Is the 5' the whole width? Or the paved strip down the middle?

But personally, it seems stupid and I'd just tell them 'no'. It's your path. You don't have to do what they say.

Seems like someone would fall onto it at some point.

Maybe not the smartest idea. And with the row of pointy agaves in the upper planter, I'd opt for something softer and more mounding, not more tall and spiky.

Where are you located geographically? Maybe we could offer some alternate suggestions.

Even the agave looks like potential eye-poker-outers in that narrow space! (but I guess they belong to the neighbors).

My in-laws still tell the story of the time their toddler (my husband) ran into a cactus in the front yard, and then spent the afternoon in the ER having a doctor pull needles out one by one. FIL dug up every single cactus that weekend. Gigantic "no" to cacti lining a walkway.

How about espaliered citrus trees in that bed?

While I can understand the water savvy there... just say no to ankle biters anywhere. Or other height biters. A poke in the hand or head is as bad as an ankle. There are other meatsuit friendly dry area plants to be had.

if I lived in California, Jasmine, Bird of Paradise, so many choices, that don't have needles, honeysuckle. with a trellis? I know we had some ot hose when my dad was stationed in Yuma and 29 Palms

I'm in Santa Monica, CA. The measurement for the walkway is 5 feet wall to wall and 67 feet back. The tall wall on one side is 9 feet and the neighbor wall will be 6'. The walkway used to be lined with Horsetail reeds on both sides and I'd like to switch it up but spiny low cactus just seems such a bad idea. I discussed the potential problems with kicking the things with flip-flops on but he is still pushing it. I'm about to cut him loose because it makes me question his judgement on everything.

The Agave belongs to the neighbors. I cut the needle tips off all the time but I like seeing it right outside my gate as long they keep cutting the leaves point my way off. I'm pushing that neighbor to help replace the entire wall since it is leaning my way. I would raise the low part of the wall up to 42" to keep the Agave pushed back at least for the next few years.

The walkway will likely be these pavers I found that have crushed abalone in the surface. It might look similar to this walkway pic I found. I'm discussing the use of pavers in another post of mine. Half the people are mentioning the need to pressure wash and seal pavers every/other year so I may stick with concrete.

If it's only 5' wall to wall there's not much room for anything. The removed horsetails would have been a good option imo.

I see what looks like one lone Mexican feather grass in the first photo. That could work. May eventually flop out onto the pathway but it is soft and very flexible and will only tickle if you brushed up against it. And very durable unless the dog curls up in it....or you sit on it. And since it self seeds rather freely, the concrete or paved surroundings will keep its spread in check.

The existing cement is 30 inches wide so the 15 inch planters on either side was not nothing. I could snug the walkway toward the tall wall, even widening the cement to 36" and that would leave a 24" planter along the neighbor wall. Maybe I could then torture a line of Podocarpus into a narrow hedge to block the neighbors.

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) Yes, that grass did just pop up there so I left it. The neighbor has their whole 10 foot wide parkway done in a solid mass of that grass. It's not very tall so next to the 9' 6" wall it may be dwarfed and seeing how the mature tan color top matches the stucco color pretty closely, it may just get lost.

@mcarroll16 The citrus idea might be interesting but I'm not sure the 9' west facing wall is too hot in the summer for that. The sun is on that wall all day.

Yeah, I can see that. That's a pretty challenging site in your climate. As a PNW gardener I'll tap out and just watch to see what you come up with. It's been really fun watching your designs come together!

We had a large cactus garden in our previous house in CA, with lots of varieties. I spent many hours weeding around the cactus by hand ... and then bleeding!

I would not do any spiky varieties in that enclosed space.

How about this succulent, Lady's slipper ...

https://waterwisegardenplanner.org/plants/pedilanthus-macrocarpus/

Maybe because I can't grow it here, whenever I see requests for suggestions for plants in sunny SoCal locations, I have to mention that I would have some Bougainville espaliered somewhere in there, or grown over an archway or? I know it has thorns but if it can be kept far to the sides, I'd risk it, lol.

Take a look at https://calscape.org which is a database of California native plants. There is a search function, cleverly labeled Advanced Search, for inputting your site’s assets and challenges. Might be helpful. And NO to cacti, yucca, agave, mangave, and others of that ilk. Even my sweet little aloe has grown into an spiny people-eater!). Good luck with your project.

