Softscape help on newly built yard 10a/b SoCal
Hi everyone! I would love some feedback/advice on plants/trees/succulents for my newly bulit backyard. We are still working on the hardscape (bench needs topper, etc) but I’m attaching photos to get a better look at what it currently looks like. We are located in Orange County, Ca (Southern California) and depending on the website I use we are either a 10A or 10B.
Issues:
-We pushed back a slope to build a pool and now have a large wall. So we really need to add height while still dealing with restraints on planter size.
-The back planter is not that large. The back of our yard isn’t straight (more like a pie), so the left side is larger and it slowly narrows to the right (I’m including a drawing for a top view)
-We have 5 very active kids (and dogs), I love succulents and cactus for a modern look but have to be careful with spines
- The planters are so close to a pool and concrete we need to make sure that nothing makes a huge mess.
-We have an ugly wall between us and our neighbor (hoping to paint soon), we added a planter to run against it and need something that will help with privacy and coverage
What I’m thinking:
-My husband and I both love nonfruiting olive trees and would like to add on to the left in that larger planter area. I’ve found some landscapers that mix olive trees with modern/desert landscapes, hoping it works
-I would like to bring some of the blue color and copper from the pool into the plants.
-The bench is definitely the focal point of the yard (we are adding a wood topper to it), and we have two custom planters where I’m thinking of adding an agave blue glow to each one but would love ideas.
-Would like something else behind the planters next to the bench to frame the area, but coming up short on ideas. The space is limited, so it would need to be a small tree/plant but would love a goo height. Things we’ve considered are a Blue Bush Acacia (I found this in pictures but haven’t been able to find it locally), Blue Yucca Rostrata (don’t know if this would look okay near the olive tree, and with their huge price tags we’d have to buy very small which will take a long time to grow), Palo Verde, and dwarf willows.
Plants we like:
Prickly Pears (spineless)
Agave “blue glow”
Mexican Feather Grass
carex testacea
stonecrop
would *love* Mexican fence post for the side wall between us and neighbors but super concerned a teenager would be shoved into it
That was a huge post. Any comments/feedback/tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!
Comments (7)
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3 years agoBased on what you have chosen as your style of pool I am guessing that you are going for a resort style, modern space that makes you feel like you have stepped out of a hotel into a private corner by the pools. Love it. The irregular shape of the backyard is actually a very interesting characteristic of your backyard and one you can really play off of. Large planters will be an investment, especially because I am going to suggest adding a modern privacy wall on the left behind the planters to increase privacy and to hide the pattern and the texture of the brick wall which is a bit busy. I would place a series of planters (exactly the same and in odd numbers) with spiky grasses in them. Low maintenance, structural like the cactus but safe for kids. Also a chance to bring in some colour in a clean way, depending on the colour of the grasses. Grasses are easy to take care of and cheap to replace if they die.
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