Maggienile,
If anything, I think I had more concrete than you have. I had it on the sides as well. Before we moved to Texas, we lived in the eastern foothills of San Jose for 22 years. When I first started, I used wooden half barrels. Later as the wooden barrels rotted, I replaced them with 24" and 30" fiberglass pots. Fiberglass doesn't rot and doesn't become brittle like plastic does.
I had about 12 varieties of citrus, a Laurus nobilis (for spagetti sauce), two dwarf banana trees ( Soon became clumps.), 2 Brugmansias, 2 bougainvillas, 7 miniature apple trees, a dwarf nectarine, and 2 dwarf figs, an Australian and a Tasmanian fern, plus an assortment of shrubs or trees that either died or outgrew their pots. On the east side of the house, I had a large number of Cymbidiums, and azaleas. In pots of varying sizes, I grew annuals for color, some Pelargoniums and geraniums, a number of different jasmine, hydrangeas, hibiscus, 2 Fairy Roses (a red and a pink).
The large pots were placed against the house or next to the retaining wall. I made a fountain using 3 half barrels and 3 liners. I placed the fountain in front of several tall potted plants, leaving enough room to get to the pots as needed. To soften the harsh pot sides I planted cascading annuals along the rim of the large pots. Two of my favorites, trailing nasturtiums and trailing lobelias self seeded every year. I also placed pots of varying sizes in front of the larger pots. The large potted plants in front of the retaining wall provided ehough shade that I could place some shade loving hydrangeas in my backyard. My sons were kind enough to set up a drip irrigation system on all my pots. The number of emitters and the gph rating of the emitters depended on the size of the pot. I really recommend you set up some sort of irrigation system or you'll be spending a lot of time out watering.
I hope you find this helpful.
Veronica
