container plants for screening

We live in a townhouse. We have a 15 by 20 foot deck off our kitchen which is connected to the neighbors' decks on either side, separated by a 5 foot fence. We'd like to screen our deck for privacy. We would like to plant something tall and not too wide, in 4-5 pots along one fence. (the other neigbor has a trellis with vines for screening).
We have been advised to use either greenspire euonymus or sky pencil holly. I understand that we would have to move the sky pencil holly out of the path of the wind in winter. Thus not having the screen effect in winter.
Any suggestions for evergreen plants that would grow to@ 8 feet in pots and not have to be moved against the house and away from the fence in winter?
What do you think of these 2 choices?
thanks for any advice!

Perhaps a bamboo might do the trick. Because it is in a pot, you wouldn't have to worry that it is invasive. Also, it would provide screening year long.

Another option might be an evergreen vine with a trellis in the pot(s). I immediately think of jasmine, which is evergreen here and probably in MD, too. I know there are others that I just can't think of right now, but I'm sure you could find one or more that suit you. Or maybe both the bamboo and a vine - use the bamboo as a live trellis.

Would you consider something densely twiggy that loses its leaves in winter? If it has a naturally fastigiate habit (genetically predisposed to grow narrow) it might be easier to keep within the dimensions you want. A lot of different ideas for screening in a small space came up when I accessed www.google.com and then in the search bar, typed:

fastigiate + screen

There's probably many more key words you could use for this search.

Some kind of trellis arrangement with a vine (go for it - let's say vineS) in the back, with perhaps a "hedge" of a shrubby, woody plant in front hardy to two zones colder than yours (viburnum species come to mind) might give a multi-layered twiggy density. Many species have fastigiate forms - those northpole apples, Prunus persica, beech, yew ('Bean Pole' - there are others), pine, etc. Perhaps try typing in a species' name + fastigiate into Google and see what happens.

With regard to the trellis in the back, if you enjoy pruning, many plants lend themselves to being espaliered into 2 dimensions - quince comes to mind for late winter flowers and old-world flavor and toughness. Maybe try typing the name of a vine + screen into Google? The trellis business in the back might be helped to survive wind better if sections buttress it every few few perpendicular to the plane of the trellis - the denser the plant material on that trellis, however, the more vulnerable to wind. The bays might make an unusual design feature while adding support.

So, alternative to the trellis, perhaps mix up a bunch of container plants so that you have 2 or 3 staggered rows? Perhaps consider a mix of approximately 1/3 conifer, 1/3 broadleaf evergreen and 1/3 deciduous? You could use unifying ideas in selecting plants like:

-- Eastern woodland (5-leaf creeper (fall), Virginia cedar (winter), laurel (winter/spring) underplanted with ferns and spring beauties, blood root, etc. Service berry? Pinxter flower?

-- Edible garden (grape vine - perhaps integrate an arbor into trellis feature - japanese beetles will be a problem; blueberries; dwarf fruit trees; this is a combination/theme that cries out for some vertical evergreen - there's a shade-tolerant broadleaf evergreen that has a fastigiate form of euonymous which definitely will need winter protection - perhaps a fastigiate yew or ivy trained on some kind of support ornamental in its own right? Who can grow grapes without thinking of an Italianate theme?

-- Variations on themes of flowers would be endless - fragrant, pale moonlight gardens; colorful hummingbird and butterfly gardens - all of these and more include the 3 categories of woody plants + vine mentioned earlier

Well, bamboo and jasmine sound simpler than what I just came up with - have always loved those two genera.

I'm simply awed at how much thought you put into this. I have to remember to ask you for advice in the future.

Thanks to all of you for your many suggestions.
And to Bluespiral-You've made me wish my deck were larger! I will look into all your information.
You have given me so many ideas. I love the trellis idea andreally want to incorporate flowers so my deck is colorful and will attract butterflies.
Thanks again.

Y'all are welcome - the ideas come from unsuccessfully trying to figure out what to do in a challenging situation here.

We have a 12" "ledge above a sharp fall of ground (I estimate the slope here around 75 degrees from vertical and 6' tall) being overcome by monster trees on a neighboring property. The ledge is about 25 linear feet. There's a 42" wooden fence topped with an awful-looking plastic mesh stapled to furring strips to keep out deer (it's worked so far :)).

Narrow, "shade tolerant" evergreens tend to lean out into space away from absentee neighbor's monster trees, with just the top showing life. The fence won't support much weight, because we couldn't get the posts very deep. Pitiful.

We do all our own work in the garden and start everything from seeds and cuttings.

So, yes, I have spent oodles of time scheming - hence the ideas above. I would so welcome any ideas about my horticultural debacle that accommodate the parameters described above.