How far away from the fence can you plant it?

• Arbovitae fits the bill, and I think they have some narrower varieties now, but the regular ones can get pretty big around.
• Eastern Red cedar is the same. It's what a lot of farmers use as windbreaks because it's dense and grows really fast.
• Clumping bamboo takes very little care and grows like a weed.
• Yew (Podocarpus) is popular, and takes very little care
• Ligustrum is great, but make sure nobody is allergic to it first. There are several varieties and species, so you can create something really pretty by planting several kinds instead of just one long row of the same thing.
• Wax Myrtle isn't pretty, but boy, does it grow fast! It's what houses on the coast in SC use as hurricane windbreaks.

trees and shrubs that grow quickly typically have week wood and do not stand up to high winds. Nearly every wax myrtle on my property came down in last year's hurricane. I'd offer some suggestions, but I'm further south and not sure what grows well in your area. Palm trees perhaps.

A visit to Leu Gardens might reveal something you like. There's nothing like seeing an established plant or planting in person.

https://www.leugardens.org/

Thank you for the responses.

Ideally I'd like the plant/shrub/tree not to grow deeper than 4-5ft.

- I've certainly considered Arbovitae as the shape works well, I just was not sure about how they handle the wind and how fast they really grow. There seem to be claims about 3-4 ft a year but I'm skeptical about that. But I'm comparing with growing them in the UK, which is a rather different climate to Florida.

- Not come across Eastern Red Ceder, will look into that, thanks

- I'm not a fan of bamboo but agree it fits the requirements otherwise

- Podocarpus. Agreed, we have some in the garden at the moment. It's growing OK but I think it looks quite untidy until it's filled out

- Ligustrum. Good suggestion on planting different varieties. Will do some research on this.

- Wax Myrtle. Yes, the look of it rather put me off, same as bamboo.

- Palm trees would have the issue of overhanging branches unfortunately

Any thoughts on sweet vibernum or awabuki vibernum? Sweet vibernum seems to be grown a lot around here, but I'm not sure how big it can grow nor how fast.

Yes, a big wall would be ideal, but I'm not sure the HOA would agree!

There are some other evergreens including various kinds of Juniper such as Blue Point Juniper and Blue Vase Juniper, they don't get as tall as the regular Juniper trees, which are cedar trees. Sometimes Lowe's has the Blue Point ones. They don't grow as wide as the Blue Vase. Silverthorn makes a wonderful thick and fast-growing hedge but it can get pretty wide which you said you don't want. Sweet Vibernum gets pretty thick, great hedge if you can keep it in line. Podocarpus can be beautiful but in my world it has always been a very slow grower. Arbovitae get diseases that can kill the entire tree very quickly and they can also get very wide at the bottom. Since you say you have sandy soil that might not be a problem though.

I agree with first commenter....with the added possibility that trees just come with more problems in limited space ..and fast growers may not have a long lifespan...thick hedges may work long term...but require a long time to establish and high maintenance to encourage a thick hopefully sound proof-ish growth

Traveler palms.... if you like them.... They get big.... I hate them.... husband likes them.

Viburnum, with lots of fertilizer and water- the fastest growing hedge I've ever planted. Can be pruned back to keep it more narrow and just let the top grow.

Podocarpus- too slow

Arbor Vitae- too slow

Viburnum odoratissimum? I've read mixed reports on how big you can grow it. Some sites say it can grow 20 ft, others that it's 8-10 ft max.

If seen some videos of Chindo Vibernum which seems to get taller but I think it might be harder to find locally.

In my search most pics of viburnum none are pruned like a hedge...but are pretty spread out in growth pattern...being sure it is a variety that does not lose it leaves may be important as well...I always find that advice and ideas for what you want in these cases ...it is worth the effort to do a canvas of your area for ideas that are working successfully for your people....

Your area?..spell check is over compensating

Both Viburnum and arborvitae aka Thuja are a range of species and cultivars that have wildly diverse growth patterns. You have to know the species for sure and the cultivar if that is being considered. It is like looking photos of dogs; are you talking toy poodle or Great Dane? So something like Thuja Green Giant can get to be as much as 60’ tall and more than 15’ wide and add several feet of growth a year where it is happy, not a plant that is likely to fit in your space. Likewise, hybrid willows are both too large and are also too weak wooded to plant in this space in a hurricane zone. In contrast, I have a Thuja cultivar that isn’t supposed to exceed 4’ over time.

IME many cultivars and species of privet are invasive, so research those before you buy and avoid invasives which have the potential to seed not only into your garden, but also into all the neighbors’ gardens and more problematically, into wild areas via bird droppings.

So you want to do some research. Visit good quality garden centers. Visit botanic gardens as Embo suggested. Ask about hurricane tolerance and tolerance for pruning and growth rate. Make sure the websites you visit have reliable info for your area. For instance, what may grow only to 10’ in one area may get much larger elsewhere, so looking at a website from a New York State nursery or a national wholesale producer like Monrovia may be unreliable for you. Also, many nursery websites will tell you plant size at 5 years, so those 10’ plants will have the potential to get far larger given more time to grow. Look up the potential invasiveness by putting the plant’s scientific name + Florida + invasive in a search engine to get input.

Were you farther north, Emerald Green arborvitae aka Thuja ‘Smaragd’ would be ideal, reaching about 14’ and only 3’-4’ wide but I think they wouldn’t be happy in Florida. So you want some expert advice from local sources in order to choose something that will work for your setting.

Do investigate as to whether you can add periodic taller trellis panels for vines to the fence. Then you can intersperse those with other tall plants.

Since you live in an area with an HOA see if they can encourage the neighbor to take better care of the yard if they won’t let you increase the fence height. And consider whether you really need 20’ of screening over the whole fenceline. Would a medium height, narrow tree planted in front of upstairs windows on that side suffice and then you can be content with 10’ elsewhere along that boundary?

I had the same thought, it being an HOA neighborhood there shouldn't be any messy (if not noisy as well) neighbors in the first place - that is the point of an HOA, to make sure everybody conforms to certain requirements via a regulatory board - have you approached the latter with your concerns? If you can't have a wall, the neighbor shouldn't be able to have a mess.

Hi NHBabs z4b-5a NH and thanks for the detailed comments. High quality garden centeres seem to be in short supply here. It's mainly just Lowes/Home Depot or a bunch of wholesalers who don't deal with the public.

The one center I did find recommended Oakleaf Holly to me. I planted this back in Feb and so far no growth and lots of branches are dying (see photos). I don't know why and have posted separately on Houzz for advice.

The HOA was my first point of call, but they are not very responsive. This is a general problem with our HOA about a bunch of things. Until the homebuilder hands over control after they sold 90% of homes, there is little we can do.

I get your point on the variability of cultivars and local conditions and I've had some really useful ideas. Vibernum is widely planted around here and I did not realize how large it can get, so that is an option. Spruce Pine, Travelers Palm, Ligustrum Recurvifolium, are other seemingly good alternatives.

I did think on the idea of planting a single tree nearer the house windows to screen, but the houses are so close together that from the side of the house to the fence line is only around 4 feet. Given the wind that we get here I don't think that is a viable solution.

I do appreciate everyone's input on this, and any views on the holly would be very helpful.