Need privacy planting ideas

Help! My neighbor is only a few feet away and my deck sits about 3 feet off the ground. I am looking for a planting that is low maintenance and able to block my view of his drive and inside of his garage (where he spends most of his time). His drive is only about 2 feet from the planting bed, so I can't have anything that is very dirty (dropping berries) or bushy (he pulls his truck right to the edge of the driveway. The location is full sun and I am zone 5b. Don't know what I am doing, but I understand this is the time to plant. Thanks for helping.

I'd put up trellis work and start planting climbers. Some clematis maybe, in the spring plant LOTS of Morning Glory, they are FAST growers but annuals. They would help fill in the space while your clematis and other grew in.

I agree on the trellis with vines, I think that's your best, easiest, and lowest maintenance choice. There probably are tall skinny shrubs you could choose, but I think the selections will be rather limited and they'll grow slower and require more maintenance to keep them the width you want. The trellis will provide some privacy all by itself, then whatever vines you grow on it will help even further.

Hi
You say that the planting bed is two feet from the drive - but how wide overall is the bed How long? If you put up a trellis or lattice from the ground up - right along the edge of your deck to give quick privacy, if your planting space is large enough between the properties you still may want to plant some shrubs or trees there too - just to give the visual divider plus provide more privacy.

Yeah, I was going to ask about the planting bed's width also. If you have at least four feet, I would recommend Summerwine ninebark, it's a smaller version of Diablo, and it's a very tough plant. I have it on the side of my own driveway. It grows into a 5 foot tall arching (like a fountain) shrub, with coarse purple foliage, balls of flowers in spring and red seeds in winter.

Oh that sound so nice PrairieG - do you have a photo?

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/65483/

I found it in Plantfiles. :-))

It would make a dense screen, but a deciduous one. Maybe it's too cold to sit outside, or work in the garage, in winter anyway? This is the second year I've had mine, & it's very vigorous in drought and alkaline, clay soil. Mine is not mature, but I've seen them at the McDonalds in Hammond, Indiana. They're stunning, very showy yet understated in bloom. BUT they would block the view of the driveway, & you need to make sure it's not planted too close to the road, so it blocks the view of oncoming traffic.

Thank You Prairie G - It is very beautiful. It sounds like most varities can be grown and under most conditions. Plus, it can be so hard pruned that it is possible to get Diablo (if the dark maroon leaves are desired) and keep it small. I read all the reviews on 'GardenWeb' site and everyone loves this shrub and best of all (for me) it is poisonous - every bit of it! No deer, no voles, rabbits,etc. I know I must sound like a witch but between the creatures of the forest, my garden looks trashed a good bit of the time!

Summer Wine is also smaller than Diablo.

Yes I read that. But the leaves are lighter too - at least the description that I read said that Diablo had the darkest maroon and Summerwine's leaves were lighter. Summerwine was smaller and more desireable for me, but with the taupe/grey of my foundation, I think the darker would suit. There was even one with chartruese leaf that a good many folks said 'glowed' in certain light. I think that one was even smaller in size and the leaves were smaller. It sounds like a great shrub - thanks for suggesting it (and to Jilly for asking!)