Small fast growing evergreen

because the front of my house is so close to the street,I want to plant a small evergreen hedge to create some seperation from the street. The front wall closest to street is wall to wall windows but I'm not looking to block the veiw so a small evergreen shrub 3ft tall(easy to propagat is a plus)would be idea. Also needs to be small because the yard narrows toward the front driveway and I need to keep a pathway.

Not the best picture I could find but gives you some idea as to how close it is to the street.

P

Ok you didn't ask for this advice but I wouldn't touch a thing!

(I have several low yew that are evergreen and slow growing - but I think too coarse and heavy for your landscape) What about miniature crepe myrtle -- are those evergreen?

bigred: You may want to consider mugo pines. Make sure you get a dwarf variety - they come in all sizes, and then cut the candles in half each year to keep them short and compact.

Boxwoods make a wonderful hedge.

I'm trying to keep the multitude of dogs that follow the multitudes of kids down the road from coming into my yard to use it for a toilet and I'm hoping a low hedge will stop some of that.Hub's doesn't want a fence.

I had some yews in the yard once upon a time until we had bad ice storm in 2000 and huge limbs feel out of the pine trees and crushed them. I liked those.

I haven't had much luck with the mugos. We get a lot of winter burn on boxwoods and they smell like cat pee. I've tried and I like compacta hollies as replacement for boxwood but they don't grow fast enough and get dead spots if dogs"water" them.

I know your DH doesn't want a fence, but that may be your best solution. It'll keep the kids & dogs out, it'll be narrow so you can have your path, and it won't be damaged by weather, dog pee, etc.

Maybe you can show him a different kind of fence.... some uprights about 5 feet apart no more than a two - three feet high.... with just two rows of steel cable strung between. You can paint the upright a funky color, or stain a color....or leave natural. On the front face of each post, attach something or a grouping of small somethings (ornamental) -- glass, mosaic... iron....or an organic shape - maybe pottery .. . something that pleases him (and of course you) and keep the same on each post.

He may be thinking of wooden picket or chain link or solid wall --- men sometimes like the architectural -'ness' (smile) and strength of the steel. I like it because it 'disappears' and the uprights can be decorative and provide interest and need no trimming, fertilizing, praying over.... etc.

it's not the fence ,he doesn't care for really...it's having to open and close a gate to get to the backyard where his big equipment,trailers and boats are.

ah. Thats why my husband doesn't want a fence. I want it for the deer so it would have be be completely enclosed, and he drives the car back there to pull a trailer as he cleans up fallen limbs etc.... he doesn't want to have to navigate through a gate nor manage one that would be large enough for a SUV.

But even if you planted shrubs...you would still need the opening for your husband and the kids and critters can go through an opening no matter what is on either side. Fencing or plantings - both would have to be positioned along the same space/lines. .

What about abelia or quince? Not evergreen but stiff enough that no kid or dog would go through. It's the evergreen part that is hard to find because your garden is so airy and carefree appearing in the photo.. all the evergreens to me are dominant and sometimes can appear coarse.

There is a dwarf honeysuckle
and Indian Hawthorne is evergreen I think (the deer got to mine and I don't remember if evergreen but I think so and quite beautiful.)

The driveways would be open.I want to keep it open looking but with a feel of enclosure....gonna be a tough one,finding what I'm looking for.

I'm seeing a open fence of some kind also, your yard is so narrow at the front, any plant you would put out there would be too wide. Maybe black scrollwork? We'd love to see your decision.

I guess I'm going to have to make nursery run to see what I can find. It's going to be tricky with it narrowing down toward the front drive way like that. Chinese holly would work but thye have some wicked spines on the leaves that wouldn't be kind to anyone mowing close with shorts on....heck even with jeans on. I have some in the yard already. Slow growers,fairly neat habit with little pruning required but "Ovey" when you do "Owee"

Could you do a fence and then grow vines over it? That way it'll look more like plants than a fence would all on its own, but you'd keep it really narrow. And just leave a gap in the fence wherever your DH needs to get his stuff into the back.

hub's fast stead and firmly refusing to put up a fence...I'll wear him down sooner or later...LOL