A trouble-free evergreen for coastal areas which is widely used for seaside hedges over here is Griselinia littoralis. But I have no idea if it would be happy in your climate.

With your location, wants and well described site conditions, I would be having a serious look at 'Sky Pencil' Holly. Do you see it in the area?

Since you are down on the bay (but I would say this no matter where you lived), look for native options. Not privet which is invasive as is eunymous, both of which out-compete native flora in the wild. Check with a native plant nursery or the Virginia Native Plant Society. They should be able to give you some great options. Myrica (Morella) cerifera (wax myrtle) might be a good choice. I have a Myrica pensylvanica (Bayberry) which I love and is related to the M. cerifera. I am in Northern Virginia zone 7b, but here we have clay soil, so I would check with a local nursery near you.

Here is a link I just found looking for more alternatives for you.

native alternatives

I will upload a picture tomorrow, this is essentially what I want as it mimics my house . Sky Holly is in my yard already but not dense enough.

What is the hedge used here?

It is hard to tell what that hedge in the picture is. To my eye it has a Juniper look to it which would make it unusual.

I have Sky Pencil and would not recommend it because mine opens up and looks scraggly and like a bad hair cut with branches going in all directions. I just had to prune it hard to reshape it and the only time it looks the way I want it is when I tie it for the winter. I don't have full sun - maybe 5-6 hrs of sun, so possibly it performs better in full sun.

As for the native alternatives, I grow 3 of those shrubs - Gray dogwood and the Aronias and I wouldn't recommend them for a hedge either, because the Aronia I have is very open and the opposite of dense. The gray dogwood suckers a lot, although it is pretty and does provide white berries that robins and other birds strip when they are ripe, and the top is denser than the Aronia. It really travels and is better on a property where there is an out of the way corner where you can let it go. It would be great if you could use a native and especially one that has berries, but I'd want to talk to someone who used any of these as a hedge.

Many of these suggestions would require regular pruning to keep them the height and width you want. And don't forget a hedge requires pruning that shapes for wider at the bottom than the top to keep the bottom in the sun.

I will be planting a Hicks Yew hedge tomorrow in full sun, zone 6b, in a need a skinny hedge on the property line situation. That should be more dense and a touch less floppy than the holly. I wonder if there might be a Podocarpus selection that might work for you.

Good possibilities are Ilex glabra, wax myrtles, the yews Christopher refers to or English/cherry laurel. The euonymus is not a bad choice either and Euonymus japonicus is not considered one of the invasive species.

The hedge in the most recent photo look to me to be a tightly pruned form of arborvitae. And that could work well also.

I have a Hicksii Yew and they are great. Love them. I let mine grow naturally and it's over 10ft tall now, but graceful and dense and trouble free for me. I imagine it can be maintained as a hedge as I have a different yew in the front that I do keep trimmed. And I also think it can be kept narrow on a lot line.

Yews are probably the most prunable of any evergreen shrub/tree. Even more so than any boxwood!

If you're not opposed to mixing shrubs, I strongly recommend you consider that. I am a landscaper, and I can't tell you how many clients have reached out to me to replace one dead hedge plant in a single-cultivar hedge. That leaves me trying to find the exact same cultivar, in the SAME SIZE as the living grown out hedge plants. It is very hard - often/usually impossible.

If you need, say, 10 plants for your hedge, consider using a few different species, that way, if one plant dies, it can be replaces with something else.

Personally, I removed a hedge shortly after moving into our house. I found it more work than it was worth. It was always filling up with weeds at the base and not easy getting all the weeds out in and around them. Then they were sparse at the bottom from the way they were maintained previously and it was difficult to correct that. Then there is the work of hedge trimming them a few times a season. I haven't missed them at all.

So privacy I realize you need, but have you considered other options - a fence - a grouping of shrubs that don't require so much, a flowering tree with a few shrubs around or behind it? There are also many new hydrangea paniculata hybrids that I would think could be pretty effective as a screen and look good all season. Just a thought.

Started with arbor vitae which I transplanted to the back yard. Never thought to square it off, and replaced them with two Hick’s Yew… I don’t mind but they grow very slow, so to get it to 4-5ft, it will be 5-6 years, maybe longer. Personally I am not confident we will be able to keep a laurel as it may grow too big and out of control for the area.

I do not think Griselinia littoralis is available here.

This is my Taxus Hicksii after about 10 years. I can't remember how slow it was to start but once it got going, it went to town. Now I don't do anything to the shrub, I just check for any dead branches that might need to be trimmed off, which is rarely. And btw, that is the Sky Pencil to the left of it, pretty poor performance. And when I bought mine, the nursery had some large shrubs in containes that were pretty full and impressive looking, so maybe it needs more sun.

Perhaps, it is your budget that is getting in your way. Maybe you could save up and buy larger specimens to add from the beginning.

@prairiemoon2 z6b MA I have a feeling the Sky Pencil holly would be happier and look better further south than you.

I have big plans for this 60' monoculture Hicks yew hedge I am planting tomorrow. When it gets tall enough, an undulating wave is going to be trimmed on the top. I could also look at some British topiary hedges for inspiration.

I bought a dozen from my favorite nursery that is going out of business - my life is ruined. They are last year's stock and have six inches of new growth from last season in the pot. In the ground, that can be improved upon no doubt. In three years, it will be a fine hedge.

I think it only needs to be 4' tall to solve the problem because the hedge is at a higher elevation than the house. She thinks it needs to be 30' tall They never should have put three new windows in on that side of the house. The new view was a bit of a shock.

Christopher, I gave this a good try but, not everything works. I had high hopes of course...lol. An undulating wave on the top of your hedge? I would not have thought of doing that, but I love the idea. I hope you will post when you are able to make your first try at it. I suppose it will be awhile. [g] A shocking view? Now you have piqued my interest. Tell. [g]

It is the view of the basement level windows and huge AC unit of the red brick house next door, 20' away and 4' higher in elevation from her new kitchen and dining room windows. Today a golf ball dented her new car.

Well...definitely not a great view. I wonder is there room to add something more interesting than a hedge? Or something in front of the hedge to flower? A small upright flowering tree or a shrub that birds nest in or has berries for them or a trellis with a large clematis on it? But depending on which direction the sun is coming from, I suppose that might shade the hedge. Not a problem if it is Taxus.

The golf cart path to parking and the party shack out back are the something more to go with the hedge. A small flowering tree between the houses is a good thought to consider.