Ugly back yard with no privacy

Hi, I have a back yard with no privacy. It is separated by my neighbor 's split rail fence that also has green chicken wire. Also there is a row of my neighbor's aborvite. I don not like arborvite. We have had a lot of trees cut down so there are probably lots of roots till in the ground. The people that lived here before started a row of white pine which are beautiful but now are probably 30 feet tall. The yard gets lots of sun. I am in zone 6. Any suggestions for a fast growing privacy screen? Thanks so much! Kathleen

For quick cover for this summer you might try vines like clematis or sweet peas. For more permanent cover. I love forsythia bushes. They cover well. grow tall enough and have beautiful yellow flowers in the spring when you really want some color. After a few years you'll have to keep them from spreading which has'nt been a problem for me. I have one trunk only where i want it.

I have the same problem, I'm going to try mixed shrubs...lilacs, forsythia, viburnum, pyracantha....these all grow tall enough for privacy.

I have seen where people make a screen with lattice and some posts. You could have a fast grower like honeysuckle or something like that filter your neighbors out quickly.

Even though you don't like the arborvites they grow about a ft a year if they are fertilized every fall so they will provide privacy. Honey suckle would grow all over the fence and would look very pretty in the summer time and attract hummingbirds. You could do a row of forsythia or a row of lilacs. You could do a mixed variety some forsythia and some lilacs staggered as a back row (but you would have to groom them so they don't take over) and then maybe some inkberry bushes (the birds love them), dwarf holly bushes and/or dwarf spruce tress in front of forsythia and lilac bushes that way there is always some foliage throughout the seasons. Good Luck happy gardening

This message was edited Mar 19, 2009 2:38 PM

I planted hardy poplars, they grew about 10' in 2 years now I'm waiting for them to fill in some. I'm going to plant red bark willow or red twig dogwood in front of them for some winter color.


For my side privacy fence planning on doing the mixed shrub row...love the shrubs with fragrance.

Ligustrum (privet) is a fast grower, and pretty indestructable. Deer don't like it either.

Layering will also help to increase your privacy - for example, large shrubs, then smaller shrubs or ornamental grasses. A mixed shrub border will be an advantage if anything needs to be replaced down the road, since the replacement wont stand out as much as it would in a same shrub border.

I'm working on a privacy screen that will also serve as a windbreak for heavy snow that is a mixture of evergreen trees. My plan is to have fluffy, sculptured, and tight trees of lime green to dark blue green all mixed. So I have arborvitae, mixed with pines and spruce that - because this is a new project - range from 12 inches to 7 feet. They are in a jagged, hopefully natural looking row so I don't have to see neighbors or the highway. Now I'm excited because I found this grower that has really fun dwarf and miniature trees and best of all they are northern climate hardened www.songsparrow.com

Thanks so much for all your great ideas! I really appreciate it. I will keep you posted on my progress!