Forgot to mention, budget is around $500, though it is slightly flexible if needed.

Scratch the Green Giant and the Leyland Cypress--those will be 100'+ tall some day---unless you want that! What about 'Little Gem' Magnolia grandiflora? Stays small, blooms often, smells great, evergreen.

Believe it or not $5oo goes fast when landscaping, you would probably be better off planting a screen of fast growing plants that are tall, and only a few expensive shrubs.

A few ideas are NON spreading bamboo (very important it does not spread or you will soon live in a bamboo forest) and Tall ornamental grasses. I think in your zone you can grow pampas grass which is wonderful, tall and flashy. Great for a screen.

Another trick you could use to keep costs down is divide your plants after you buy them. They fill out quickly after this. If you dont know what I mean imagine taking an ornamental grass out of the pot and cutting the root ball into 2 halves. Now you have 2 of the same plant and it doesn't hurt it. Just make sure the plant can be divided before you do it. (just google it to find out)
hope that helps!!

- Wax myrtle suckers awful. You'll be constantly clipping those suckers back. But it will grow as a thicket if that's what you want.

At the old house I finally just cut them all down and treated the stumps with round up to make sure they were really gone.
Their root system will prevent you from growing much of anything near them, if that might be important to you down the line and you want to put in some flower beds around them.

Kevin, I have family locally that have huge lines of the leylands which are awesome and absolutely gigantic. Difference is they have bigger yards. If I planted a bunch I wouldn't have much yard left :)

I was thinking it might be nice to have only 1 or 2 leylands/thuja giants, maybe in the corners to be a sort of visual "anchor"??. I also should note that since this is a starter home we plan to be here about 5-7 years...so in other words I don't want to wait 7-10 years for privacy.

The fastest way to get privacy is to build a fence. Then you can plant what looks good to you wherever you want it and not worry if the dog kennels are in view. Of course, I don't know if your house has fence restrictions.

Except that wood fencing all around will cost considerably more than $500. I'd also agree that those bigger evergreens would ultimately overwhelm the yard with deep shade. You might also consider fast growing plants such as sunflowers or castor bean for quick temporary privacy. I also think solid fencing would give the most privacy, but doesn't do much to block views from second story neighbor's windows. There are probably more potential deciduous fast growing trees that don't get too big good for your purposes, and they would give you shade and cover in the seasons most likely for you to be outdoors. I'd suggest contacting your local AG extension office or see what they or other local agencies might recommend for trees/shrubs on your area.

Prague Viburnum (Viburnum x pragense) is a nice shrub, fast growing and evergreen. If you want fast screen, it is better to check what is available in local nurseries, because you'll get small plants by mail, or will have to pay a lot for shipping.

Yardvaark, that drawing is almost exactly what I was thinking. I like the look of mulch, especially if I could edge the grass neatly and give it a non-square look.

Any suggestions for the actual trees/shrubs? Does anything from my list above work?

As for the privacy fence...I had considered that, but for one thing I can't afford that now. Would rather have a natural look anyways. Also don't want the maintenance - there are other privacy fences in the neighborhood that look terrible because they weren't maintained.

I was also thinking along the lines of yardvaark's high and low screening - and you might be able to get that underway with your budget. But I'm not familiar with trees and shrubs in your area. Believe I had a wax ligustrum in Maryland - seems I was forever cutting that back, would get some kind of tiny white fly infestation on the underside of the leaves that would billow out in clouds when disturbed, and at times some of the leaves would turn bright yellow with big brown spots.

I will take issue with Bishop's Weed, Gout Weed, Aegepodium Podegraria... it'll eat your yard in very short order and continue its quest to invade any abutting neighbor's yard. I've been battling it since it ventured into my yard from a neighbor.

DIB4, your point about Bishop's weed is well taken. I would never use it in a yard where I had other beds to contend with. But if it's the ONLY bed and it's adjacent to lawn, then cutting the grass controls it on that side. Nevertheless, it serves as one super cheap, very pretty groundcover. How much the neighbors like it is another matter. In my home town, many people seemed to welcome it as "free groundcover." On the other hand, if one is really "into" their yard, and had their own plantings thought out, they wouldn't appreciate the uninvited visitor. It depends on a person's needs.

esd, I think a good tree for the scheme would be river birch, multi-trunk. It's shade is not so heavy. It's fast growing (especially if given additional water) and the peeling bark is attractive. It's usually readily available. I would even consider a tightly spaced double, staggered row...like 5 trees across the back to give the yard the "grove" look. For a hedge, I'd consider Weigela, several of the viburnums, Elaeagnus, Lorapetalum or even red twig dogwood. If the hedge grew too large and needed to get whacked, this would increase its twigginess.

Wow thanks for the input. I really like the look of the river birch. Also, I looked up lorapetalum and that would be great - do the high/low screening and throw in some red color, and it might start looking really good.

Any thoughts on crape myrtles? I'm taking all these suggestions in and making a list...then I'm planning on taking that list to the local nursery and seeing what they have.

I wouldn't select crapes as a hedge for use below other trees. They would not bloom best with some shade. But crapes somewhere out in full sun are great.

A more complex pattern would be better looking than a row of a single plant.