How big is the yard? If it's big, you have many options. If you want narrow hedges, the choices are pretty limited. Would you like a sheared hedge or a natural looking screen that you would not have to trim? If you like the sheared look, you have more choices (but much more work!).

There was a thread recently where we chatted about podocarpus hedges (the Hedgezilla thread). You may want to do a search for that.

I think podocarpus is beautiful, but I can't keep up with the shearing, and I wouldn't want to shear a 20 foot tall hedge.

Renee

Here is a link that might be useful: FAQ on hedges

Some other factors to consider when thinking about hedges would include how much or little water you want to provide, whether it also has to be deer resistant, whether you are dealing with full sun or shade, and are you high enough up in Kensington that you need to worry about freeze tolerance? It can be significantly colder at the highest parts of Kensington that it isn't quite a Sunset zone 16 in a bad winter, with lows down to 20F a real possibility.

I work on lots of gardens in the Berkeley/Oakland/Kensington hills areas, and it may be most useful to see what is working well in your neighborhood, and what appeals to you. You may also need to factor in that neighbors may get riled up if you block their distant views, just as you would if someone blocked your views. It may pay to take a more measured approach to creating privacy without planting a future monster.

Personally I find many reasons to consider using clumping bamboos for hedging purposes; with the main reason being they don't need pruning to control size if you select the appropriate species for the height desired, they tend to stay narrow yet can grow tall, and pruning is easier when it simply involved removing old culms rather than ladders and pole saws. On the other hand, most bamboo species prefer a good amount of summer irrigation and are constantly shedding leaves and culm sheaths.

The Sunset Western Garden Book Encyclopedia has a good section on screening shrubs, listing the various pros and cons. I would also seriously consider that the fastest growing hedges also tend to be the ones that require the most pruning to control size.

Thank you for your responses.

The back yard is about 30' x 50' x 30' - facing West.
I don't have to worry about blocking anyone's view.. since I am on a level street - and my backyard - which slightly slopes down - faces the view. I just want to block out the houses below me (while still allowing a view through and over tree tops beyond) and it seems 15-20 feet of something will do the trick.
I have a mature flowering Cherry in one corner and a mature Oak somewhat in the middle...
I was thinking of Bamboo on the North side of the back yard.... but it seems all the bamboos don't leaf out at the bottom.. instead, you see the culms/canes? and you can see through them. Someone suggested Alphonse Carr for that north border - but I'm not crazy about yellow - prefer blues and greens.

The front area for the privacy hedge between me and my neighbor is about 20 feet - on the East side of the house.
I love the look of Arrow Bamboo (I think that's the one that creates a super dense leafy hedge from top to bottom) but I'm not sure I want to invest in all that digging for the rhizome barrier. I have a mature hedge that is on the street of English laurel - which looks pretty darn healthy - but I'd like to plant things that have a bit softer look to them.

thanks for your ideas.

I really like the Phyllostachys 'Alphonse Karr' for hedges myself, and the relatively bare trunks at the base are to my mind one of the attractive features of the species, contrasting the yellow striped trunks against the green foliage. Of course, you can always add another layer of shrubs at the base if you want to screen out the fence beyond.

Pseudosasa japonica is another bamboo that does make a good lower screen, but will definitely need the rhizome barrier, and in my own garden with little to no summer water, the foliage gets a bit raggedy by this time of year.

My favorite bamboo in the looks department would have to be Mexican Weeping Bamboo, but this one does arch out and needs a fair amount of space.

Another nice blue stemmed bamboo to consider might be Himalayacalamus hookerianus 'Teague's Blue', which tends to top out at 15 to 18 feet tall.

I am thinking of adding bamboo once I have my
"solid from the ground up dense thick hedge" - since I too enjoy looking at the bare trunks. I had Oldhami at my previous house... and trimmed off the leaves/branches at the base cause the trucks/culms? were so gorgeous. But I really want to first create a backdrop that is dense/solid - again, 15-20ft high. I'm thinking of planting at least 3 feet from the fence... prepared to give the hedge 5-6 ft depth. Again, I was thinking of Prunus Caroliniana - but don't know how high that will get as a hedge. I would prefer Pittosporum Tenuifolium due to the more delicate leaf - but it is not dense enough. As far as Alphonse Carr - I heard there is a green stemmed variety (? silverstripe?) and since I prefer the blue/green colors - thought that might work on the north side of the yard.
any suggestions for plants in this area?

As for the front - any suggestions for something that grows 8-15 ft high? that also is dense/solid at the base and can grow 4 ft in depth - needs to grow straight up since it's on my neighbors border.

I have a picture of the fence/backyard.. but don't know how to add photos to my post. Can someone help me out with that? thanks.

8-15' tall and 4' wide, with no pruning? Italian cypress.

Hi,
I don't mind 1x or 2x year pruning. also, isn't Italian Cypress slow growing?

Not really slow. I would call them moderate growing, 2-3' a year.

Make sure whatever you plant is deer proof.

A neighbor has Dodonaea viscosa which is sheared once a year to ~20 inch width. The hedge is composed of both green leafed and red leafed, randomly. Very little water once established. Tops out at 15' I believe.

Not sure why this isn't more widely used. Very handsome evergreen.

You might consider using flowering shrubs such as Grewia occidentalis or Tecomaria capensis or Tecoma x smithii as sheared shrubs to about 8 feet tall by 4 foot wide. Several of the selections of Pittosporum tenuifolium such as Marjorie Channon or Silver Sheen also make a good lower hedge. Arbutus unedo is also good, but the deer do like this one if they can get to it.

Another clumping bamboo with blue stems to 18 feet or so might include Himalayacalamus hookerianus 'Teague's Blue', which does keep foliage down to the base. Several of the Chusquea or Fargesia bamboos might also be a consideration.

In my opinion the Dodonaea viscosa can be good, but is not always that long lived, and needs a lot more pruning than just twice a year to keep it dense and tight, because it is really fast growing.