I am trying to grow a "green fence" between my house and the neighbor's. I have heard that hemlocks will grow in semi-shade. Are there any other evergreens I can grow in zone 5 that will give us some privacy. The hemlocks here cost over 300 dollars if you bought one large enough to start to add privacy.
Actually, this question comes up quite a bit on the Trees and Shrubs forums. You should do a search on both of those forums to see what is recommended.
Most anything that is big enough to give privacy right away will be pricey. Better to get something smaller than you need for privacy now - it is cheaper and it has an easier time getting established at a younger age. Once a tree/shrub is established, it will grow faster and make up for lost time.
