented subshrubs that you've already selected

If you look at the September issue of Sunset, there is an article with a neat looking planting of multicolored succulents that might be a interesting idea for your entrance, if you live inland. As pretty as the agave is, though, don't do it!

Oops sorry I forgot to mention location - SF bay peninsula, so full sun is hot enough but not Riverside!

Today I spent most of the afternoon at Home Depot and the nursery, I got lots of sages, lavender etc to start with, two 5' Nitida fig trees, and 2 Sun parasol vines (which I hope will not be uncontrollable like the ivy) for the fence. I also got 2 "greek urns" to frame the front entrance, and to put in there mini bay laurel topiaries, weeping rosemary and bright blue lobelia.

I think I'll get some pavers to round off the corner of the sidewalk where it joins the patio, to make the approach to the front door look smoother.

Do Nitida figs do well in pots? I assume they would grow better and be lower maintenance in the ground, since potted trees require good drainage and frequent watering.

I also saw a beautiful 8' fruitless olive tree, but it was a bit out of my budget and would have to be delivered - though I fit an awful lot of plants in a Ford Focus this tree was too big. I'm not sure if I'd be able to dig a large enough hole (or for the figs for that matter) the clay soil is like concrete after years of neglect and baking in the sun, so I'd probably have had to pay for install too. I am toying with the idea of getting the olive and a really big pot (since I know they do OK in pots) but I don't want to exceed my budget just yet.

I do have a dwarf Meyer Lemon in a nice pot that I brought from our previous place where we only had a balcony... it has not been doing so well since we moved it lost a lot of leaves in the car and then didn't get enough sun for 1 month as we lived in a temporary apartment during our home selling/buying transition. Now it has several ripe lemons but about half the leaves it used to, and looks sickly. I repotted it hoping that would help but so far it has not. I guess I will create a separate post for help with it.

I got started on this project this weekend! I planted the patio area, some urns for the front door, and one side of the walk where the ivy used to be. The left side is waiting for the bush to be removed this week, and the soil is VERY hard from years of neglect I will need a pickaxe to break it up!

What do you think of the pavers I smoothed off the corner since the walk is offset from the front door I thought it made the entry look better.

Of course these perennials will take time to mature and fill in the spaces, I also plan to plant creeping thyme and rosemary along the front of the borders.

The fig trees will go either in the ground of in pots on the left side of the walk.

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I like the pavers rounding off the corner...good idea. I think to tie it together as a design element, I would do three more of these 'paver groups' along the walk toward the gate...looking toward the gate, perhaps two groups of 3-5 pavers on the right side of the walk, one group of 3-5 on the left side. To break up the hard, straight line of the sidewalk and visually connect with your rounded corner.

Tinan, I would suggest that you not put your ficus nitida in the ground. I don't know this from personal experience, but you can find ample anecdotal evidence that its aggressive root system can be invasive with concrete--invasive as in lifting pavers and growing through foundations (causing leaks). If you can't place it in a pot, it should probably be a minimum of 10-15 feet from your foundation--from your photos, it doesn't look like that would be possible.

Kay

Here is a link that might be useful: ficus nitida damage

What Kay said: the ficus will pop your pavement and knock your fence over. You just don't have room. Return them.

I'd put some decorative stuff on the fence maybe to lift the eyes upward, right now everything is down low. You really don't have much room. You could do several free-standing, good looking trellis and put some viticella-type clematis on them for vertical interest. You would have lavish growth and flowers in the late spring/summer, then when they go dormant in late fall cut them to the ground and you will have the good looking trellis as the visual decoration in winter/early spring.

Wow thanks for the warning on the ficus - they are so small right now I didn't imagine them being destructive. If they do well in pots, I will put them in very large pots, I think that would add some height to the area as well. For example if I put in more pavers as suggested (I thought of little "waves" alternating to the right and left) I could place pots with trees on the pavers.

How about fruitless olive it is very slow growing do you think it would be safe in the ground? Or any other suggestions for a tree that would add interest and possible shade, a low-litter tree and preferably evergreen but I'd consider trees with interesting branches when bare. Other units have trees in their front areas some quite large!

The sun parasol I planted along the carport fence will climb, but hopefully not in an out of control way like the ivy was.

Can anyone suggest a "gentle" climber that I could have on a trellis without having to worry about it taking over the garden? Evergreen leaves would be nice too, I hate looking at bare vines in winter.

Oh and here are the "before" pictures when we first bought the place and were working on the inside in June. the shrubs were not only overgrown but badly placed to start with. And that horrible ivy was everywhere.

