I am confused about your goals, are you trying to create privacy or are you just really offended by the color? You mentioned both in your post so I was not sure. (And I don't see what is so awful about the color myself).

Personally I hate the idea of wood panels - use a fence if you need it to fence something in (kids, pets) but otherwise just go with natural landscaping. I think if I were your neighbor, I would be really annoyed if you put large wood panels up at the edge of your driveway that would end up blocking a lot of light into neighbor's windows. (I wonder if it is even allowed with your local zoning laws). Instead I would stick to greenery and given how close it is to your neighbor's home, I would work with them to come up with a mutually agreeable solution.

Careful with the bamboo. It can be VERY invasive. I agree with the advice above. Attractive landscaping is the answer. I'm not fond of the color of your neighbor's house either, however, it's their house & unless you live in a community with an HOA that has rules approving only specific colors you'll have to deal with it.

I am leaning towards just landscaping myself-- my husband just likes the idea of walls too... We have friends that landscape with bamboo and we would only use clumping varieties. thnx!

Sorry i find nothing offensive about the yellow house, I would do a hedge of aplanting material other than bamboo which can be a real pain to keep under control or maybe a copy of the plantings in the teardrop shape in between the 2 driveways between the 2 houses . IMO you are overreacting to something that is really trivial

Walls will look like walls, no matter what you do, and they block the breeze. I'd recommend doing what you can with plantings to obstruct the view or get the privacy you want. Bamboo is very invasive, so you should consider digging a 30 inch trench now and install a strong barrier so you don't have problems down the line. I planted river birch to obstruct the view near my porch and I'm happy with how fast it filled in. I don't know if it grows in your area, but you might want to look into it.

The yellow is not objectionable to me but I can understand it might not blend with your decor of the patio area. Maybe a wood privacy fence on the side of your patio is best solution. I would want the privacy myself even if I like their house color.

I live in Florida too. I also lived very close to a neighbor at one point. We planted a 6 foot hedge all the way down the side. I was concerned the hedge didn't match my tropical feel, but that never really came in the play. I'm sure your local landscaper could tell you what we might've used. I can't remember. You could not see through the hedges and it gave total privacy. Then we landscaped in front of that with tropical plants. Since it doesn't look like you have very much room either, I would consider that as an option with your bamboo plants since they are a bit sparse. I love the bamboo too. I was worried about it's invasiveness as well. And I am very much into my privacy and my tropical landscape. I have tropical plants everywhere. Throw a few pygmy date palms in front of the hedge. And what variety is that bamboo? I might want some.

One more thought… if there was any possibility of working "with" your neighbor on that patch of land between the houses, I think you will both get the benefit. It's a little tight dividing it in half. A split pygmy date with some tropicals centered in the very front would be prettier than two disparate looks. Just a thought… Not always an option. And I also agree on the wood fence posts. Lots of times there are setback requirements, my county is 4 feet from the line, which may make that a non-option.

The are two basic types of bamboo. Rhizome or clump. The rhizome is the type that sends runners out and is hard to control I would avoid that type. The cluster type stays within the basic space of the original container. Giant Timber Bamboo would be great for your situation. We planted it in our backyard to screen views into our backyard when we first moved in. It is 9 years later and not one cane has come up outside the areas I mention. We now have a wonderful, tropical screen and love it. I agree with other comments on neighbor's home color. Perhaps you could put up two wood panels with some palms in between to give your patio some privacy. But no more. Good luck. Sip some adult beverage and enjoy your lovely home.

BTW, the two containers of bamboo in the picture you posted look like the wrong kind of bamboo. I could be wrong, but make sure you aren't planting wrong kind. On the other hand...;-) The devil made me say that!

5 Reasons Not to Plant Bamboo in Your Yard

http://www.networx.com/article/5-reasons-not-to-plant-bamboo-in-your-ya

Proof you can't believe everything you read. This is just uninformed and misleading article.

Hana, Gardenweb has a landscape forum. I suggest you post your question there for more specific advice. I think some well placed islands would solve the privacy issue in the patio area. Same with blocking the front driveway area. You will be asked to provide some very specific photos.

I would not plant next to the driveway in the middle section. How will they be able to mow, if you do that? You don't want war with the neighbors.

Here is that link: LANDSCAPE FORUM

Without root barriers to keep it from spreading invasivey, bamboo can become a nightmare.

Can you do a tropical bermed barrier in your area?

be careful with bamboo, it can grow faster then you could cut it off

Did you end of planting the graceful bamboo? If so how do you like it? Does it drop a bunch of leaves?

Bamboo is often mis-understood. There are varieties that DO NOT spread and root ball stays in basic original shape extending roots out around the basic root ball. The type that "spreads" is a rhizome so it sends out shoots for what can be a very long distance and new shoots pop up. The "container" type do not do that. I have had Giant Timber Bamboo for over 14 years in our backyard and the roots have spread a little bit, but the new "canes" simply come up from that root ball basic shape. Wonderful, beautiful almost all year round. This variety comes from China in the mountains, so it is hardy and has survived 3 below freezing nights in a row, lost all the leaves and came back with avengeance in the spring. So research and find the "container" type for best results.

Background tall spears is all Giant Timber Bamboo. I planted it to be a screen against the home behind us with a second floor view into our backyard and home! Loved it and these grow to about 30' high over time This "stand" started with about 10 -30 gal containers, and the bamboo was about 8' high when first planted. Never had a single problem, other than leaves falling after heavy freeze. That only happened 3 times in 14 years.