I am planning out a small backyard in inner city Sydney.
I have a northfacing unroofed courtyard approx 6m x 4m that will be decked.
The courtyward will be bordered on the south by the house living room (bi-folds leading out) and on the north by a reinforced retaining wall approximately 1.5m high and then after about 1m there is a small step up (about a sleeper in height) to a gently sloping lawn approx 6m x 6m leading to a jumble of tin shed, hard standing, compost bin etc that will be screened.
My idea is to plant a frangipani either side of retaining wall as they will provide summer shade over courtyard but allow winter sun and frame the view from inside - is there another obvious choice I could consider? I love these plants as they just shout Sydney! to me and feel they won't mind growing next to a breezeblock concrete wall.
I need a fence at the top of retaining wall to prevent toddlers toppling down and was planning a simple post and wire to allow maximum view of what ****** beyond and avoid casting a shadow in winter months.
This leaves me with a garden bed between the lawn and the top of retaining wall. I am looking for suggestions for a single planting that will
a) deal with full summer sun until frangipanis grow up
b) not grow too high to obstruct view of lawn (to keep eye on said toddlers)
c) not hang over the retaining wall as that forms the back of our seating and needs to be clean
d) go with the "look" of frangipanis
I would also like to plant them in stones to prevent any soil washing down into the courtyard and to stop our cat and dog getting under the fence and digging. If they need to be pruned to keep low that is OK.
Finally, if they had white flowers that would be a plus.