How about kudzu?

Sure!

Come on, I am looking for serious screen planting suggestions. Kudzu stays way too low to the ground without a trellis. LOL

Why would you go out of your way to plant an invasive species?

I think it's pretty obvious that Logan likes to poke the bear. Probably best just to ignore him.

No, I am open to invasive species. I just want a plant for a screen, and do not care if it is native, invasive, non-native,etc.

Sheared forsythia.

NC Zone 7b/8a

==>>> what a wimp .. you dont know what cold it ... come up to MI in mid feb when its 10 below.. with a 40 mile an hour wind ...

sheesh .. rotflmbo ....

ken

hey ... what about clematis?? ... not autumn fragrant ... thats a lot less shearing than others .. and trust me.. as you get older.. you get to hate annual shearing ...ken

I like clematis, but what species? I would prefer to not have to give it a place to climb, never seen a shrubby one.

There are no shrubby Clematis afaik, although there are short non-climbing herbaceous ones. They all need a trellis to gain any height.

But do you really want a 6 foot screen on both sides of a patio area where you propagate and grow things? It would greatly reduce the amount of light available to the plants. I suggest you hold a 6 foot pole up and see where the shadow falls across the area. And work out where it would be a different times of the year.

My Clematis Mrs. Robert Brydon makes gets to at least 5' without support, but it's an untidy mound and is as wide as it's tall. Don't think it would like shearing.

I should have been clearer when I said they all need a trellis ... I was thinking, but didn't articulate, that to get a six foot hedge with flat sides and a 3 foot base they'd need support. If just left to mound up on top of themselves they could get height but not neat height.

I am working on turning it into an outdoor patio, but it won't be until I plant the screen, move propagation trays, and buy outdoor furniture.

I like clematis, but what species? I would prefer to not have to give it a place to climb

==>>> sorry.. i thought there was already a structure there.. to grow on ...nvm on clems....

how about a pic of the spot.. so we can see it ...

no comment on my opinion of your icy cold zone 7 .. lol ...

ken

Ken, I would probably die of hypothermia if I lived in zone 5 LOL. I will try to get a picture tomorrow, too dark now. To be clear, I want to use the same screen in 2 different places, which will make more sense once you see the picture.

Will we ever see a picture, Logan? So often promised, so rarely delivered.

Well, it won't be today because I just got home. Working on a lot of Christmas promotions. Maybe tomorrow... LOL

Here is the first area that I want screening:

I want the screening even with the disfigured juniperus virginiana ( it will soon be a topiary, it volunteered there) to block the neighbor's. This could be evergreen or deciduous, I won't be out here in the winter.

Here is the other area I want screening (the front of the soon-to-be outdoor patio)

I want screening here in the front, leaving an opening in the middle for a path (where the 2 pots are). I would prefer evergreen for this one, just for the sake of it looking good from my kitchen window.

I don't get a feel from the first photo of where you want the shrubs. Perhaps you can somehow mark it, either on the image or in the yard and then take another photo.

For the second, I think a solid wall of evergreen will make this space feel extremely cramped and claustrophobic. I'd put the screen farther away, and then put some ornamental plants in key spots around the patio, but not all the way around as a solid wall.

I will go out tomorrow, take a picture with pots where I want the screen. So, maybe some sort of pyramidal shrub for the 2nd one? Maybe 2 sheared american hollies on each side (shearing to contain size, not alter shape).

The patio is too small to plant anything tall around it. Plant the hollies close to the property line. What Babs said.

The other issue I see is that you are looking at newly planted shrubs under mature trees. Those trees have LOTS of roots, and are well-established so can regrow any roots you remove much more quickly than can your shrubs. IME shrubs struggle in that type of situation. How feasible would it be to plant either in pots or farther from the trees?

It would be absolutely absurd to use pots. This was a woods-like area with lots of invasives and greenbrier that I have been working on for a while. The trees (2 sweetgums) are soon to be removed, in fact, one is dead. I removed the roots for about 2ft down in the whole area, and applied herbicide to any medium/large ones so that they wouldn't sucker. It is doing good, and the shrubs have been planted for 2 years now. Maybe autumn olive in the front and hollies in the back?