Your plant choices imply "south" but please give us a hint to your location (nearest big city & state). Thanks.

It sounds like you're planning a wall of mixed shrubbery along the tree line. Would you consider adding an island bed on the lawn closer to your home?

Yes. South Carolina. Zone 8. 28 miles north of Augusta, Ga.

i created a natural screen perhaps a dozen years ago, but my plant choices won’t help you since am in such a different climate.

But here are some things to conside that I learned:

- Check for invasiveness (will seed unchecked into wild areas where it displaces natives as well as into other gardens) in your area. For instance, barberry is a listed invasive in much of the eastern part of the US, and check out nandina’s status as well.

- Use a combo of evergreen and deciuous for all year interest. Do you want flowers or foliage contast in this bed or just green?

- Research and plan spacing carefully. Plant tags and nurseries often give plant size at 5 or 10 years. Use botanical gardens and universities in similar growing zones for reference. I love the Missouri Botanic Garden, even though it is warmer, drier, and less acidic than my central NH location because their info is thorough and accurate.

- Consider having plants a couple of rows deep, staggered. This will give you better coverage.

- Think about height. Are there plants or areas you might want to shade or avoid shading? If the trees are all cut down, will you need to consider blocking a tall building or lighting that might replace the woods?

- Keep a close eye on water needs since you are planting now. Actually check soil moisture so you don’t overwater or underwater.

- Also, don’t let the weeds get out of control. You may want to plant low flowering plants to reduce weeds and provide interest while the larger plants gain size over the first few years.

Here is a link to a thread where (about half ways down) I talked about my process and has a few photos.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/3113384/shrubs-for-privacy-along-a-fence

Thank you so much NHBabs, Your screen is gorgeous! It’s what I’m trying to achieve . Thank you for taking pictures in stages. Visualizing landscape is very difficult for me. As for the invasive plants, firepower Nandina and orange rocket barberry ##18,411 are supposed to be noninvasive. But some of the info online is contradictory.

• I would like to add some low maintenance flowers. I love the way you added flowers in your screen. But me and the deer have the same taste in flowers. Lantana is the only flower that blooms well in my yard that they do not nibble.
  -The only thing that can be built next door is a home. The struggle will be the shock of losing the wood line. So I’m trying to add a 20 ft high line of plants behind the azaleas. So far I have a little gem magnolia and a podocarpus maki. Both are supposed to grow at least 20 feet. I also wanted to add 2 conifers ( conifer-magnolia-conifer-podocarpus). I like the emerald thuja but it may not be tall enough and the green giants are too tall.

I was able to get a landscaper out yesterday. He planted the 6 abelia, 3 barberry and a snowball viburnum,. I also added 6 Nandina and 1 small lantana for color.

I’ll post pics soon.

Thank you for your advice and taking time to respond.

Cecile 7 a ,
I have an island bed on the opposite side of my yard and a wildflower/perennial garden in the back. I wanted to build up this side of my property just in case the new property owners next door decide to cut down every tree.

*Cecily 7a
Sorry spell check

Property line with new shrubs planted. The deer have already started eating on the snowball viburnum.

I'm suggesting that a small tree or two closer to your house would provide better visual screening than a shrub border at a distance. Your grass is lovely by the way so perhaps you only want lawn there.

MO wait until they new neighbors take the trees out or not since removing those will mkae mess of whatever you plant right now .For sure you need to get deer resistant plants . Where I live we use barberry to keep the deer at bay. I think if it was my place I would do a fence inside the property line and see what happens to the trees then do some landscaping since right now those trees are giving shade that if gone will affect what you plant.

Just a general suggestion where deer are a problem. In addition to choosing plants that deer in general don't like, always spray your new plants with a good deer deterrent. The will try anything new and you absolutely want their first experience with a plant to be a bad one. They remember. Also, if you don't sometimes they develop a taste for plants that they are absolutely not supposed to like. In addition, if the plant is small, that first bite can pretty much do the plant in, even pulling it out of the ground before they spit it ut.

If the new shrubs/trees are quite small, I also put a physical barrier around them as well as spraying so they can get some size on them before being available for that taste test. Especially important through the first winter. I rig up protection using deer netting, sticks, hoops, whatever works.

Makes sense Laceyvail. My deer tastes everything I put in the ground. Even the so called deer resistant plants. In the past I would only spray the plants that were vulnerable. But I will spray everything from here on out. Especially when it’s new. Thank you for the tip. Oh and I will definitely put up a physical barrier on my snowball viburnum. Once it gets tall it should be ok.

Cecily I will think about adding a small tree. I kind of feel the front yard needs one. I’ve been reluctant to add one because we are surrounded by trees on 3 sides and I wanted to keep the sunshine on the front and I grew up raking leaves and vowed I would never rake another leaf when I grew up!

And Patricia waiting to until the trees are cut down is exactly what the people who work at the nursery suggested. My gut tells me that you are right. They are building like crazy in my neighborhood even though it’s rural. Some of my neighbors built natural screens using shrubs years ago. So when the trees are cut down next to there property there is a natural barrier in place. Other neighbors that have nothing in place go into shock when the trees are removed. They quickly plant anything to fill in the nakedness. So I’m trying to be proactive. The builders are supposed to leave a 3 foot buffer on either side of the property and 7 feet in the back. However, they are cutting every single tree and the hoa is not opposed. (They cut every tree on our property too. But on the back and the right side of the property there is a strip of land that belongs to the golf course that they couldn’t touch)

Also, even though the property line is wooded it’s on the east side of my property and it gets hot afternoon sun. The only thing that can survive/thrive in that section are full sun plants. I learned the hard way. I purchased 3 grey ghost anise to plant beside the house which I assumed was shaded all day. One had to be moved because midday it was being baked for about an hour.

So I said all that to say Patricia you are probably right. But I don’t want to come home from work one day and go into shock when every tree up to the property line is gone.

Lacyvail, you were right. I didn’t spray my moonlit viburnum because it’s deer resistant. The deer ate all the flowers off last night ugh!!!! I will spray everything from now on.

Your neighbor's azaleas are wonderful! I'm glad you included azaleas in your border as well.