If there's a photo, it's not showing up for me, and I'd like to see it.

Annie

Ooops just when ya think you get the hang of it.{{gwi:19617}}...please note, from the yellow line to the french drain is sloped.

I'm confused ... You want something that grows fast fast fast to block the view to and from your neighbor, but your three suggestions are for deciduous trees and bushes that will be nekkid for half of the year in Nova Scotia. Is it safe to say that you only want to block that view from late spring to early fall?

Martin Frobisher rose only grows to a height of 5-6 feet. Is that enough of a screen for you? Are you only looking for a screen that is effective when you are standing at ground level outside?

As a general rule, things that grow fast fast fast have soft wood, and that sometimes subjects them to damage from strong winds or heavy snow.

I want something to block the neighbors house from view.

Been there ... done that.

My first plantings in my backyard ... were specifically to block such a view.

Clumps of River Birch would work ... and/or Eastern White Pine.

Both are fast-growing.

My River Birches have been in the ground for 5 years now ... and have grown from 4 foot tall ... to 20 foot tall.

I'd combine the two ... perhaps with the birches in the foreground

The pines will give year-round coverage and a nice background for the birches.

The River Birches (particularly the Heritage or DuraHeat varieties) are quite attractive during the winter months, as well, ... with peeling bark which is white underneath.

And ... while you're at it ... throw in a few lilacs in front of the Birches.

The Lilacs won't grow as fast, ... but will help to finish your planting.

About how much height is lost between the playset and the property line? Are you trying to screen the neighbor's house from just the backyard, or from the upper story of your house also?

There really isn't a lot of room there for a tree that is going to reach an appreciable height. If the idea is summer screening of the backyard, an 8 to 10 ft shrub might be enough to do the job.

Blocking the view in the summer only would be fine...I generally only use the back yard/deck in the summer...If they wish to watch my son sled in Jan...well have go!...I love evergreens but by the time they would be tall enough to block the view I would be to old to give a hoot anyway.
..I will have to go goggle the pines :)

White pines grow fast. My neighbor planted one twenty years ago and it is huge. They would block the view in five years, especially if you got big ones to start. Great tree! All evergreen trees grow fast, relatively. Again, $tart with big one$.

When we lived in Illinois, we had a few viburnum that liked it damp and grew pretty fast - I'm thinking it was cranberry viburnum. Northern Illinois is also zone 5. Ours were used for screening along a wire fence, and they had some nice fall color.

Annie, thinking back

Perhaps I will do a mixture of slow growing and fast growing trees and shrubs...viburnums have pretty flowers and a lil' flowers never hurt anyone...unless they are allergic to bees...

I'll continue mad's line of thought and ask, how high up are you on the deck? So what height, actually, measuring up from ground level way out at the property line, would actually block you/your neighbors? A much taller "screen" is needed way out at the property line to make the deck feel screened than to make you feel enclosed/screened when you are down by the slide.
You might fool around more with your photo shots and also measure heights & angles from the different perspectives. You need these measurements to see what it will take to accomplish various effects. For example, could you use one fast-growing (ooh, don't get the tree people started) shade-type tree at the property corner, so a broad, high-up canopy kind of blocks the view? If you have a large step-up to the deck then in a planting far away you will be dependent on the "mass" of the planting that is up high, as in either the leaf canopy of decidous trees or multiple tall evergreens, so that determines what it takes to reach your height goal--size of specimen and rates of growth. However, an arrangement nearby or around such a tree or trees could be smaller shrubs that, even at only 5 or 6 ' of height, especially in multiples, provide good screening at ground level. You can even use some annuals (sunflowers? wire frame with vines?) for rapid lower screening.

Alternatively or in addition, is there room on your deck or deck rail to build a lattice or trellis or other structure to give deck-dwellers a sense of protection?

Some combination of these may be effective.

The main thing is to try to calculate the angle of view and perspective plus the actual linear area along the ground when deciding what to plant or build where for screening. Then you could decide better on what kind, how many, how far apart of plant material and/or man-made screen would fit you goals and budget.

Stand where you plan to spend your time out back in the summer, and have a helper with a long stick stand where the plantings will go. Have him/her hold the stick straight up so you can see how much screening you will achieve at different heights.

That is a most excellent Idea! and If I know how tall my helper is and how tall the stick....A-HA! ...and yes I am planning on making a 2x8 horozontal trellis to go at the end portion of the top rail of the deck so that the 'deckies' will have some privacy ;) I think I am more worried about ground level...you just have the feeling of being in a fish bowl...