Some good screening shrubs I'd recommend are Camellia sasanqua, has a wide range of cultivars and is more sun tolerant than the japonica species, Photinia species, fairly drought tolerant plant and generally trouble free, some native plants such as Buckinghamia celsissima, Syzgium cultivars and some of the Callistemon citrinus cultivars. Hope that helps.

Murraya would also be good

Thankyou so much Luke and and Bryan for your help. I'll look into all those schrubs right now. (I love the internet). Cheers, Rhondda

There are a range of good pittosporums on the market - from the tenuifolium species. Look for James Stirling, Stirling Mist, Silver Sheen,(there are more) these are all similar in form. This particular species is native to NZ I think (there are many others). All are hardy and easy to grow.

Camellia Sasanqua is a great plant too (my favourite) but will take longer to get the height. They'll also drop a lot of flowers in Autumn, which I love, but others don't like.

Could someone please tell me the best time and the best way to shape a 20year old frangipanni tree... (on the South Coast NSW.)???? thanks Rhondda.

The other thing you might look into when choosing your screening shrubs is the ultimate "footprint" of the plant. Pittosporums, for example, tend to grow in a pyramid shape, so,left to their own devices, they are going to be quite wide at the base.

Photinia, for example, can be trained into a tree shape by removing all lower growth to encourage a trunk.

Two metres between fence and house isn't really a lot of "base space" and, in your case, you need the growth more towards the top than at ground level.

You might also consider camellia japonica (if they grow well up your way). Much denser than sasquanqua. The soil/roots would be shaded with the fence on the north side and any sun damage to the flowers would be on the neighbour's side. Some varieties are very vigorous, while others are dead slow. Choose for growth habit, rather than flowers.

Thankyou wombat,
Yes I like the idea of the camellia japonica. I hear they don't have a huge root system. Therefore they will be ok near all the plumbing along that side.
Rhondda

Phyllanthus cuscutiflorus(pink phyllanthus)

The lillypilly Acmena Smithii varia minor (I think that's how it's spelled) is a good screening tree. The more you prune it the thicker it gets, and you can keep it at the height and width you like. They grow in confined spaces quite well too.
I have a Buckinghamia, mentioned above, and it isn't so good for that spot as they can get very broad and are pretty messy. The neighbours won't like it.
Donna.

I love lillypillies. The spring growth, the summer flowers, and the beautiful berries, and the lovely rain forest look (long sigh ... if only it would rain).

Acmena Smithii is a tall growing variety - will go well over 5 metres. It is the one marketed as "neighbour-be-gone" which looks fantastic trimmed into a hedge. But are you up to waving around on the top of a 3m ladder?

Pittosporums also respond well to regular trimmings - the more frequently trimmed, the thicker it gets. We have 2 10m+ long x 4m high hedges of them separating us from neighbours and they are fantastic! We trim twice a year and use a pole hedge trimmer that reaches up to 5m high, so no more being perched at the top of a ladder!