Well that's quite a large wall to work with and anything that helps to shade/screen it will, no doubt, cut down on the electric bills.

Besides trees/shrubs, you might consider a tall trellis/vine as well. You could also train a non-vine type plant on it such as the evergreen (orange/red berried) Pyracantha. The birds will thank you.

Trees that have similar orange/red berries are Yaupons and Possumhaws. The Yaupons are evergreen the Possumhaws drop the leaves and show just the berries.

Then there's the sun loving, orange flowered miniature pomegranite that gets about 10-12 feet. But if you don't want the fruit then don't do it.

Keeping with the natives, there's always the fragrant Mountain Laurels. Very slow growing so buy one that is fairly mature.

As far as small trees go, my new favorite is the Tea or Sweet Olive (Osmanthus Fragrans). Fragrant, evergreen, and can be used either as a shrub or a specimen tree (find one with a single trunk).

As for evergreen junipers, there are varieties of Sky Rocket Junipers (or rocket junipers) that might be appropriate. They keep a fairly slim width and height under 20'. Attractive, sun loving and drought tolerant, but I'm not sure how they do in Texas.

There are many more 'smallish' trees that could be used in that space. Too many to name.

Well that's quite a large wall to work with and anything that helps to shade/screen it will, no doubt, cut down on the electric bills.

Besides trees/shrubs, you might consider a tall trellis/vine as well. You could also train a non-vine type plant on it such as the evergreen (orange/red berried) Pyracantha. The birds will thank you.

Trees that have similar orange/red berries are Yaupons and Possumhaws. The Yaupons are evergreen the Possumhaws drop the leaves and show just the berries.

Then there's the sun loving, orange flowered miniature pomegranite that gets about 10-12 feet. But if you don't want the fruit then don't do it.

Keeping with the natives, there's always the fragrant Mountain Laurels. Very slow growing so buy one that is fairly mature.

As far as small trees go, my new favorite is the Tea or Sweet Olive (Osmanthus Fragrans). Fragrant, evergreen, and can be used either as a shrub or a specimen tree (find one with a single trunk).

As for evergreen junipers, there are varieties of Sky Rocket Junipers (or rocket junipers) that might be appropriate. They keep a fairly slim width and height under 20'. Attractive, sun loving and drought tolerant, but I'm not sure how they do in Texas.

There are many more 'smallish' trees that could be used in that space. Too many to name.

Well that's quite a large wall to work with and anything that helps to shade/screen it will, no doubt, cut down on the electric bills.

Besides trees/shrubs, you might consider a tall trellis/vine as well. You could also train a non-vine type plant on it such as the evergreen (orange/red berried) Pyracantha. The birds will thank you.

Trees that have similar orange/red berries are Yaupons and Possumhaws. The Yaupons are evergreen the Possumhaws drop the leaves and show just the berries.

Then there's the sun loving, orange flowered miniature pomegranite that gets about 10-12 feet. But if you don't want the fruit then don't do it.

Keeping with the natives, there's always the fragrant Mountain Laurels. Very slow growing so buy one that is fairly mature.

As far as small trees go, my new favorite is the Tea or Sweet Olive (Osmanthus Fragrans). Fragrant, evergreen, and can be used either as a shrub or a specimen tree (find one with a single trunk).

As for evergreen junipers, there are varieties of Sky Rocket Junipers (or rocket junipers) that might be appropriate. They keep a fairly slim width and height under 20'. Attractive, sun loving and drought tolerant, but I'm not sure how they do in Texas.

There are many more 'smallish' trees that could be used in that space. Too many to name.

Well that's quite a large wall to work with and anything that helps to shade/screen it will, no doubt, cut down on the electric bills.

Besides trees/shrubs, you might consider a tall trellis/vine as well. You could also train a non-vine type plant on it such as the evergreen (orange/red berried) Pyracantha. The birds will thank you.

Trees that have similar orange/red berries are Yaupons and Possumhaws. The Yaupons are evergreen the Possumhaws drop the leaves and show just the berries.

Then there's the sun loving, orange flowered miniature pomegranite that gets about 10-12 feet. But if you don't want the fruit then don't do it.

Keeping with the natives, there's always the fragrant Mountain Laurels. Very slow growing so buy one that is fairly mature.

Another lovely native is the Vitex with its lavender blooms that are enjoyed by bees and hummingbirds. It's deciduous.

As far as small trees go, my new favorite is the Tea or Sweet Olive (Osmanthus Fragrans). Fragrant, evergreen, and can be used either as a shrub or a specimen tree (find one with a single trunk).

