Bammboo makes a nice screen you can get from 10' to 40' tall,regular privet hedge.Or just a row of pine trees

Bamboo...ohhh! Make sure you read up on that before planting!! Purchasing bamboo is not very cheap either.

If you wanted a "green fence" then maybe Emerald Green Arborvitae would be a good choice. I would suggest planting a 10'+ deep bed with a mix of deciduous and evergreen shrubs/small trees that you like rather than wasting 4' on plants that you don't like.

- Brent

I suggest saving your money and putting up a 6' tall privacy fence. A common problem with using plants is when they're short, they're too short and when they're tall, the bottoms lack foliage. You can maybe try arborvitae in the back and juniper in the front and hope nothing dies 10 years from now. Nothing gives you privacy like a fence does and it gives you more room.

If you have a hedge you have a lot of shade and won't be able to grow much more. I'd agree with the fence, and the plant bushes and an occasional tree that are proportionate.

I agree on the bamboo. my neighbor has it and every year I have to dig up the grass along the 4-5 feet of my yard that is along his fencline
the only good feature of the "damboo" is that I can come into his yard and cut as many garden poles as I wish
His original planting was 3 ft below my yard level and the beastie has terraced itself up over the years. The stuff he has is probably 15-20 ft tall
If any is foolish enough to want some I can probably bring some shoots to the swap
Mary

The thought of growing bamboo and ivy in the ground frightens me, but what about growing bamboo in large barrels? Do they grow well and tall, but stays contained?

There is a clumping bamboo that is not supposed to be as invasive.
Personnally I think it looks out of place in almost any residential setting.

Kathy

A friend of ours has a bamboo hedge its beautiful.Its tall whispy.stays green.Theres all heights 10' -40' you order what you want.I planted a couple different kind.

Professional gardeners go to extremes to keep bamboo in check when doing a landscape design. I've seen them put down a 2' deep steel barrier that was welded where the ends overlap so the roots/rhizomes won't get out. Most kinds are terribly invasive and will make your neighbors hate you if not kept out of their yard. Even if you look for so-called clumping bamboo, be sure of the reputation of the nursery and then do some research yourself before you put it out. Some people will sell you anything just to make money, knowing they probably won't be there or at the least won't care 3 years down the road when you find you've bought a nightmare plant! Personally, I love bamboo and would grow it on the edge of my lot but my husband would kill me!

G'Day!

- i'd agree that, as you have limited space to paly with as it is, a fence is the way to got. After all, it takes only a foot of depth! Also, it starts at what ever height you want - and stays that way.

- You could try a solid lower fence and, if you want it higher, lattice above, where less screening is needed, so it doesn't cut off as much light.

- Some things to hang on a fence:
-trellis lattice for more vines
-birdhouses
- hooks for hanging plants
-a mirror in a faux windowframe, to give the illusion of an opening into more garden beyond
-a mailbox to hold a spare trowel and gloves right out in the garden for those impulse moments

- A fence can be fun!

- For suggestions on what to grow on a fence, search this forum or others for "fence + vine" or just post a new question here. Maybe even ask folk to post / direct to pictures of fencees with plants on 'em?

- About bamboo. i've been reading the bamboo forum a lot over the last year. Running bamboos are easy to cortrole - IF you can mow a 20' swath of close-clipped lawn all around it. Doesn't sound as if you have that much space.

(Y'all who are attending the spring swap, our hostess has a wodnerful wall of well-contained bamboo. Beautiful and responsibly maintained.)

- Clumping bamboos are lovely if you like the look, and spread only very slowly; they are also much easier to kill back if they get too big. But do be sure you get a real clumper.

- Containers for bamboo must be VERY sturdy; they will break through regular barriers. Even sunken steel sheets will give way eventually; i've seen 'em escape from sunken bottomless barrels.

- Happy gardening,
-vlad

This bamboo sounds like exactly what I want. I live on a river with lots of reeds so I think it would fit in. I have a large space I need screening for. From my house you look up the river at a beautiful sanctuary, if you look down you see dump trucks, trash piles, and gravel pits. I want something to screen this and it needs to be able to fight the Japanese knotweed. It also needs to be very tall. Does anyone know of a good strong (possibly invasive) evergreen variety, that is OK in zone 5/6?