I have grewia (lavender starflower) along my back fence. It can be trimmed so it doesn't stick out too far from the fence. It is fast growing and requires little water. It can be espaliered along the fence. One question - if you have a taller hedge along the fence, will it shade your fruit trees?

considering making a hedge with brush cherry (Syzygium paniculatum)

I would advise against brush cherry as it is susceptible to the syzygium leaf psyllid.

Looks like the apricot and apple are starting to give you some privacy. The valencia and avocado will give you privacy in a couple years. The Meyer will be 8' wide before it is 8' tall, which will take a long time.

Thank you all for your suggestions. Cakbu a lattice is a good idea. I would have to ask my neighbor if they would mind.

Lgteacher I had not considered Lavender Starflower. It looks beautiful. How close to the fence could I plant this? Does it need a trellis? The fence faces north and if a vine grows close it wouldn't cast shade to the fruit trees.

We planted clumping bamboo and love it so much. It's fun to see the new culms shoot up.

Just be patient. It will be just a year or two and those windows will disappear.

If you don't want to interfere with the fence, you can put up some freestanding panels of some sort as temporary privacy. Keep in mind that unless your neighbors are 8' tall, they probably can't see out those windows unless they get on a stepping stool.

I like Grewia too. It grows fast, but can be a little floppy at first. It can be trimmed very flat against your fence and is quite indifferent to whether it is watered or not. Its seed doesn't germinate, either and I've never had any kind of disease or bug problem with it.

I'd go with citrus. It gets huge and is evergreen all year. The avocado will also get huge and be full of leaves all year. Plant standard size citrus. Do a Bearss Lime, a Blood Orange, A Eureka Lemon, A Ruby Red Grapefruit, and a couple fruiting olives. Olives are amazing brined! And they can grow 80' tall. No fear about privacy. Apples, apricots, peaches, pears, figs, go dormant in winter, and your privacy is gone. Choose evergreen.

Gregbradley, hoovb you are right I need to have patience as the trees grow. As I wait I will try some fast growing plants like Grewia to fill in quickly.

If you plant bold low-growing flowering plants in the bed they would draw the eye. Gazanzias is one choice. They are sold in flats and pony pacs. Drought tolerant. Dahlberg daisies are a pretty bright yellow, ferny foliaged annual that didn't reseed for me :-(. If you dislike hot colors Dwarf Morning Glory Royal Ensign (annual) is a blue/yellow eye catcher. Phooey, they didn't reseed for me. Lots of other non-invasive choices to help draw the eye. Even strawberries or dwarf dahlias (pony pacs).

(Grewia is a 10ft. shrub that doesn't require a trellis. Very nice in the right spot. But I sure wouldn't want to be pruning it every year behind those trees. And the fence is a more attractive backdrop.)

My photoshop skills leave much to be desired but for a visualization, oops. went in above.

How about putting in an arbor/trellis at the edge of the lawn-- with a fast-growing vine like passiflora edulis that will spill down and screen the neighbor's windows? Leave room for the trees to get bigger and take the arbor out later. Might be nice to break up the long line of the fence by breaking the arbor into 2 sections to create some depth-- one could have a bench swing facing your lawn.