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Looks much better than the old overgrown jungle.
Perhaps a trellis on the house side to break up the white wall.
Is that russian sage? Just so you know its a bee magnet...although they don't normally sting you they are just there for the food.
They all might be planted a bit close together. In 3 years it will be very crowded.

Ficus nitida becomes an enormous tree 30-60 feet in height when full grown. I agree about returning them. A good plant in the wrong location is still a problem. Instead of Home Depot, you might think about going to a nursery. They will be able to give you better advice for your area.

If it were me, I would hang a piece of art on that fence to liven it up. A pretty trellis would also help. The nandina that you removed might be replaced in one of the corners. It would give you some height and color without becoming a pest. A little pruning once a year should keep it to a manageable size. "Gulfstresm" is a pretty variety.

I did go to Summerwinds nursery as well - pavers and trees were from Home Depot, I just picked them myself they didn't advise me, the other plants were from Summerwinds.

So the ficus would grow as quickly in a pot? I would have thought the growth would be more stunted in a pot, the article I found said Nitida ficus is often used as bonsai so although I know they can be huge eventually I hadn't thought they would be that aggressive in growth.

Yes it is a russian sage, a shorter variety supposed to get about 18" max. Many of the plants I have are bee magnets, they seem to love the catmint I have in the back as well, but it's nice to see honeybees around because they have been declining in population... I leave them alone so I don't expect to be stung.

The nandina - I was not a fan of it here it just doesn't seem to fit with my other plants, it grew quite aggressively in the past couple months, too.

As for spacing, I know I may need to thin in 3 years - if we still live here - but I don't want to wait 3 years for it to look good, in the meantime it would look very sparse if I planted for the "finished size" plants.

Any thoughts on a fruitless olive tree?

You don't have enough room to plant trees in the ground, but your idea of trees in pots is good. If you keep the ficus, make sure you have a good solid saucer under the pot. They send out roots through the holes in the pots and root themselves in less than a year. If you get an olive or citrus, just be sure you get one heck of a big pot. I think a small tree would look great on your front patio.

I would use shepherd's hooks or put some potted plants on pillars to gain some height. I put asparagus ferns on round wood pillars at staggered heights to soften walls in narrow spots. You could use prostrate rosemary in the pots. If you go with iron tuteurs, you can grow clematis or star jasmine and keep them away from the walls, but gain some height.

Do you have to keep that slab in the front yard? I'd bust it out if it was mine and use the broken concrete to make a raised bed. Perhaps you can consider putting a water fountain or a very small tree in a very large pot on that slab if you have to keep it.

Renee

Here is a link that might be useful: tuteurs

Water fountain in that spot was my thought also.

We have a vineyard with wine grapes in our side yard. They are easily trained on a fence, and don't take up too much room. You could put in arbor across your sidewalk, and train them up that. Table grapes are an option too! They are lush green during spring through fall, then they go dormant. We prune ours in January. Depending on your climate, you can grow pole beans up the vines while the vines are dormant. The beans add nutrients to the soil.
Suzi

What Renee said. You don't have room for a tree that isn't dwarfed by being maintained in a pot. I suppose that you might get away with a Japanese maple or a camellia, but you would have to prune it faithfully. I like the idea of tuteurs. Pink jasmine or angelwing jasmine might be good choices, but again, you would need to supervise with pruning shears in hand. If you decide on a potted tree, I would recommend one specimen. Collecting a bunch of them looks messy -- ask me how I know.

I still think that a receptacle fountain would look great. A large pot can also be used as a water feature, but you need lots of sun to grow a water lily and either a couple of goldfish, minnows or some mosquito dunks.

We're going to have a fountain on the back patio where we sit - the front is too hot and sunny we don't sit out here so it's mainly what people see coming in.

I don't understand how many other units have very large trees in the same spaces, I guess I'll have to figure out what species - I love trees and really would like to have at least one!

Well, it's kind of hard to judge from your pictures. What are the dimensions of your front area? Do you have a planter area that's more than 2' wide? What's planted in the neighbors units and are they overgrown? Snap some photos of the trees you like and we'll be happy to through in our $0.02.

I think I would still want a fountain at the front also...it's a nice welcome...or, if it's too hot and sunny to sit there, then you do have a spot for a larger pot / tub to have a tree in......

Yes, take a look at the neighbor's trees, and also ask them if they have had any problems with roots. Remember that if you plant a tree and it grows over the property line, your neighbor has the right to trim it back to the line. If you plant a tree in a two foot wide bed, you could end up with half a tree if your neighbor does not like shade.
Renee

Just found this photo and I love this long narrow garden!

