If you are looking at a maximum height of only 6-8', then you are looking at shrubs, not trees. 'Full privacy' typically means evergreen and I am unfamiliar with what broadleaved evergreen shrubs are best suited to your area. However, a mixed shrub 'hedgerow' type planting that includes both evergreen and deciduous plants will provide excellent (if not "full privacy") screening plus offer extended seasonal interest as well as wildlife habitat. And eliminates any 'gaps' that could occur from the failure of a single plant in a monoculture hedge.

Since you have a mixture of light conditions, that broadens the selections available. I would consider rhododendrons, pieris and kalmia as evergreen suggestions (possibly boxwood or Japanese hollies also) if sufficiently hardy, mixed with fothergilla, hydrangea, spirea, clethra, shrub dogwoods and dwarf lilac for the deciduous components but the choice is up to you and there are almost endless possibilities. Also, dwarf conifers could be included as well.

no plant ... none.. ever stops growing ..

anything that will get to 8 feet in a decent time ... will grow right past it.. without a lot of hedge trimming ...

and thats a lot of work on a ladder ... unless you happen to be 9 feet tall ...

as always ... i have to play devils advocate here ... you are fixated ON THE PROPERTY LINE ... necessitating 250 feet of plants you will have to shear once or twice per year ...

if you give us some pix ... perhaps we can work in some things to give you privacy.. where you need privacy.. aka.. the deck.. certain windows.. etc ... often the solution for windows are trees.. between the lot line and the window ... and plants around a deck ... to make a cubby ...

you have to think outside the box you already set yourself in ... IMHO ...

you only mention the width of the planting .. how much space between the lot line and the house????

ken

Thank you!

A little more background, we are building new construction. We have already had issues with our neighbors using our property even though it is not theirs which is why putting up a divider/privacy fence is important to us, as close to the line as possible. We understand that if planting we would need to plant at least 4 feet off of the property line. We do not want to take up a lot of room so that we can utilize as much of our yard as possible. That being said the distance between this lot line and our house is about 85' . I have seen many ever green hedges and I thought that might be a good idea. We are first time home buyers and I love the idea of mixing different shrubs, but that's not something I am ready to experiment with. The entire yard and landscaping concept is very overwhelming to me!

I wouldn't count on a newly planted hedge keeping out intrusive neighbors. I would put in a wire mesh fence on the line and then plant your hedge, well mulched up to the fence. That way your plants are protected from damage and can grow to a reasonable height, but you won't have had the expense of a full privacy fence.

Do you need winter foliage or are you OK with deciduous?

"we would need to plant at least 4 feet off of the property line." How far you need to plant off the property line depends on the expected width of the plant you choose. I would decide on the plant, then take half the expected width and add a couple of feet unless you want to do trimming since the estimates IME are often a bit smaller than the reality.

I might do a search for "privacy" on the shrubs forum since this question has most likely been answered a bunch of times. I would also probably do a search for "deer" since there will be a bunch of threads on deer resistant plants as well.

If Viburnums are hardy in your zone there are dozens of varieties. Some are evergreen but I think those are largely zone 7.

New construction around here means bad soil. If your land was leveled or looks like it was leveled have your soil tested.

Good luck!

You could plant something spiky and sharp to keep those neighbors out. Virginia Rose or American Holly. Be aware one risk is neighbors often assume the property line is where the fence is....try to get the actual property lime marked as clearly as possible.