Dreaming of a small but perfectly formed, courtyard

While the site is rubble and sand, I'm dreaming of a time in the future when I'll be sitting right here with a nice cup of coffee and the newspaper enjoying the scent of my flowering vines. Or harvesting peas and chard. Or hosting a social brunch, or watching Ash grill up a storm. Or planting milkweed and crossing my fingers for monarchs.

This vision comes to me courtesy of Fiona, one of my dearest and oldest friends, who normally gets to design much larger and damper gardens in the Home Counties. She might not know California succulents as well as the local garden designers but she knows me better than anyone I could hire here.  

Her task is to provide me somewhere pretty to do those things I mentioned. A place to sit and read the paper, eat a meal with family and friends, and grow a few easy crops. We also want scented climbers - because our perimeter wall faces onto a dogshit strewn path delightful walkway down to the baseball field we are building it high. We want to mask the scent of the aforementioned, and soften the look of that great big tall wall. I also want to plant some herbs, and some California poppies - and I have some plants I want to replant, like a cheerful orange hibiscus and a couple of dwarf lemon trees. Oh and ideally Penelope would have somewhere to rollerskate and Ash somewhere to grill.

It's a lot to ask of a 17 x 23' space but she's got some clever ideas. Here are the current options, all of which we love.

Now I'm noodling on the merits and drawbacks of a tree. Who doesn't love a tree in a courtyard? It will be so nice from the landing windows, to look down/ across into the leaves of a tree. I'd love a persimmon or a fig tree. But I'm worried we don't have the space and it'll cast too much shade. We already have a big (20' tall) rubber tree right on the other side of the wall, which provides shade in much of the yard in the afternoon. Maybe a pomegranate tree, which has smaller leaves. But will it get tall enough to have the effect we want? A nice conundrum to noodle on.