As for evergreen junipers, there are varieties of Sky Rocket Junipers (or rocket junipers) that might be appropriate. They keep a fairly slim width and height under 20'. Attractive, sun loving and drought tolerant, but I'm not sure how they do in Texas.

There are many more 'smallish' trees that could be used in that space. Too many to name.

I would think a Natchez crape myrtle would look gorgeous there - white blooms so it would pick up your trim, that gorgeous exfoliating bark that adds so much winter interest.

I've also seen a Mermaid rose trellised on an area like that (on a garden tour in Beaumont) and it looked gorgeous! They had wires criss-crossed to attach it to, kept it under control (I'm sure it still needed pruning, so you'd need a pole chain saw or something like that).

Can't wait to see what you plant there.

Lin

Well I was looking at the natchez when I bought the tuscarora, but it did say on the tag that it gets about 20'. Just worried that it may be a little large for my location. I really like the bark on it, though. Those are growing all over the place here in the Nacogdoches-Lufkin area. I am about to head to town right now to look for something at Cooks nursery.

I agree with Lin about the Natchez crape myrtle. I've had mine (3) for about 20 years and they are about 15' tall. You could do 2 or 3 for a real impact! Might help in shading your greenhouse a little too. I do think you might want be a little farther out than 7 feet tho. Their habit is to spread out and make a nice rounded canopy. Mockingbirds nest in it almost every year.

I would create a sitting spot there, planting 2 crape myrtles: one by the corner of the wall, one by the side of the AC unit. White spiraeas at the base of the myrtles would disguise the AC unit and would help to tie up that side with the rest of the house. I would build a pergola between the 2 trees and would plant honeysuckles or jasmines by it. Finally, I would place a bench in the middle of the wall, under the pergola, facing your greenhouse.

Omar

Debndal - 7' is about my limit if I am going to be able to keep it within my existing border. I can't really go outside of the border because I will then be blocking my gate. Thats why I was thinking I might need something in the 15' range. I agree with the Natchez looking the best in that spot, but I'm just worried about them getting huge. There are some in town that have to be at least 30' tall and wide. I will probably live in this house for the rest of my life and I'm only 30, so I just don't want to plant anything that is going to cause problems later. I really don't want to do any pruning other general maintenence.

Ocgf, thanks a lot for the ideas. I like the sitting area there.

Ended up putting the Tuscarora in the center and I put a red velour on the front corner. Hoping to pick up another one today to put on the back corner in front of the AC units. Now I need to figure out a shrub to go behind them along the wall. Something evergreen, about 5-6 ft tall and wide.

Wow. Big front yard... Lots of room to plant all kinds of trees and plants! Since you live in Nacogdoches, maybe you could turn that into arboretum like SFASU arboretum... :)

I graduated from SFA 10 years ago and the arboretum there sure have gotten a lot bigger. Very nice place to visit in the late fall for fall color and spring for azalea blooming. They have big plant sales every fall and spring. They sometimes have cool plants that you don't normally see at big box stores.

Evergreen that's 6ft tall and wide? Try Azaleas if you don't get too much of afternoon sun. You could try dwarf Buford holly. I wonder about that dwarf red tip phonita that I saw at Home Depot earlier this spring. It's brand new one on the market. Supposedly, it doesn't get huge like the regular ones do.

Your plant list is much longer than mine in Dallas area because you have much better soil and get a lot more rain than I do. :( Check out SFASU arboretum and see if there's anything you like.

Lou,

Nice to see a fellow Lumberjack. My wife and I are both graduates. '06 for me and she finished her masters in '03. I have been to the SFA arb several times. I usually hit the plant sale that they hold there every spring and fall. I picked up some brugmansias at the last one. Azaleas are probably out of the question. That is a west facing wall and is in blazing hot full sun all afternoon. Part of the reason I was looking for a good sized small tree. I'm thinking something with bright green foliage and white flowers would look good behind the crapes.

What about Texas White Redbud? Sure it only blooms in the spring but it looks nice. That's tough place to deal with. Such high brick wall facing hot afternoon sun. My house is exposed from the south and west (corner lot) so I get a lot of sun. I planted Shantung maples and Montezuma cypress around the house for eventual shade (can't get there fast enough. It's already hot...) If that was my house, I'd plant several bald cypress there to shade that wall. The director of SFA arboretum is really into bald/montezuma cypress. You probably noticed a lot of them along La Nina creek by the parking lot of that dorm... and everywhere.