What to plant to cover concrete block foundation

We are putting in a backyard pool and have an uncovered block foundation on house, unpainted, with a deck in the middle of the house. We will be putting trellis up which will cover center, but the two sides have the foundation exposed. I would say 31/2 feet high. What are good shrubs, plants that will hide the blocks. We do plan to paint foundation a darker gray, and the rest of the house is a light gray siding. Have looked into covering with rock, but too expensive! Backyard has not been used much in the past, but we plan to really be there a lot now with the pool. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The first reply shows the picture.

This message was edited Apr 4, 2010 3:09 PM

This message was edited Apr 4, 2010 3:24 PM

Here is the picture of the house. Can see the foundation and like it on the other side.

How much sun does it get?

It gets quite a bit of afternoon sun.

Some considerations - drainage and bugs. Where I grew up, we always planted evergreens against the foundation. In my current northern VA house, it allows bugs to get into the house. Plus you have to preserve a slope to keep water draining away from the house.

To my eye, the left needs a taller focal point - a small tree would look great: Dogwood, redbud, or amelanchier.
A tall climbing rose on a trellis would be beautiful, but take some maintenance.
You may prefer evergreen - photinia or arborvitae.

Then a few shrubs.Azalea is evergreen, and is a nice backdrop for a flower bed. Elderberry comes in a dark cutleaf form that would look great. Maidengrass might be the height you want.

Holly hocks would fill in the spaces.

If you do a tree, make sure it is WAY out from the foundation. That may defeat your purpose of hiding the block, however.
I wanted to suggest camellia, gardenia, or rhododendron, but with afternoon sun....hmmmm, maybe not.
Are hibiscus hardy to your zone? Crepe myrtle would be beautiful and can be pruned to suit, but their blooms will really mess up your pool. I have experience with that! haha

Still thinking.
Good luck, I hope you get more suggestions.

No matter what you decide on, make sure your bed is at least 3 ft from the foundation. Fill the area behind the bed with weedblock covered with gravel, rock, stone as they do not promote weed growth and give you access to the back of the bed. Also if ants etc try to nest there, you can see them to treat them (voice of experience...bought a house and spent the first year dragging everything OFF the foundation, only to discover nests of termites, wood ants, fire ants...)

Also, consider a larger bed rather than just a row. You could use shrubs along the wall, perennials in front of the shrubs and add in some annuals. You could plant smaller growing trees at the far left of the house and at the front of the bed to the left of the window.

Here is some info for you.
http://erthturf.com/ShrubsFoundation.html

http://trees.suite101.com/article.cfm/deerresistant_flowering_shrubs

http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/landscape/shrubs/ (you can choose info on a variety of shrubs here)

http://www.seedman.com/coldhard.htm

http://www.lazyssfarm.com/Plants/Shrubs/S-Z%20Shrubs/shrubs_trees_T-Z.htm

Thank you for all of your suggestions. I will post pictures when it is finally complete. We will start by painting the block a darker gray, hopefully it will not be as ugly. Then we will choose our shrubs, etc.