houses are close? How much sun? what kind of width do you have to play with?

a pic of the situation.. and location are imperative for me to opine ...

use the camera/photo button under the box you type in.. to add pix ....

ken

Thanks to all who responded.

illsstep(6a) : I'm in Midwest 6A so there can be severe winters. No deer issues for me here. I planted some Rose of Sharon on the east side. I'm thinking planting something different on the side. But what? That is the question.

waynedanielson: Full sun. The back of the house faces south. The whole area is about 42'X16' I think. and there is a small patio. I'd like to have some kind of "screen" on the long/south side.

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5 : not much of a picture taker but I will try to take one and upload.

Thanks again everyone.

Do you need winter privacy? If so, choose an evergreen that will add height only slowly after a certain point. For instance, my arborvitae Thuja ‘Sunkist’ is in its tenth season and has slowed considerably. It is now 7’-8’ tall and has provided good screening for the last 6 years. Sunkist can get to 5-8’ wide and so can Limelight.

Limelight or other panicled hydrangeas are long blooming and easy care if deer aren’t an issue. I leave the dried panicles on my hydrangea paniculata for winter and they provide some winter interest and screening, though not complete. I remove them in early spring, though that isn’t necessary for the plant’s health, just my aesthetic taste.

Many (though not all) roses will have at least some issues such as foliage disease, insect damage Japanese beetles or other insects, winter cold shortening canes, or gaps in bloom times. If you want some, I would ask on the Rose forum for suggestions and use them as occasional plants but not the main attraction. IME they will provide no screening.

A photo will help.

NHBabs: Thanks for your comment. Winter privacy is not crucial. Is Sunkist more yellow than green? how far apart do I have to plant
them? By playing them close prevents them from growing taller?

Below is a picture. The space is
enclosed by a 2' short wall. The short side is east and the long, south. Along
the east wall I planted some rose of Sharon and along the
south/long wall I'm thinking in the center (marked by the column) 3 evergreens (arborvitae), 3
limelight hydrangeas to the left and 3 rose (??) bushes to the right. At the corners
I have a lilac and a service berry. The whole length is about 42' and between
the wall and the patio is barely 4'. I believe there are gravels close to the wall when they constructed it. Is it enough space for Sunkist (I think one of them will have to go into there)??

It seems like you have jumped into this project without much of a plan, and I am not confident that you will be pleased with the resulting aesthetics in the long run. Having a solid block of each of several kinds of shrubs without thinking about how they relate to each other isn’t what I would choose as far as arrangement. My choice in this setting would be to have groups of three shrubs that repeat along the length, choosing only three varieties: 3 Limelight, 3 needled evergreens that are genetically set to stay under 10’, 3 lilacs, repeat until no more space.

Or put one of each repeating randomly in several spots down the length. I did a long shrub border (longer and deeper than yours) that uses the same 5 evergreens (2 broadleafed and 3 conifers) and about 4 deciduous shrubs repeated though not in a regular pattern (and then other perennials, shrubs such as roses, and vines to increase interest.) This late fall view shows the irregular repetition of the conifers most clearly.

However, working from your current blocked arrangement, Rose of Sharon will leaf out late and so won’t give you privacy during warm days in early spring. I would be likely to put it and the roses which tend to grow less dense than most other shrubs where I needed the least privacy. As I said above, most roses need a fair amount of care and often have disease and insect issues ranging from various beetles such as Japanese beetles and rose chafers eating the blossoms to backspot defoliating them and most won’t give much privacy either. Consider planting them in front of evergreens or low roses along the patio or house rather than as part of a hedge or privacy screen as it will look really unbalanced to have part of it be large dense shrubs and part roses.

Sunkist and Limelight are both too wide to fit between the patio and the wall IMO since they both want to be 8’ wide, and you only have 4’ available. Both have their height controlled by their genes like all plants. There are several narrow hollies and Junipers that might work there. Or consider a trellis with vines on it, either an annual vine or one that is perennial such as the native trumpet honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens.

Try using the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Plant Finder to find plants that work in your narrow space. Go to the advanced search in the linked page below, put in either broadleafed evergreen or needled evergreen under plant type, full sun for sun, your preferred height and width ranges, and see what comes up. Using plants that will fit your needs is a lot easier than pruning 42’ of shrubs with differing pruning needs a couple of times a year to keep them in bounds. http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/plantfinder/plantfindersearch.aspx

NHBabs: Thanks again for your comments and valuable information. Not sure what to do. One way is to plant emerald green arborvitae all the way to the left of the center (i.e, between the patio and the wall) and plant some shrub (limelight?) to the right of the center. Or plant 3 arborvitae around the center (one will be in between the patio and the wall) and 3 bushes to the left (lilac, viburnum, red twig dogwood, or sand berry) and 3 limelight to the right. I won't be using rose as hedge. I just need to decide what plants to use. Flowering ones are preferable.