With a small lot, you might be better off building a real wooden fence which takes only 2 inches of your lot. Then plant vines on it if you want greenery or plant tall perennials in a three to four foot wide bed along the fence. You will have privacy and your space.

Tipical 6 feet wooden fence will not give privacy, because surrounding houses are all 2 store homes. 8-10 feet trees or shrubs will do it. Besides, we like them better than a real fence. So I have a choice of conifers or any other similar plants. I really like Hollies, and they seem to do well in our climate, but I do not know much about them. Any other comments?
Thank you,
Alina.

Hi Alina,
Congragulations on your new home. I feel the same way about a privacy fence. I think they are ugly in fact.
I have the same problem you have, but I have chain link fences around my little rectangle yard, which means no privacy.
I just ordered the Hydrangea quercifolina "Alice" today online. Hopefully it will max out at around 12 feet tall and 10 feet wide when mature. They are fast growers also. I am excited.
On one long side I planted 4 Rose of Sharons real close to each other for a hedge effect, they grew about 2 feet last year, so I am looking forward to more growth this year also. I love the flowers on Rose of Sharons.
On the other long side I planted 2 clumping bamboo plants that have not grown in height. They are slow growers til they are around 4 or 5 years old. They look tropical and stay green in the winter.
I was thinking about a holly also. They will stay green all winter too and they are pretty. I saw one I liked at Home Depo but they wanted 80.00 for it and it was small. Hollies are not fast growers at all. It will take many years til it is of a screen size for me.
Home depo has Emerald Green Arborvitaes that are about 4 feet tall for 25.00 each right now. I think I might buy one of them also, but they grow REALLY slow. They don't get wide, just tall, (good for small yards).
Good luck with your selection. Why don't you buy both, you only live once.
I am looking forward to the worry of pruning and trimming my bushes and trees rather than living without any screen at all, if you know what I mean.

Nellie Stevens Hollies are lovely, but they do get quite large at the base. Have you considered Foster Hollies? They are a classic Christmas Tree shape, but are more slender. They have silvery bark and are a lighter green color than Nellie, but make a big crop of red berries in the winter. In our area, they are ususally considerably less expensive than Nellie too.

Just a note: Oakleaf Hydrangeas and Rose of Sharon bushes are deciduous, so won't be too good for privacy in the fall and winter.

Emerald Arborvitas are beautiful plants, but if you plant them close enough to one another to create a solid hedge, they will turn brown and die back anywhere they touch each other or anything else.

Thank you for your suggestions! I will probably buy Roses of Sharon, but not for privacy - I really need something evergreen. I will look for Foster Holly.
Could you also advise what male Holly I could plant with Nellie Stevens, Oakleaf and Foster to get berries?
Thank you,
Alina.

Red-tips photinias can be trained as standards with a central trunk. Then you could plant something below them. Prunus caroliniana is a nice evergreen tree and fast growing, also can be trained as standard. I like the Foster's Holly a lot. Lower limbs can also be pruned away, but probably looks nicer as a Christmas-tree shape. Nellie Stevens can be pruned to stay narrower, but that's extra work. Or how about some Southern Magnolia 'Little Gem' trees? They stay smaller. Also, there's always evergreen ligustrum.

Nellie R. Stevens will get huge. If you want evergreen, I'd vote for the Fosters also. I had them once as foundation plantings which I will never, ever, have again. They grew so fast I couldn't keep them trimmed to the proper height for the house. If you use them its better to just let them grow & take their natural form. Just planted a couple of them myself, along with a Green Giant Arborvitae, for screening purposes. The arborvitae will also get huge.

I would love to plant Magnolia! But will it work as a screen? I mean all Magnolias I can see here are tree shaped, so they have their foliage too high to screen neighbors.
Does 'Foster' Holly have dense foliage? I am new to this stuff, but I saw some Hollies that are too transparent for the screen.
Thank you for your help!
Alina.