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What are the trees between the urns - they look a bit like the Nitida figs I have? What is the vine or plant in the very near foreground? I think the plants along the path are fuchsias. I would like to incorporate some of this look (though I can't afford the $2000 pedestal urns sadly)

These trees also look suitable:

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I also thought of crepe myrtles.

I am thinking of a pot/trellis with a climbing rose, any suggestions on a variety? Red would probably look nice...

You don't want a thorny plant like a rose along a narrow walk way.

The first picture is a nice composition for a narrow walk. It uses a limited color palette and symmetric repetition which gives you a nice, calm, classical effect. The focal points are the cream colored urns with the cream color repeated in the pavers and the wall. The medium plants are probably fuchsias and their pink color is repeated in the wax begonias or impatiens -- I can't tell which -- spilling out along the ground. The New Zealand tea in the foreground has the same pink. I can't tell what the tall plants are, but I would doubt they are ficus.

The second picture is also strongly symmetric with an even more limited palette -- green only. I believe those are Bradford pears. Look at the caliber of the trunks and the spacing though. They are very young trees that are going to be too close together soon That's not a very maintainable landscape. The very precisely spaced "modern" landscapes that are popular right now are super high maintenance because plants just don't grow in rigidly symmetrical forms. However, both pictures that you have picked out as your inspirations have similar features; restrained color palette, symmetry, regular spacing. Why don't you try working with those design elements?

The trees could also be Victorian Box, Pittosporum undulatum, and they will pop pavement just as well as Ficus nitida, just not as fast. Bradford pear trees can easily get 40'' tall and wide.

If you need shade, use an umbrella or two. They will give you color, shade, style, without any damage to your property, and no litter to sweep up.

Evergreen vine: Star Jasmine, Tracheospermum jasminoides.

Keep in mind that just because you see an attractive photo of a garden you like, doesn't mean the plant choices are wise or appropriate for the space. As often as not designers think short term. Short term is fine as long as you realize it and plan accordingly that you are going to be pulling stuff out every few years.

The plant on the left hand side in the first photo is Australian Tea Tree, Leptospermum laevigatum, or a hybrid Leptospermum of some sort.

One upon a time, the overgrown plantings in the property that you bought were small and new and looked great. Then they grew too big, were neglected, etc.

Leptospermum is totally unsuited to narrow spaces. It is stiff and very prickly, and likes to grow wide before it will grow tall. It's hard to tell what the narrow-leafed tree is between the two urns, but my guess is that it could be a Podocarpus gracilior, which matures at about 30-50'.

If you don't mind deciduous, some of the vase-shaped Japanese maples, especially the newer hybrids which only run 15-20 feet, can be very pretty. I also have a variegated rhamnus which has a beautiful vertical shape and will keep within a 12-18" width better than any other plants I have (and I have a lot of them; I have narrow beds all over our 5600 sq. ft. lot in the Oakland hills).

The two issues with it is that it likes a little summer irrigation - not much, but a little. And you should never, ever head it off. I did that to one of them, thinking it would branch out a little more at the top, and instead it stopped vertical growth dead in its tracks. Five years later it hasn't grown more than 3".

Canna lillies are great in the sun, many have beautiful leaves (the dark leafed ones are especially magnificent when backlit). They do need some staking to keep from flopping over, but in our climate they are almost evergreen.

I agree you have no tall accents. You need to do more research on plants before spending your hard earned $$ on them. Wasting time, energy, and money on plants that shouldn't even go into your garden, isn't worthwhile.

You MUST check with your utilities to see where your water, gas, and sewage lines are. Believe me, there is nothing worse than putting out enormous effort to break up hard dirt, only to break into something that is potentially dangerous!

If you like roses, consider tree roses (grafted to standards). Certain ones are modest growers with few thorns. "Intrigue" has been perfect in a 12" deep bed that is lightly shaded, plus it has a marvelous citrus perfume:
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And here's the reason you need to pay attention to the mature size of plants, lol. Our south-facing bed looks like this around March:
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....by June looks a lot more crowded:
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The white-ish shrub on the right, behind the red canna, is the variegated rhamnus. It's leaning forward because I didn't stake it well enough; it's planted very close to the fence. The leaves are beautiful, and once a year in early summer it puts out tiny yellow/red flowers that add a lovely hint of color:
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Thanks for all the reality check - yes this is my first real garden - we used to rent and could not put much time/money into the gardens and then we lived in a condo with only a small balcony. So I'm just so happy to be able to plant things for real!

