What direction would you want the shade from? South? West? and what direction is south?

Where are you generally?

What is under the gravel?

Fountains are available with an underground reservoir, and the fountain recirculates the water, though you need to check frequently to see if it needs topping up due to evaporation or splashing.

Are you interested in having any plants?

I'm looking for shade from the south/south west (mostly south west). The fence you see in the picture goes south-east/north-west. I'm in southern California.

Under the gravel there is a weed barrier and I don't know whats underneath that, I'm assuming soil.

Plants/trees are definitely desired, I'm only concerned about proximity to the house/driveways.

For the fountain, can the level be checked just by looking at the basin of the fountain?

Is there an existing patio floor? If so, you should show it. Or should a patio floor be part of what you're looking for help with here?

As well, what's happening at the house with plants would be important, but that's a side of the space you haven't shown.

In general, photos should square up with the "background" (fence or house) of a scene. They should also include is what is seen beyond the far left and right of the scene, so that the setting can be understood. If all of this doesn't fit into a single picture, it will fit into slightly overlapping pictures that pan the scene.

As you can see in the picture, the only ground cover there is gravel. I'm looking for a paver patio and perhaps some synthetic turf.

I'm not sure what you are referring to when you say house with plants? Here is pano of the courtyard. The house surrounds it on three sides, the fourth is a fence.

Things I'm looking for include, types of trees (considering proximity to fence/driveway), Should the trees be planted in the ground or in large planters.

We don't want to put an attached pergola as it would block the sunlight and we'd like to keep it sunny inside. So most likely considering a detached pergola closer to the fence.

Thanks.

Your initial drawing and photo did not give us any indication of architectural features of the house: doors, windows & other things that might need to be accessed. It would be important to know where these things are so that the planting scheme acknowledged and respected them. I thought that the 28' wall, marked "living room" was the only wall of the building and that the rest was fence, but I see from the pano that both 16' dimensions are also building walls and that they have windows and at least one door. It looks like there is a large opening at the right end of the living room wall and a little sidewalk, All these features should be indicated on the plan. Please add a north arrow to the plan, too. (I did not understand your description of directions.) Is there a gate along the fence that needs to be accessed? If so, it would need to be shown on the plan.

You'll want the patio to abut the wall of the house marked living room. We don't yet know what doors are there and how they're arranged, but since there is at least one door at each end of this wall, it's likely you'll want pedestrian access for the entire length of the wall ( ...??) Then this pedestrian access (pavement) will project somehow out into the courtyard area. You'll want to expand the patio surface so that it is sufficiently large in order to accommodate the uses that you have in mind for it. On the other hand you'll want to limit the size of the patio in order to have room for the planting that surrounds it. While you can pinch planting space down to practically nothing in favor of maximizing living space, you must be aware of the fact that it's the planting space that has the potential to transform the patio area from dull and drab into something extraordinary. You should try to come up with a rough idea of square footage of space needed for the patio. For planting space I would suggest you have no less than 6' of bed depth (front to back) between the patio and walls/fence. Plants are not going to be happy in a 3' or 4' bed. It will be difficult for them show off in such pinched quarters.

A north arrow and door and window locations is important, as Yardvaark said. You mentioned a driveway. Is that on the other side of the 24' fence?

Could you stand against the 28' house wall right in the middle, and take a series of photos that overlap slightly, not a panorama, that starts showing the house wall along one edge and progresses around the whole area to end showing the edge of the wall to the other side? I would also like one photo taken from the fence looking back at the 28' house wall. I don't have a feel for where there is currently pavement, or location of windows and doors with respect to the drawing or all the neighbors' tree locations. All this is important for being able to place plants and figure out their heights as well as structures such as a patio and pergola.

Maybe these two illustrations help. First, here is a top view, arrow points north.

Here is the view from the other side, arrow points north.

As far as planting bed size, I'm trying to think of creative ways to avoid having beds that are 6ft wide while making sure its not dull/drab, as that would mean half the area would be gone. Its not entirely about maximizing living space as much as having a sense of space.

There is also that tree, you see in the pano I posted earlier, thats outside the fence and is off center, which creates another challenge in terms of how to layout plants inside the courtyard.

The driveways would be coming off the garages.

" ... as that would mean half the area would be gone."

At this point we don't know if having half the area be unavailable for floor space is a good thing or a bad thing considering that we have no idea of the square footage of floor needed. The first order of the day is to figure this out. How many people will the patio typically serve? You'll need some cushion for those "overflow" occasions. But you don't need to accommodate the occasional as if it were the everyday.

"It's not entirely about maximizing living space as much as having a sense of space."

