If I were you, I would buy bamboo and try that.
Just ask on Bamboo forum for some suggestions.
There really isn't an evergreen to grow under trees that will keep it's leaves all winter with absolutely no sun.
The bamboo is, and you can get any height that your heart desires.
The upkeep on bamboo isn't all that bad at all.
Do some research on this beautiful evergreen screen and see how others use it, you will be pleasantly surprised.

You could try euonymous. Some varieties will grow in pretty heavy shade and some grow without the creeping roots. It can be invasive so you you should investigate that before buying.

cheers

If you don't want to try some rhodendrons (although they often take a long time to get to the size that you desire if not already mature , ie., decades), since in your colder zone, shade-tolerant evergreen shrubs are often harder to maintain and/or may not be reliabl hardy, you may want to just try yews (Taxus spp.). They can get fairly tall after awhile but can be pruned to size for a natural look or can be sheared to shape. Some of the other shade-tolerants like aucuba and cherry laurels may experience winter damage enough to make them a nuisance to look at. They are also slower growing but can reach to 6ft or more after awhile.

Thanks for all the suggestions! I spent some time researching them and going to nurseries this weekend. There seems to be a lot of conflicting info out there. When we were at one nursery we spoke to someone who seemed to be very knowledgeable and thought we'd settled on a Hicks Yew. We were told it was very fast growing and would create a great screen for us. When we got home and started looking it up we found sites that said it is a slow grower and others that said it was faster. How do we know?!

I also looked up bamboo - what I read said it could be pretty invasive. Would it hurt our maples?

Although I like the look of euonymous, the varieties I saw seem to be fairly short.

Any thoughts on blue princess holly?

As you might be able to tell, I am far from a green thumb!

My favorite local reference on such things (Weston Nurseries Horticultural Reference Book), says Hicks is fast growing "one of the best for hedges in this region". They list it as 12 ft in 10 years. 20 ft mature. Capitata, another popular upright Taxus is a slow growing pyramidal. "10' in 10 years. 35 feet mature." Also listed as good for hedging.

I got blue princess hollies for a similar situation, but I think they might be too slow-growing for your needs. Not sure how tall they get overall. Also, I don't know how they would compete with mature maple tree roots. Isn't that supposed to be a tough growing area? I *only* have mature pine roots to contend with. I've heard maples are worse.

We know yew's will grow anywhere!

You could try to mix it up with a little of each and maybe try a thuja too, going for a more diverse look. That's some extra insurance in case one dies. Doesn't ruin the hedge.

How about a 6ft wooden fence with 2ft lattice topper. Will do well in the dry shade of maples, year round privacy, no maintenance and will keep stray basketballs and children out of the yard.

With boards on the diagnoal and with the topper it should be attractive but you could also grow vines like virginia creeper, clematis or pipevine on it.

Wild rhododendrons Rhododendron maximum and mountain laurel Kalmia latifolia are fairly large native evergreen understory shadeloving shrubs. They like acid soil though, but as long as you're not in a limestone region, you should be alright. I've had nandina and it is marginal and not evergreen this far north. Arborvitae or hemlock might work. They probably would not catch up to the maples, and both withstand pruning.

Ziggy

I have two amazing concrete pots by my front door and I cannot find any evergreen shrubs to go in them. I get mostly shade, but the sun peaks through every now and then to provide sunlight. I use to have spiral topiaries in them surrounded by creeping jenny, but since they need sun they did not do so well. The tips of the topiaries turned orange and crispy. I want something to really accent my front doors since it is the entrance to my house. I was thinking of the fox tail fern (in last resort), but it dies out in the winter. I love exotic plants. Does anyone have any suggestions? I feel like I am going crazy!

Your problem is going to be the maple trees. Very shallow and profuse root system. Just about impossible to get a hand trowl in the earth beneath them. Here's the advise given to me...

Here is a link that might be useful: dry shade

I have the same problem you had (have). I would love to know what you eventually did and did it work. I have mainly shade/woods in the back yard
i would love more privacy. i planted norway spruce 8 footers and they died, (expensive) , i just planted 5 native rhododendrons 5 foot form Oregon but they dont even begin to give us privacy. I think i'm gonna try holly, hemlock maybe yews. this is getting expensive and ideas? thanks for your help. i'm in northern new jersey zones 6-7

We had a similar situation in our backyard. We planted arborvitae, which did very well along our side fence, in pretty dense shade. However, in the past few years they have been decimated by deer. If you don't have a deer population passing through, arborvitae should work well. We used Canadian Hemlocks along our back property Line, which also has a significant amount of shade and competes with other trees. They grew quickly, but after their third year, they were attacked by wooly adelgid (an aphid-like disease), and in spite of our efforts to save them, they are looking pretty bad, and I need replacing. I'm told that Hemlocks are not susceptible to disease, but my experience was not good.

We planted a Hick's Yew to block a gap in a fence-- It's in dense shade and was slow to start, but is now growing quickly and filling in nicely. Also makes a nice background for prettier plants like the rhododendrons (whichi will probably be quite leggy in the shade).

Ficus tolerate shade and if you trim them like a hedge the roots shouldn't be a problem. However up state NY might get too cold. Maybe a hardier varieties.

Go with a fence. Maple roots are the worst to try to plant among. Shade will be a problem and won't allow much of anything to grow densely. Ideally, if it were my yard, I'd remove the maples entirely and then plant something evergreen that would be lower and would truly give me a year-round screen. Something like American holly.

I've just seen it a hundred times. People plant something that grows fast and the trees grow up and drop lower limbs, leaving you with no screen, deep shade, and hungry roots.

Dave, you have described the hideous Yews in my backyard to a T. Planted eons ago, they have grown up scraggly with no lower limbs i.e. no lower screen, and hungry difficult roots!

The area beneath them is a nightmare to plant in, the roots are everywhere, in the shade and they suck up a lot of the water.

I know this is an old thread, but I have had luck with Japanese Aucuba cuttings. It does take patience though. After a few years, my 6" Aucuba cuttings are about three feet tall and very happy. With those heavy roots systems, I've had luck starting small.

I'm in a somewhat similar position as the OP where I want to have a privacy hedge no more than 10-15ft that doesn't drop its leaves in the winter. I do have one maple tree but it will be a good 5-6ft away from the area where I want the hedge, the rest of the area is just forsynthias. The area gets decent amount of sun (from my neighbour's side which is the backyard of a moving company - they have a big wide yard). In the winter the area will get a bit of sunlight from my side as all the leaves will drop. So I would say partial shade (definitely not deep shade). I'm thinking cedar. Any suggestions?