What a beautiful space to fill in...though I am clueless to what might not later cause damage to the walls from roots. Is there a specific look your drawn to? Well manicured...or cottage feel? That may help others give you better direction as to what to plant.

Thanks for your comment. I like a natural, native feel, not overly manicured or plants out of place for location (NW New Jersey) i am in a wooded/lake area with lots of small cottages and modest homes. I have been thinking about something that would be interesting for winter, as we have a lot of snow/long winters and some green, or winter red berries, etc would be nice. I saw some holly w/ red berries that I liked, maybe wiht some other greens. I don't want to have a perennial garden here as I already have a lot of that, I am thinking shrubs, small ornamental tree, evergreen. Does anyone have reco for something green in winter and/or berries or color in winter?

A Japanese Maple might fill the bill for a tree. Something like a Red Emperor/Empress might not outgrow the space.

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Red Emperor Japanese Maple

Winterberry has ornamental red berries in the winter, though you'll have to get females (for berries) and the correct male to enable the berrying. I believe that Red Sprite is the smallest growing variety ... and Jim Dandy is the appropriate male pollinator.

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Red Sprite Winterberry

For evergreen, you might look at planting the outer (arc) perimeter with a horizontal/prostrate juniper.

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Horizontal/Prostrate Juniper

There's NO Japanese maple by the name 'Red Emperor' - the registered name is 'Emperor 1' and it is a large upright form of JM, nothing like what is shown in that photo. 20-25' is standard, with an equal spread.

If you want a weeping red laceleaf - like the mislabeled Japanese maple in the above photo - look at 'Crimson Queen', 'Red Dragon', 'Tamukeyama' or 'Ever Red'. While these will not grow very tall due tot heir weeping nature, they can get pretty wide over time.

Place garbage cans, boxes or similar such things, that can represent shrub mass, in the space. Drive in and out as you would normally use the parking. Before you commit to shrubs, see if they would block the view of traffic. A low branching tree could be as much a problem. From an in-your-car point of view, determine what sight lines need to be preserved. Keep in mind that guests will be different sizes and have different types of vehicles.