With that width restriction, and with you wanting access through the "Alley", it's NOT going to be easy to plant trees. Since that's a property line, are you aware that any part of a tree with roots on your side of the line that extends over the line then belongs to your neighbor? He can cut it off at the property line and dispose of it - he just can't toss it back over the line to you. So it sounds as though your "shade" trees need to be tall, thickly leaved, and about four feet wide, and I am not sure that such a plant exists! I think you are looking at evergreen trees. Just to list the requirements - you want to move wheelbarrows, etc., through the passage, which needs a minimum of 3' for a path next to the house wall. But you need to be able to walk freely, and not worry about bumping into the wall of the house, so let's make it 3'6" at a minimum, 4' if feeling generous, for the pathway. That leaves 3' or 3'6" for planting space. You can trim up the trunks of trees, removing the branches, to a height of 6-8', so you can walk under the limbs of the trees, and have only the trunks to contend with next to the path. However, for this to be done with regard to the health of the tree, the tree needs to be somewhere around 15' tall. If you aren't going to look for permission from your neighbor to annually go on his property and trim your trees, you are looking at very narrow, columnar trees, that will grow no more than 4-5' wide - the width of the planting space plus the width of the block wall. You might, if you planted the trees right at the edge of the pathway, get away with a 6' width. To fill a 40' length, you will need 8 trees, maybe 9. This project is NOT going to be cheap! And I am not familiar with trees that grow in a columnar fashion, so I can't make any recommendations for especially narrow ones - all the ones I can think of would be at least 10-12' wide. I am not saying you can't do it, but I am saying it will NOT be easy. You might do better to plant a tree near the SW corner of the house, in the back yard - I am assuming there is one there? - and get shade from a tree that way, which would give partial shade to the "Alley". To shade the entire wall, you might, indeed, do better with a large trellis, but put it up on the house, and not on the wall. If you position it a foot or so away from the wall of the house, you will get shade, and be able to have some air circulation there too. Your passageway then would run next to the block wall, and you would be able to make it 4-5' wide, not 3-4'. You could plant vines, both evergreen and perennial, and also trees like pyracantha, that lend themselves to espalliering. Roses might work, also. Any work that needed to be done, in terms of trimming back wayward shoots, tieing in to fill up the trellis, and trimming to keep windows clear, could be done, and cleaned up, from the passageway, so your neighbor wouldn't be involved. This might not give as much shade as you wanted, but would be MUCH more do-able.

Hi there, You just described one of my hillsides here in the sf bay area, right down to the old Montery Pine trees and horrible packed clay soil underneath that few things will grow in, and a previous owner who actually thought ICE PLANT would survive on a full-western exposure sloped hill. So we have a couple patches of this ice plant that clings to the hill, blooms a couple weeks a year, and the rest of it annual dry grasses (read: weeds) that either get weed whacked or pulled by hand in the spring after the risk of a mudslide is past. (Our hill isn't that big so hand weeding isn't impossible.) We just repaired the retaining wall for this hill, which means our next project will be to finally plant something there to keep the soil from eroding that won't need to get whacked each spring. Our landscaper recommended 2 plants: manzanita creeper, and a low-creeping ceanothus, I think it's called Carmel something. I think both are drought tolerant and natives. And low to the ground. Another thing that grows well on our hill but seems to do better when it has partial shade is vinca minor. It grows really well in moderately shaded areas. It's also deer proof. And finally, one thing that grows well here, even right below the pine tree right under where all the pine needles fall, is juniper. It's not as pretty, but it sure as heck holds the hill. Have you gone to your local independent nursery? Tell them what you're working with in terms of your slope and soil and that you need a good ground cover... they'll steer you to something(s) that will grow well in your own little microclimate. Take advantage of their expertise, and then once you have the names of the plants you want you can start sourcing them out at the best prices. Good luck, -kristi

Hi Brad, I think you're going to find everybody has a different opinion about this. Actually---we have differing opinions about a LOT of things here! LOL I couple years ago I moved out of a house where the front faced north, and when I was looking for the house I'm in now, I thought I wanted one that faced the same way. Then I found a house I liked a LOT, but it was just the opposite--front faces south. I bought it because I liked the house so much---and I absolutely LOVE it. At the first house there was never anywhere to be out in the yard in the shade in summer, and it usually seemed too hot to be out doing much. There were a couple big trees, but there was too much shade to plant anything under them, and it wasn't much fun to just SIT under them! And at this house most of my backyard gets sun at least part of the day, and I'm enjoying having a place right along the back of the house--which is shade almost all day--to plant some shade things. Also, when I'm working out in the yard, if it gets too hot in the sun, I can just move over and do something in the shade for a while to cool off. I find I'm enjoying my yard a LOT more at this house. (But the neighbors are a lot nicer too! LOL So be sure you get neighbors that are oriented the right way!) And with the front yard facing south, I can have some really showy things, and mostly low maintenance type things, so it's easy to take care of but looks really nice from the street. Most shade perennials aren't very showy. The main things in the front yard are some 'Disco Belle" Hibiscus, some roses, a hydrangea, and some smaller stuff--lavender, gaura, snaps..... And then there's a couple whisky barrels I cram with annuals. It makes for a LOT of color most of the summer. One other MAJOR consideration---which I had never even thought about, but my realtor told me about---is what happens in winter! Especially THIS winter! At the other house the driveway and sidewalks were ALWAYS icy in winter--even on low snow winters it seemed. At this house I watch my neighbors across the street constantly fighting with the snow and ice, and I just sit and watch it melt off! Well! During the blizzard and the next couple storms it had to be shoveled, but after that mine was always dry while their's was still covered with ice. I am SO glad my realtor gave me a heads up on that--and when I kept telling her I wanted it to face north, she kept showing me houses that faced south! Before these two houses, I lived in one where the front faced west, and I liked that a lot too. I got the afternoon sun to melt snow, and both yards were good for growing a complete variety of things. How tall your house is would be another consideration. Mine is two-story, but most of the back yard still gets at least some sun in mid-summer. A one-story house would get even more--and earlier in spring. Are you looking for a house to buy, or planning to build? Good luck, whichever it is. Welcome to RMG, Skybird

I feel your pain about a south-facing deck as I have one,as well. I'm a little confused by the pics--do you have the shed roof bump-out at the deck or are you proposing to build it? If you don't have it, don't build it because it would be much easier to cover the entire deck with the awning, that way. I have a retractable awning over my deck and I just love it. A high quality awning is expensive, but not as expensive as building out a roof or gazebo-style roof. The awning also protects you from the dew during night time hours which is an added advantage. Go to a reputable awning company in your area and you'll be very happy with the product. I have the motor-driven kind, which I would recommend. Don't know where you live, but I live in Ohio and used Ohio Awning & Manufacturing Co. in Cleveland. I wouldn't grill under the awning, but you could always retract the awning to cook, then deploy it afterward to eat under.