Beginner Gardening: Privacy screening for a very narrow space , 1 by museumgirl

museumgirl wrote:
I need help screening my patio from the neighbor's driveway. Three years ago we removed a dilapidated wooden privacy fence, and while the yard looks much better, I am really missing the privacy I used to enjoy in my back yard.
To make it clear, our neighbors are very nice people, BUT he works on his projects 24/7 in front of his garage, which is about 12 feet from my patio. AND he always wants to talk and tell me about his projects, etc. Fine, but I feel like I am living in a fish bowl! I can't just go sit in my yard or work in my garden in peace.
Last year we put up a screen room/tent on our patio, but even that didn't help and I feel as if I am avoiding my back yard and my garden, which I used to love to spend hours a day in.
I do not want to offend my neighbor, but I need to have some peace and anonymity in my own back yard. To make it even more difficult there is very little space to plant anything - the garden bed is only a foot deep, and our house is only 3 feet from the property line, so the pathway goes right along that narrow garden bed. I considered a hedge, but there simply isn't room, and a fence is not in the budget right now. Vines don't seem to grow fast or thick enough. I don't want something that looks cobbled together, either....
I'm attaching a picture; sorry it is not a good one. My house is at the left, the neighbors is at the right, and the garage, that he works in front of, is in the left foreground. You can see we are very close! I can't put anything along the side of his garage - that is his property and he would not like that! At least he has re-sided the buildings since I took this photo in 2011....
Any suggestions?