Leyland cypress are rather short-lived and get very tall.

Have you considered Emerald Green Arborvitae? They look somewhat similar, get 12 - 14 feet tall, and a row planted 3 feet apart (trunk to trunk) will eventually fill in to make a nice barrier.

Evergreens will give you a winter barrier, too.

Richard.

Why oh why do developers do that? Why oh why do people want such large houses on small lots? Oh well. That said (yes, I do feel better now), not sure the arborvitae will be tall enough to block such tall houses. I put in a variety of evergreens for a screen (Leyland cypress and white pines) before I really knew what I was doing. I just pulled out almost all of them and put in dogwoods behind the patio instead since we need coverage for three seasons only. Once they grow, they will provide pretty good blockage for the three seasons. I would also suggest American hollies if they will grow there. They will get nice and tall, but may take a while. We also planted several betula nigra 'Heritage' (river birch) that provide surprisingly great coverage between us and the neighbors. Not year-round, but again, we want it mostly spring-fall. Good luck. Can't wait to hear/see what you decide to do.

Cynthia

Oh what a tangle of invasives you have - mimosa, chinese privet, japanese honeysuckle - all imported bad boys. Do try to get rid of those while you are at it.

Fast growing trees for this area - tulip poplar, red maple (try 'October Glory') and pin oak.

Fall is the best time to plant trees, by the way, so good timing on your question.

I would do Southern magnolias in the back and something colorful in the front. (stagger and mix species or do groupings.) You don't have enough shade for American Holly and they will grow very slowly. Leyland cypress actually does better here than green giants in my observations but you can have fast privacy, even though they are slower growing, if you get southern magnolias because they form a canopy rather than have a pyramid shape. Those pyramidal evergreens also take up a large footprint and will leave you with no yard.
If that is your land on the other side of the fence you will want to take down the mimosa before a storm does it for you and if you don't take out the privet, the bushes to the right of the mimosa, they may hinder the success of your planting by shade and root competition.

I can't tell how much room you have there by looking at the photo but Southern magnolias spaced about 12 feet apart, even though they are a bit on the messy side, will give you a very nice screen. The flowers and fragrance are nice too. You might also find wax myrtles (not crepe myrtle) for places there is not a lot of room.

It even looks like you could get rid of that grass of there too and once you get a little shade you could put in some oak loaf hydrangeas and azaleas.

The arborvitaes are your best bet. You can get them 5 feet high this time of year, and with plenty of water and fertilizer they can easily put on 18 inches a year. Maybe more. They'll make a nice solid green hedge, and you can always plant other things in front. I've got arborvitae here and it provides good privacy.

Another option would be to plant a tall bamboo. But make sure you have it in a bamboo-proof container, or it will run wild. I had bamboo at my first house, and it filled in a 50x1 foot area within a year.

Rain2Fall

Although I agree that the magnolia is a nice idea, American hollies (ilex opaca) actually do poorly in shade and prefer full to partial sun. There are hollies such as 'Nellie Stevens' that do well in shade. Maybe a mix of evergreens with the deciduous trees esh suggested (I am partial to oaks!).

phooey,that link didn't work for me. We had three tall large houses built right next to us a few yrs ago but fortunately we had already been planting trees to block the view to that next door property.My first advice is that you decide from what viewing places you need the screen to be effective. From a raised window in your house?and/or from your backyard? What you need the screen to cover will dictate what kind of screen to plant. For instance, we needed to block the view of these large houses(raised up, no less, and pretty close by)from both indoor windows and the ground level of our back yard and driveway.We already had a 6' stockade fence but that was not high enough to do any house screening.We planted a series of mid sized trees that had canopies that blocked from where the 6'H fence stopped, up another 15'+.(We didn't want v.tall trees that would throw too much shade on our property.) Acer negundo Winter Lightning is a great one for us. Acer negundos are WICKED fast growers, and this cultivar has bright yellow foliage and lightning yellow winter stems.We used kwanzan cherries, ppl leaf plum, and j. maples as well, w/ a few conifers interspersed, but none of those are 'fast growers'.

I'm thinking a solid tall fast growing hedge on your side of the fence, and the medium size, good canopy trees on the far side of the fence- that would block the view above the hedge . Salix are very fast growers as well, and many of them would love the wet gully.
best,
mindy
The Cotton-Arbo retum