At our island place we have created a barrel cactus garden by transplanting them from our driveway and elsewhere where they proliferate. The cacti are on a hillside far away from our house, where only the ferrel goats walk.

I'm wondering if bougainvillea would grow on your wall. They are drought tolerant and very colorful. They require much less attention than anything espaliered.

Succulents would look stunning there. Google Laura Eubanks. Design for Serenity. she has a youtube channel with lots of fodder for inspiration.

Absolute NO to cacti in that area. And you really need to discuss the agaves with your neighbor. Those sharp spiky agaves can put someone's eye out or lacerate their arms as they walk by. Trimming the spikes off the tips is not enough; the whole plants should go. Or raise the height of the wall so that the agaves are completely walled off.

Totem pole cactus are spineless, tall, skinny, heat lovers that could look very nice in your space.

Ok, thanks for the feedback. I went over and photographed my neighbors parkway. The grass is taller than I thought but it does lean quite a bit. If I did it on both sides you'd definitely be brushed by the grass walking back there. There are worse things but during certain times of year you have seeds on your clothes.

I was also thinking of mounting some trellises on the big wall for climbing vines. I had a fig vine attached directly to the wall and it was very destructive to the stucco. Maybe Bougainville but it drops quite a bit in my experience... beautiful though.

I'm in LA too - any landscaper that is pushing cacti in unreasonable locations is a hard no. You have so many low water options - Cliff Maids will grow in gravel/rock (and are natives!) but need sun. Sages, lavender, flax, lomandra, etc. If it's shady, you can lean towards native ferns (giant chain fern, etc.) - but those do need some water. Trellis is even better - so many options!

The sidewalk had been repaired along my neighbors house (with the grass) and there was stripe effect of two different shades of concrete. I'm wondering if I could alternate my pavers in striped sections in my walkway. I'd use the the two tan colors (all the same size pavers). Am I just over designing again or is it interesting?

I like the idea of the striping but those two colors together make them look dirty. Is this for your rental? Cacti = liability issue to me.

Then tell him you do not want cactus who is paying him.? I agree a tupid idea in a norrow walkway but you need to speak up.

Just a few thoughts. Mexican feather grass is very invasive, it looks pretty when smaller but gets pretty ratty looking later IMO. Bouganvillieas are beautiful but would require a lot of pruning & cleaning up as they are messy , especially in that small of an area. i like the succulent idea or espaliered citrus. i don’t understand the concern about heat for the citrus, they thrive at my Palm Springs home. An alternative to consider would be Calliandra, easily espaliered & soft to the touch, no thorns .

Your neighbors plantings are enough ..I would complete the walkway with a solid surface….and add some flat architectural ..sculptural ..interest to the walls..and get a good cordless blower for maintenance…another way to add interest would be to paint some of your walls in varying shades or pale colors …to accentuate the architectural elements and add a little more life and dimension to the walkways…

Adding some adjustable low lights at the base of the neighbors wall..pointed toward your wall would also be a perfect way to feature the sculptural aspects of your home..even using colored lights..if you prefer not to paint

The lighting of

the area should be dimmable and on timers..to avoid any inconvenience to you or your neighbors

Some option

I would choose just one color of the pavers. I think doing two colors looks disjointed. That area looks like it would make a lovely little succulent garden! Hard pass on any cacti or thorny plants. Maybe some colorful succulent ice plants?! It’s been a couple of decades since I did any gardening in a desert climate. I remember enjoying growing agapanthus when I lived in the antelope valley in California!

Yes, you should have access to a great variety of succulents where you are. I had them in planters in our southwest facing entry walk when we livied in Alameda, and they thrived in the heat and sun. Fun plants!

Monrovia has a new variety called Mount Everest big blue chalksticks. It is 3-5 ft tall and 1-2 ft wide. It would look good with dwarf kangaroo paw plant. If you go to their site, they have the two pictured together.

I also like both the tri-color and green society garlic.

Bougainville are pretty but they have thorns so I would stay away from them.

The whole space is only 5 feet wide. Anything more than foot wide each side would reduce the path to awkward narrowness.

Also there's no need for a noisy blower. A broom could handle the job easily. I often watch parks employees blowing paths and taking far longer with far more racket than if they just used a broom.

