Brick walls add warmth, texture and natural earth tones to your landscape. When combined with plantings, brick walls serve as a backdrop to highlight your plant’s colors. Before choosing species to plant near brick, determine your site’s soil type, water levels and especially sun exposure. Brick tends to absorb warmth from the sun during the day and release heat at night, creating microclimates that may be slightly warmer than neighboring areas. Choose plants that can tolerate warm temperatures and low moisture.
Trees
When planting trees near a brick wall, consider the species’ mature size and leave plenty of room for roots and canopies to spread. The Chinese fringetree (Chionanthus retusus) tolerates heat, sun, partial shade and a variety of soils. This easy-to-grow deciduous tree blooms with aromatic white flowers, followed by blue berries. It grows to 25 feet tall with a similar spread. Japanese apricots (Prunus mume) also grow well in sunny to partially shaded sites and tolerate heat. These 20-foot-tall trees are prized for their scented white, red and pink blossoms.
Shrubs
Slow-growing shrubs require less maintenance and pruning than fast-growing varieties. Choose heat-tolerant varieties such as the Japanese plum yew (Cephalotaxus harringtonia), a slow-growing, shade-tolerant shrub with glossy, dark leaves. This evergreen tolerates dry or sandy sites and grows to 10 feet tall with a similar spread. Another evergreen, the Boulevard falsecypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera) grows to 10 feet tall with a narrow, 3-foot spread. This dense shrub has gray-blue foliage, tolerates heat and prefers sites with moist, well-draining soil.
Vines
Nothing complements brick walls like vines. Slow-growing, small-foliaged species that cling using aerial rootlets or adhesive pads grow well on brick-and-mortar surfaces, according to the University of Missouri Extension. Species include the Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), a deciduous vine that grows up to 50 feet long. This North American native has purple new foliage that ages to green and then turns red in fall. It grows well in sun and shade and tolerates drought. English ivy (Hedera helix) also grows well on brick. It has glossy, dark, evergreen foliage and grows best in shady locations with enriched soil.
Perennials
Perennials add a splash of color to brick-wall landscaping year after year. Choose species that bloom at different times of year for season-long color. Spring bloomers include sea pink (Armeria maritima), a tiny, 8-inch-tall perennial that flowers with pink blooms from spring through summer. They grow well in sunny, dry sites. For long-lasting summer color, plant hardy mums (Chrysanthemum morifolium).
They grow to 3 feet tall and bloom in red, yellow, white and orange blossoms from summer through early fall. They thrive in sunny sites with excellent drainage. Fall-bloomers include Stokes’ aster (Stokesia laevis). This 2-foot-tall perennial produces bright blue flowers that last into the autumn. False sunflower (Heliopsis) also blooms into the fall. These tall perennials reach heights to 4 feet and produce showy yellow flowers. They grow well in sunny, regularly irrigated sites.
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