I think the current perennials are far back enough from the pathway, I planted them back 2' from the path and the russian sage in the front is a small variety not the giant stuff, it says grows to 15" wide and 18" tall so it shouldn't encroach on the walkway from where I planted it. But taller shrubs/trees could easily become a problem like the ones we just ripped out!

I may return the ficus trees this weekend especially if I can get some fruitless olives - I may just stick to trees in pots. That way I can move them to the patio corners if they get too large, or even sell them. I am not sure if the ficus trees will do well in pots? It seems that they are real water hogs and I didn't want to have any plants that were too demanding of water. Perhaps some fruitless olive trees in pots - I love olives and they grow very very slowly and do not require much water.

I already have a dwarf Meyer lemon in a pot it seems to do well and it's cute, but will never get much taller. Also I don't want to have to pick and eat/give away a ton of fruit from a larger citrus tree!

I think I will stay away from anything climbing because I will have to trim and prune all the time to keep it on a trellis, the HOA does not allow the climbing plants higher than 4" on the walls.

jkom51, your gardens are gorgeous! I think your example above is a bit narrower than ours but it is a very good illustration, since this is our front entryway I don't want people to need a machete to visit :)

Fortunately the utilities come in to the end unit and run along the house slab - so we don't have any pipes or wires running under these beds out to the street.

Jkom51: Pretty! I like all he gold and chartreuse foliage with the hot colored flowers.

Here are some updated photos :) I figure I can add a tree or more decor as budget allows... I envision an ornate cast iron bistro set on the patio.

If anyone knows where I could find something like wall-mount urn planters I would love to place a few of those on the blank walls with plants spilling out. I looked at all the local nurseries and OSH/HD/Lowes this weekend and couldn't find what I wanted, the closest was a hay rack type flower box.

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dwarf meyer lemon in pot and urns with topiary bay laurels, lobelia and creeping rosemary
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patio with thai lime tree in pot on wheels to hide the hose, but I can move it out of the way when I need to water
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Your Meyer will not do well in a pot that size. By nature they are an 8x8' bush, round and very full with criss-crossing branches, extremely vigorous. For consumer purposes they graft them onto dwarf rootstock that is usually 2-3' tall. At the ten year mark that Meyer if in-ground would be at least 6' high and far wider/deeper. The pot you have it in would be suitable for a gardenia bush, but it is way too small for the Meyer.

I'm not saying that you can't keep a Meyer in a pot, I merely don't understand why you would be trying to keep it miniaturized. There are better evergreen mini-shrubs that would be just fine in such a container size, whereas you are more likely to kill the Meyer trying to force it to stay houseplant-sized.

That simply isn't natural for a Meyer, which is bred to be highly productive and is one of the hungriest shrubs existent. A half-barrel is the minimum size container to use with a Meyer. If you don't want the lemons, then use another shrub and buy the Meyers at the grocery store. In CA a lot of stores carry them. If you have friends who live in the EBay they are happy to give them away - virtually everyone in the EBay lives within 50' of a citrus tree of some sort, because this was all citrus orchard farms at one time!

Success with gardening depends a lot on listening to the plants and using the right plants for your site and conditions. Sometimes you can force plants to do what you want, but it's never easy and seldom successful.

It is a "dwarf, improved" meyer, it says it will only get about 3' tall.... I just potted it up this summer I have had it 2 years now and it was originally in a smaller pot. It yields a lot of fruit and blossoms.

I am not trying to keep it stunted, we only moved here 2 months ago previously in a condo with a tiny balcony and this was my only outdoor plant!

I may put it the citruses the ground eventually, but the ground is very very hard right now so digging a tree sized hole will be difficult until the rains start.

But, I was under the impression both these plants are small dwarf shrubs.

Wow, VERY interesting! Admittedly I don't look at citrus any longer (no more room, LOL) so I was unaware they have genetically modified the Meyer into a true mini-shrub. That is really remarkable. I wonder if anyone on the Citrus forum, where potted Meyers abound, are aware of this.

Anyway, good luck with your project. I see why you like the olive tree - good shade of green against the stucco color.

