We just put up a couple of small retaining walls. I will do my best to describe it. The area is in an inside corner facing west/northwest. It is shaded in the morning, but gets hot sun in the afternoon. It slopes away from the house, and it will be mostly viewed from the bottom of the slope. At the bottom there are steps going up the opposite direction to the deck. The walls are not very high, maybe 2 feet each. The higher one has a deeper planting area.

I love the woodsy look, but not sure if that will work since it is shaded in the morning and very hot in the afternoon sun, or if will work for viewing from the bottom of a slope. I considered putting a tree on the corner of the deck so it would shade the whole area, but it would take a while to fill in probably. Would it be better to go with something that takes more sun, like cottage or something? I would like to cool down the area though.

I have a japanese maple that needs to be moved to a cooler spot as it gets crispy where it is, so maybe it could go at the bottom on the other side of the stairs. That way when you walk on the path at the bottom of the slope (parallel to the walls) to get to the deck, it would be a focal point. Also, where would I place the other focal points since it's a corner, but terraced and "uphill?" Thanks for your help.