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A strikingly beautiful example of a painted concrete 
block wall with tile murals and tile fountain 
at the Los Angeles Arboretum.

The Walled Garden

That concrete block wall surrounding your home can be a lot more than just the barrier where your property stops and the neighbor's begins.  Walled gardens are one of the oldest garden types, going back to the Persians thousands of years ago. 

In those ancient gardens there were high walls for protection, a water feature (often a long narrow pool) in the center, and plants lining the pool and paths--all very geometric, formal and balanced.  It was a symbolic representation of heaven come to earth.

We are the direct inheritors of that walled garden tradition --from the Persians, through the  Mediterranean, into Mexico and then, the American Southwest.  As this garden style traveled across the oceans and continents and through time, the gardens within the walls became more relaxed and the plantings more casual. The idea of a beautiful enclosed and private space for personal enjoyment has, however, continued.

This charming and unusual hedge is Japanese privet (Ligustrum japonica) wearing a skirt of deer grass (Muhlenbergia rigens).

When you are planning your garden consider some of the things you can do with your garden walls:

Plant a hedge or a border with tall plants.  One overlooked aspect of concrete block walls is that they soak up heat during the day and radiate it at night.  A hedge or other tall plantings can help minimize this.  Additionally, being surrounded by "growing green walls" can be very soothing -- especially when the temperature is over 100 outside. 

For some traditional and unusual shrubs and other  plants to consider for hedges, click here.

Use trellises full of climbers.  Several large trellises as high as your wall, spaced at regular intervals, then planted with vines or climbing shrubs is not quite a hedge, but gives a living green wall effect.  

You may wish to consider color on your walls in addition to trellises, hedges or climbers.

Seal and paint your garden walls.   When selecting the color for your walls, choose several colors and buy one quart of each.  Then paint large sample swatches on the walls.  A color that may look great as a little square may become overwhelming when you paint 500 square feet of it.  We suggest, unless you are truly adventurous, that you select a soft pastel -- pale green or apricot or sandy yellow--or a terra cotta color.  Plants naturally look good against these colors.  

One of the latest color trends has garden walls being painted intense purple or bright teal or shocking pink.  Those colors are for the brave! Visitors will definitely notice your walls -- they may not notice the plants or anything else in the garden. Here, the fireplace and adjacent wall have been painted deep purple.

Have the walls stuccoed and painted.  The same painting guidelines apply: buy quarts of various colors and "test drive" them on your garden wall before you paint it all. Some stucco comes colored.

Add a real or artificial stone facade to your garden wall.  This option is, of course, expensive, but the rock wall effect is guaranteed to give the image of age and permanency and quality.

Place a tile mural or a hanging fountain on the wall.  We have seen some outdoor walls, particularly enclosing patio areas, that have been entirely or extensively tiled.  Gorgeous -- but costly!  Adding a modest size tile mural or tiling the background area around a hanging fountain can be less expensive and provide a dramatic focal point for your garden.  Doing this on a painted or stuccoed wall, as you can see in the photo at the top of this page,  is very attractive.