I only know what I read on the nursery tag, I have noticed that different nurseries claim different end sizes, perhaps they use different root grafts? Mine was tagged as a 3' shrub suitable for containers, and it does seem happy in there. It's got buds and will soon be flowering again and this year we harvested about 25-30 nice lemons off the tiny tree. I love to have them squeezed in a glass of water or a beer. Here are some other nurseries selling dwarf/improved Meyer lemons of various "sizes".

http://springhillnursery.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_16543

http://www.fourwindsgrowers.com/tips-and-advice/growing-dwarf-citrus/in-containers.html

http://www.amazon.com/Dwarf-Lemon-Tree-Grafted-Gallon/dp/B00092F6BW

here's a GW thread about the dwarf and non-dwarf meyers, it doesn't sound like a straightforward issue:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/citrus/msg0322140811153.html

Wow what a transformation already! Looks great. You deserve major kuddos just for being able to kill that ivy. Never again, it even escapes from pots!

Agree you could use something vertical. I'm like a broken record singing the praises of star jasmine this week, but that would be beautiful on a trellis leaning against your fence or the stucco. It doesn't self attach so no worries with your HOA. Smells great, easy care and easy to keep narrow and tall. A piece of square lattice to blend in with the fence and you could have a wall of green in no time. I use something like this:
http://www.homedepot.com/buy/3-4-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-square-pressure-treated-wood-lattice-118651.html

Don't know if these will work in your area, but Japanese sky pencil and greenspire euonymus are a couple of vertical narrow shrubs you might want to look at.
Having some trouble trying to cut and paste, but try Google images.
http://bonnieandphilgardens.com/garden03.html
http://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/plants/1528/sky-pencil-japanese-holly.php

Will succulents grow there? Google for succulents in birdbath. Can give you that urn look for a fraction of the cost. Wish I has space for that, like the patio you don't plan to use for seating!

Can we see what you've done with your back patio?

Forgot to mention. LOVE your paver idea!
I have a couple of planter bed that comes to a point where they meet my front entry sidewalk and the cul du sac sidewalk. It's impossible to keep anything alive near the cul du sac edge. Kids always end up running over whatever ground cover is in there and the clay soil gets hard as a rock. My backyard patio is pavers and I have extras taking up space in the garage. I am so stealing your idea. Genius! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the additional advice! I do love jasmine, I may give that a try - I'll see how the mandevilla does on the little trellis by the wall, too.

The back patio, I am happy to share more pics, I am sitting on it now, with my cats! Some of these pictures are from over a month ago when first planted, the plants have been growing well, and I added shredded redwood mulch since, and repaired that cracked corner of the patio.

This patio also lacks some vertical interest, but I'm sticking to plants that are not toxic to cats as my kitties like to chew things out here. I think maybe a camellia in the corner would be nice, they are non toxic to cats. The pictures don't show it but there is a large magnolia overhanging one side of the patio, it's on the north side so no shade but it does make it feel less box-like than the photos look.

I originally planned to plant the olive topiary in the ground but it was too compacted to dig a big enough hole, and it's nice to have it in the pot so not all the plants are around the border.

Some of the catmint is flattened because the cats love to sleep right on it, our elderly kitties are loving their "catio" as you can see.

BEFORE
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AFTER
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Month-old photos before mulch and additional growth:
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And some recent photos

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I love this sage and it loves this spot, but I'll probably have to move the mounding plant, I know I made some novice mistakes in positioning.
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I have a greenspire euonymus and haven't been impressed with it. Unlike the tougher and fuller variegated euonymus, it likes regular water and frankly is best used as a back-level plant to set off other plants.

This is mine. You can see why I don't think much of it - poor form in an area where dozens of other plants thrive and are gorgeous. If you look at my post of 8/30, this euonymus is just past the "Intrigue" rose, in fact:
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If you want 8-10', the variegated rhamnus is good. For a pyramid, slower growing, well-behaved drought-resistant plants, variegated boxwood absolutely loves a sunny spot and the cream-and-green leaves are extremely handsome.

This has variegated liriope at its feet on the left, a hellebore on the right:
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Tinan "Catio" I love that. How many kitties are thre, 3?
What a nice private space you have and your plants all look so healthy. Nice thing about those small ones is you can move them around so easily. I know what you mean about compacted soil. Ours is the same; hard clay that my hubby has to take a pick ax to. Years ago we had to rent a 2 person auger to plant a row of hibiscus...and just paid someone to take them out because of those dang giant whiteflies. Anyway think of doing that if you need to did some big holes.

jkom Thanks for sharing your "real world" greenspire and I see what you mean about the form being less than desired. I was thinking that would be my salvation for where I had the row of hibiscus, but guess not. They look so pretty when short and I love the color, but not so great tall or as a single anyway. Love your variated plants.

Yes - 3 kitties enjoying the sunshine and plants :) They were not even interested in going out there when it was empty and bare but as soon as we put in the plants and furniture it was not only more inviting to us but also to them.