I am planning on planting a short hedgerow running North to South in my Winnipeg backyard. I would like to plant Saskatoon, Highbush Cranberry and Hazelnut and hopefully have them eventually reach 8 feet in height. The area gets full sun from about noon to 3pm and another hour late in the evening.

I've never grown any of these before. How tall and wide do those shrubs usually grow in Winnipeg zone 3 and how long might it take to get to a mature size? The plant tags say they should get around 10 feet high by 8 feet wide but I'm not sure how much I trust the tags and whether they are meant for our cold winters and short growing seasons.

The goal is to create a bit of a privacy screen. With that in mind how close should I plant them together? Should I follow the plant tags or use tighter spacing so that they eventually create a type of edible hedge? I'm fine with sacrificing some berry/nut productivity for the sake of a privacy screen.

Sorry for all the questions. This forum seems to be one of the best places to get gardening info for the prairies and I have enjoyed reading many of the older threads on here. A lot of Canadian gardening info on the web seems to be directed towards BC or southern Ontario and it's refreshing to find a resource for the colder zones!