We would like to put in some kind of privacy hedge, but not too tall - I would think 6-10 feet max. I don't know too much about hedges. I really like anything that flowers or has beautiful color - my husband is partial to evergreens. Whatever it is, it has to be winter hardy, we are in zone 4 in central NY.

boxwood too short?
Alberta spruce?
burning bush too short and too sparce?
rose hedge too short?
a mix of flowering shrubs and perennials too sparce for privacy?

I would love any ideas. Creative is good. I really like flowers and color - but it does need to serve it's purpose of providing a medium height screen. Thanks for your input!!!!

Penny

Alberta spruce do not hold up well in any kind of wind, they get winter burn and must be in a very sheltered spot.

In my opinion, roses don't make a good hedge.

Boxwood would be big enough, but grows slowly. Also suffers from winterburn.

Burning bush would be tall enough and thick enough if pruned properly.

Privet (ligustrum) is boring, but reliable, fast growing, and makes a great hedge.

Yew (taxus) makes a nice hedge and is evergreen. Takes a while to get started, but will fill in nicely.

Holly can make a nice hedge, but leaves are spiny.

Lilacs planted closely make a quick growing pretty screen. Just don't try to prune them like a hedge. It would be rather wide. Low maintenance as won't need pruning.

Good luck!

Penny

Our neighbors cut down the pine trees between us last year. I could have cried! We have a magnificent view of each other's lives now, and since we're on the downhill side, there's NOTHING we can plant to totally block the view without having it take up half the yard at it's mature size.

But, sometimes a little distraction is worth a large hedge - it depends on how MUCH privacy you want. We planted a good-sized dogwood tree a little way out from our picture window; when you look out, it draws the eye down and into the yard instead of up to the neighbor's deck and kitchen.
A mixed/tapestry hedge might be more of a visual draw for you than a single-species hedge. On the other hand, a monochromatic hedge is a great foil for lower planting in front of it. In my part of central NY (zone 5/borderline 4) I've seen hedges from arborvitae (a.k.a. "deer candy), lilacs (very effective, but also quite wide unless you look for a more upright-growing cultivar - there are some), privet (a maintenance nightmare - pruning, pruning, pruning to keep any decent shape), burning bush (nice and thick, only needs pruning if you really want to keep it to a certain width - even the "dwarf" euonymus alatus 'Compactus' ones want to be 6 feet tall), yew (more deer candy), and rose of sharon (the double-flowered ones are a pain when it rains - they bend over and the bush gets deformed by the weight of the wet flowers, so the single ones are MUCH better).

There's my two cents - good luck regaining your privacy!!

Laurelin

You have a lot of really good ideas. I did consider that if we did go with the evergreens, I could still plant other flowers or flowering shrubs in front of them, making the best of all seasons! My husband is really pushing for the evergreens - so I guess this is probably the best solution.

Is anyone familiar with the success or failure of planting clematis or climbing roses to climb and evergreen hedge?

Am I nuts to even suggest such a thing???