Unless you are growing water or bog plants, you need bottom drainage or weep holes at the base of the planter. Otherwise, you want to fill the planter with a uniform mix of potting soil - no drain rock at bottom, no barrier, no garden soil, just a good quality potting soil. This looks like an excellent situation for some type of bamboo - the planter is a bit too restrictive for much else that will develop any height for privacy. Equisetum can work also.

i just want to touch on a couple things in this thread to clear up some minor misconceptions with ICF. First off, I am by no means bashing them, they are a great product, I am using them for some of my own basement in fact. However ICF are great products in their respective areas. If you want strength and security, they can not be beat. If you want sound deadening, they are also good (but make sure you have great windows as well!) If you want a naturally tight structure, they will get you there. And finally if you want a solid r-23-26 in heating dominate climates, then ICF are also for you. So focus on the last one. ICF makers claim r-30s, 40s even up to 50 due to....."thermal mass". This is simply not true, infant not even close. Multiple studies from ORNL and Building Science have proven the performance of ICF is greatly affected by the climate. Thermal mass works as a buffer when in between 2 foam cores. It is not a heat storage device like many claim since it is insulated on each side. In order for it to store heat, it needs direct access to the heating source....the inside of your house. The insulation in an ICF interior is actually INSULATING the concrete from being your heat storage. So back to PROVEN climate studies. The buffer affect ONLY works when the interior and exterior temps rise and drop within a 24 hr period. Meaning, in AZ where the day time temp is higher then the inside, and often the night is lower then the inside, the buffering of the concrete can not cool and warm up within this 24 hr period, thus keeps your interior temp regulated. The results in performance is an 8-10% gain vs tight stick frame construction. However in climates where the exterior temp stays a constant far below the interior, such as heating dominate climates, the buffer affect is useless. The extreme cold lowers the core temp of the concrete and keeps it there. In proven studies of homes in Minneapolis and Chicago, ICF have a 2-5% net gain, which they contributed to the naturally tighter structure vs stick frame construction. Depending on the house, this savings can result in a 30,40, 50+ year payoff when upfront investments are compared. Now compare ICF to a very tight house with exterior foam or even a super insulated double stud wall, and they can not even compete. Highly insulated homes in heating dominated climates never use ICF (unless they add additional exterior foam which just drives the cost up that much more) instead are using double stud walls (r-40s, which is my route), thick exterior foams on OVE framing, or thick SIPs panels. So, with that being said, choose ICF for its REAL benefits, which is strength, fire proof, sound deadening enhancements, and a naturally tight structure. However if energy efficiency is your goal in a heating zone (which most of north America is) then save yourself upfront costs and heating costs by choosing something else. HOWEVER, for a foundation, I really do not think it can be beat! :)

So Brick does a few things but they are minor in the grand scheme of things. Mostly the thermal mass helps as they heat up during the day and stay warm after the sun goes down so help to minimize wall heat loss (same with gain in summer). The R-value is about 1 but the thermal mass effect is a bit larger. I actually notice my loss more on the back wall which is not brick. I think there is probably an infiltration benefit with a brick wall but I can't say that for sure. Just looking at it , even with the weep holes, it looks to be a pretty effective air barrier compared to siding. You should easily be able to beat your spec house if you try. The only thing that $1800 doesn't include is the gas connection fee. I only used about $120 in gas last year but there is another $120 a year in connection costs. I try to justify that this fee is not really energy cost... In the country - orient your windows right. 1 inch foam (my biggest regret) on the walls and basic infiltration work (foaming windows and doors etc). I'm guessing no NG, so at least Seer 15 heat pumps. Get a geo quote but they are hard to justify generally. Use shade trees on those E/W walls (and south walls too as long as they are deciduous and not oaks or something that keeps leaves too long). Water? What is the motivation here? You should have a well? That is nature's best water reclaiming system. I priced a rain catchment and it was absurd. A well would have been cheaper and I am on city water. Code makes graywater difficult (although I don't know exactly which jurisdiction you are in). But generally NC is not Arizona so the benefits are minimal and jurisdictions have no need to be flexible. Shade/orient windows well/foam sheath/seer 15 - and you should have no problem getting below $1000 a year in HVAC costs. Lezarc - you must not drive much! Average car, average driving = $2000 a year - all carbon, mostly foreign (my house, mostly US uranium). Sure apples and oranges but perspective. You may not design cars but you decide what to buy....just tweaking you.

Insulating the walls is not possible with rigid foam due to the uneveness of the foundation. As mentioned, it is composed of lose rock, think stone wall, and a bad one at that, topped with 1 course of concrete block. There is probably a 4 inch variation. I actuallty considered doing it myslef with 15 Mil VB from Raven Industries. I even went so far to look into plastic friction type plugs (think automotive trim clips) that I could push into predrilled holes in the concrete block to hold the VB against the wall. The problem is I have lots of utilities and a sump in the space and need to access it often, with tools. Tools will puncture 6mil poly. Also, I have poly in another crawlspace in my house, and trying to crawl around on it is frustrating as it moves. Since the Cleanspce product is warrantied for 25 years, I can get them to repair it. Plus, the product is white, and will make the space much brighter, and easier to work in. I already put 2" foam board in between the joists. I did not find it very effective, but then, it was an vented space. Now, it will be a nonvented space.