It's a fact that if you had an acre of landscape planting space surrounding your patio that you would have vastly more options in terms of creating a "sense of space." It is not necessarily that a larger floor is going to deliver on that wish. This is really a balancing act more than favoring one over the other. Of course, you need a certain minimum amount of floor space in order to accommodate your activities. And then you don't want it to be BARELY able to support those activities, but generously support them. After that though, going excessively larger with the floor not only costs more (to satisfy no physical need) but it begins to impede the options open to you for creating an environment ... a sense of space, which is going to come from ALL the factors involved in the project.

Outside of the fence, the palm and other small tree (which should be identified) ... who owns and controls those? If you have options regarding their disposition, you'll need to weigh whether they should be incorporated into the planting scheme, or not. Just looking at the palm, it looks sparse and ragged. I would not care to have a palm like that determining the outcome of my patio space if I had a way to avoid it.

I agree. To give you a better sense of use requirements, day to day its 4 people, and on a regular basis about 10 people.

As far as the other trees out there, I have no control over them, both are maintained by the HOA. The palm tree is on the other side of the Alley in between houses, The other tree is on my side of the alley (I don't know what kind it is, I can take a picture of the leaves),

The main part of my patio is 255 s.f. It has a 4-top umbrella table at center which we can pretty easily squeeze 5 people. The patio is generous with plenty of space for walking about and working a grill. Frequently we also set up a 6-top banquet table, mainly for serving food and all the extras. There are usually also three or 4 side chairs and an end table sitting around the perimeter. I've observed that in lieu of what is there, it would be possible to set up 3, 4-top umbrella tables as generous seating for 12, but then not the serving table or furniture around the perimeter. Because the patio is circular it doesn't lend itself to having a large oblong table for seating 8 or 10, but that's something that would work pretty easily if the shape were rectangular. In the drawing that I showed you earlier (with the "potential patio & planting" space) I rough calculated that you'd have about 100 more square feet than I have. But some of that space must be devoted to travel lanes since you're accessing doors at the house. So the actual amount of "living" space is probably a wash with what I have. If you added another 2' of width to the main rectangular portion (1' each side, shrinking the planting bed to 5' depth) that would net you about 60 additional square feet, which seems generous for the crowd you are accommodating. Do you need to enlarge to that size? Don't forget to think about the budget. Nice paving -- the kind that contributes to a "sense of space" -- is usually not cheap.

The palm being across the alley is relatively inconsequential as far as impact on you. The other tree (you can get it identified on the plant ID or your regional forum) will be involved more in what you do. Regardless that someone else owns it, you have the right to chop of whatever portions cross over into your space, so it doesn't have to stop you from planting something that needs that space, if you want.

It is plenty of room, a 140sqft room usually accommodates that number with no problems so there is no reason why a larger space shouldn't. Now, what would you consider as a nice paving? What is not?

I'm looking to explore alternative ideas to just keeping/shrinking planting bed width. For example, How would paving the entire patio look while using trees in large planters to accentuate the space? or How would keeping the planting bed 5 or 6ft on the long side of the fence, while eliminating the side planting bed and using trees in large planters?

"I'm looking to explore alternative ideas to just keeping/shrinking planting bed width. For example, How would paving the entire patio look while using trees in large planters to accentuate the space?"

In a word: institutional. Not that that's in and of itself a bad thing. The reason you're asking about this, is it because you're looking for a way to create something that is unique? ... or because you perceive it as a way to add beauty, charm, etc.? You might want to supply some pictorial examples of other patios that lean in the direction that you're trying to go in. My personal opinion of having the whole area, or most of it, paved and putting large plants in containers is that, as has been mentioned, it is a lot more maintenance. I always seem to have a fair number of plants growing in containers, of which very few are incorporated into the landscape. Most are set aside in the nether regions for some supposed future use. I am always relieved when I am able to get rid of (by using or giving away) some of these plants. They are a drain on my time because they need extra attention (watering mainly) and because they are easier to screw up, and then they die ... usually suddenly, while my back is turned. The idea of total paving, even with plant containers sprinkled around, is a certain quality leaning toward barrenness. As I have pointed out many times in conversation about all manner of landscape issues, the goal is usually one of balance ... not in thinking that if something good, then let's go 'whole hog' on that thing.

There are ways to have very narrow beds and still have greenery if you do vines along trellises, hanging planters or espalier. But all take quite a bit of maintenance. I would landscape for what use I have for the yard most of the time. I had a small patio once and if I wanted to have a big party I planned for both indoor and outdoor entertaining space and did an open house so guest arrived over time. That sure beat roasting out in the heat of a tree-less yard most of the rest of my life. But there are many examples of small courtyards in urban spaces that manage to pull it off. One thing to consider is making the patio permeable to water, so that trees and plants next to the patio can still benefit from moisture falling near them. But you still want to pick plants that can survive in small spaces.

My neighbor, in a similar small courtyard, had a big family gathering at least once a month, and they were inside, on the front porch, out on the patio and in the garage. Cozy! They had a mix of raised beds and planters, no in-ground plants. No trees but a grape arbor between the two raised beds.