Wanted to add that with all the redbud action in the neighborhood, some small, dark-red foliage might also work?

Yardvaark, it is a puzzle to me too! I suppose the question is: how to unify the back wall of the garden to provide some screening and something nice to look at?

Here is a panorama that gives a better sense of the space. It is a tiny garden to begin with - grassy yard on right, hemlocks and Japanese (ish) garden with the hydrangeas on the left, then the stone terraced more formal garden on the two lower terraces.

The main issue is the top terrace where we lost these beautiful bowery pine branches that enclosed and screened the back fence when a huge pine died and were left with the eunoymous covered fence and a bunch of bare trunks.

We decided to install a pine (it is about 8 ft tall) to one day give us back that look, but in the meantime I want to finish off the space. It is the view from my kitchen window.

Referring to the top terrace where the new pine is, my thoughts have ranged from:

-a Deborah Silver style hydrangea hedge with a boxwood hedge in front of it.

-chindo viburnum to create a green wall with maybe a row of plants in front of it

-my current thinking is that some reds would be good, so two Forest Pansy Redbuds which grow well here - one on each side to gradually frame the pine again with a row of something along the stone.

-removing the existing pines and planting all new ones (though they give us screening up above, so still have some value)

Exasperating! All advice welcome.

Rose

Am I wrong in that the things to screen are the house beyond and the backside (facing you) of the lot line hedge? The house will be eventually be screened by the new pine. You can't plant something else too close to it to impede light. What about a row of oak leaf hydrangea?

I like that idea and they grow well here. Any suggestions on evergreens - I know boxwoods take a while and is need a lot of them. Any suggestions?

I don't understand the desire for boxwood there. You have groundcover. Why do you want to run a low hedge in front of a taller hedge. The stripe effect is a least favorite for me and you've got it going on already.