It really is a narrow path--especially for AirB&B renters travelling down with luggage. Since your neighbors are already providing a good stretch of greenery, you could just put tidy rock beds on each side of the path. Or rock on one side, plants on one side.

Advantage of a blower…faster …easier ..last but not least…will blow dust ….leaves,etc from the prickly stuff..walls and wall top as well…

Cactus? That’s funny.

I think it could work, though. Just supply tenants and guests with something like these.

Maybe rocks and lights there.

@Celery. Visualization, Rendering imagesThanks for the render! I'm not disputing that it wouldn't look great to have cactus along the walkway.... even adding more planter space. The previous owner did that... put a narrow strip of concrete of about 28 inches wide with big planters on each side. Then it is too tight to carrying 2 shopping bags at your sides down the walkway. The reed were alway getting damaged because of the narrow walkway.

I think some of the smooth Totem cactus that @mojavemaria suggested and maybe some African spears... those can even be braided.

Hi Paul - just saw this post. My reaction to suggesting the spiny cacti along the path made me wonder what that landscaper had been smoking - really?? Love the pavers you show with the sparkles. I’m liking the idea of alternating colors - I think it’d break up the long walkway. I really like the smooth totem cactus - very architectural looking. About the pavers - we have @ 1,200 feet of smaller sized pavers in our back yard installed in 2102. We’ve had no issues. We do have some spring weeds but easy to zap with targeted weed spray. We also have moss but no surprise as I’m in the Emerald state of WA. Also can spray it to kill if we don’t like it. Some like the look of certain kinds of moss between pavers & stones. One thing about pavers vs concrete - if it develops dips or uneveness it’s easy to pull up the sections with issues to relevel them. Also, pavers don’t crack like concrete. That’s something we thought about since the entire West Coast is earthquake country. Some of us have more frequent small ones is all.

ETA - I guess I should’ve posted about pavers on your paver post but I’m sure you don’t mind. 😊

@KW PNW Z8 Thanks for the feedback. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't being overly cautious with this concept of cactus in such a tight space. I'm not sure of the growth rate of barrel cactus but I know at some point they would have to be removed when they got too big. I told the guy of my concerns and yet there they were again in the next render.

I like the idea of pavers specifically because they can be changed if I make a mistake with the size of a planter or dramatically change how the yards will be used. I'm hearing about frequent pressure washing and sealing which I don't like however.

Paul, We have never pressure washed or sealed our pavers. For one, sealer wears off from walking on it & from weathering too so then surface finish looks uneven & so must be redone. The purpose of sealing - as I understand it from knowing people who seal their concrete drives & walkways - is to give the surface a wet & / or shiny look. Much like the real estate pics where the deck & walk surfaces are hosed down for pictures. There’s no reason to seal pavers or concrete like a porous counter top or grout. Pressure washing - well, you shouldn‘t have moss in Santa Monica - & it’s a walkway, not a driveway so shouldn’t have tire tracks & a lot of dirt either. Could be that hosing off needed every so often as in a porch or patio. I will say we washed our pavers once but with a big round attachment put on a power washer to create a soft wash & not blast a layer off the pavers or sand out of joints. We decided it wasn’t worth the effort to repeat. We do spray a product called Wet & Forget twice a year. It’s mostly for surface moss kiling. Must spray on when surface is dry & not a sunny day. Then when it rains a day or so later, the black surface moss starts washing off. Remember - we have wet winters & that Emerald State thing! Neither are a problem for So Cal.

Barrel cactus - my aunt in Phoenix has several & based on what I’ve seen of hers they have a moderate growth rate in that area so they could get too fat to be in your sidewalk borders. Most important though is that I did get a nasty finger stick from one of them while fiddling around doing something for her. I cannot imagine planting them in your situation - wonder if your renters or their guests would have grounds for a liability claim if they tripped & fell on one of them - seriously!

Kathy

I've reread the post a couple of times and don't see any mention by the OP that this is a rental property. Not that that makes much difference to the fact that cacti are a daft idea.

Hi @floraluk2 - Paul has a related post about using pavers for this walkway. In that post he said his home is a triplex - the two rental units are in the back of the main home. Sorry that my post was confusing - that’s why I said I should’ve posted my thoughts on the pavers on the other thread.