Thanks for all the replies! I was definitely thinking along the lines of species and near species roses, once bloomers who won't need any deadheading are perfect for the back fence. My main concern is that I would like to put in an irrigation line for the plants when they are new, but then wean them off of supplemental water once they are established. I know that there are roses who can survive without summer water, I was just hoping for ones that would be able to thrive. Lady Banks is a great idea, the year I fell in love with roses it was Lady Banks Lutea who caught my eye and then my heart. I've been wanting to plant one for years but haven't had the right spot, until now ;o) I also have several hybrid musks in my collection already, but I'm concerned about their ability to withstand drought. Has anyone tried growing these au natural in California? What about Placerville White Noisette? I have one of those in my collection as well and the back story makes me think it might be a winner in these conditions. Madam Alfred Carriere is on my wishlist and I'd love to plant her somewhere along the fence, possibly next to the big shed so she can be trained onto the pergola once it's built. Once again, any experience growing her with minimal water? Since I'm only a few miles away from Sebastapol I was thinking of asking to pick up my order in person, that way I might be able to get a bit of last minute advice and perhaps an extra rose or two. I know everyone is super busy over there now so I don't want to email them a bunch of questions, instead I will pester the kind folks at the Rose forums until I'm ready to make my *sniffle sniffle* last Vintage order. Thanks again, everyone!

We have a yard that has thick oak and maple trees that cover almost the entire yard to the east there are trees about the same size (50-75 ft.) so like you we have almost total shade we also have about 50% to 70% clay soil that is hard to grow much in. The types of plants that are the best for vertical appearance are some types of cattails or similar bog type plants here I've seen cattails grow natively in soil that is nearly entirely clay that is almost always a mud and sometimes boggy. I don't know if you had thought of trying to make a water garden here we have to dig at least 3' deep due to temps below 0 degrees F but we have floating water hyacinths on a pond during the summer and goldfish in the pond that were feeder fish that have become 6"-8" long from mosquito larvae and also provide the plants with excellent fertilizer. If you have stray cats they will get the slow fish and the others seem to survive the same applies to raccoons and oppossums. The water hyacinths can take over a pond but do very well in the shade. Elephant's Ears have to be dug up but seem to do well in our shade and climate too holly has also done very well as a perinial here. Otherwise between our temperature and soil you have tried everything we have best of luck to you.

Since you have ONLY three feet to work with this limit your choices. There aren't many plants that will grow in the conditions you listed. Of course the list grows if you are willing to trim and trim and trim. Remember your neighbor has the legal right to prune anything that is on their side regardless of how it is done.

I have a mixed shrub bed that is probably 15’ x 60’ and am in a similar zone. If you want arborvitae or Rhodies, just plan to spray with a deer repellent. Some are oil based and some can be mixed with a substance like Wiltpruf to prevent it washing off so that it only has to be renewed every few months unless there is new growth. I second the comment about blue spruce not being worth a long term planting in the humid east. Mine after 10 years are bare on the bottom and losing needles and shoots on the top, so I will take them out in the next few years. My preference is for having a rhythm of repeated characteristic plants down the length of the bed rather than clumps of one kind, and then I fill with variety. Here is a thread where about half way down I added a couple of posts with photos and an explanation of my plan and goals, so rather than rewriting the whole thing, I am sending you to the link. https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/3113384/shrubs-for-privacy-along-a-fence#n=22 I have listed plants I used and even after 10 years I am generally pleased. Some plants have not done well (Pieris and Cornus are much beloved by the voles and don’t live long without roots) and as mentioned above, the blue spruce are disease prone. By now many of my groundcovers and perennials have been shaded out. Right now it needs editing, but I have spent the last year dealing with a terminally ill family member, and it has done surprisingly well with quite literally no maintenance. I will do some editing this fall when it is a bit cooler, and if you can find dwarf versions of other evergreens that are less popular with deer if you don’t want to spray, that would be good. My Norway spruce which isn’t in my shrub border, while lovely, at something like 25-30 years, it is huge, perhaps 25’-30’ wide and well over twice that tall. So if you want to use a spruce, look for ones that grow more slowly. For instance, there is a slow growing version of Serbian spruce/Picea omorika as well as one that looks bluish, so look for those. I went to all the nurseries in my rural area and chose from what was available that suited my needs since I wanted somewhat larger starting plants. One of the fastest growing plants I put in were panicled hydrangeas, and between their ability to gain size quickly, their need for little attention after the first year or two, and their months long bloom, I would use these again in any similar garden. I deliberately used more than one color and texture of evergreen for winter interest, particularly during the long fall and early spring when there isn’t snow. My cover photo shows a piece of it during this stage if you click on my name. If you have questions, feel free to ask.