Hi all! Thanks so much for all the great feedback & suggestions. Currently we purchased and planted one podocarpus. My husband loves this one the most so that said it will likely be all along that back wall. Cetacea33 I love your pairing of the pitts with bougainvillea and will thinking I may try that along our east wall. Been obsessively searching on everything I can read on Podocarpus G. and MOST are saying the roots are no problem with this guy. I have seen mature ones as trees planted alot around So Cal next to buildings, sidewalks you name it and I have not seen any visible lift. Then, about 1 in 10 webpages, I can find someone saying they DO create root problems. I am so confused, there is conflicting information out there. I see a lot of pictures of them as privacy hedges and even a few around a pool similar to my situation. If anyone out there can give me more info on the life and times of a Podocarpus it would be much appreciated!!! Thanks again to everyone and I value all your imput! =)

I consider Thuja Green Giant the absolute best choice for fast growing privacy. They do get big, both tall and wide, but if you plant them as a hedge, say 6ft apart, that does slow down their height a bit. If you want something not as tall, than it can't be fast growing. Trees never stop growing, so if they are fast growing now, they will continue to grow fast in 10 years. You can sheer them to contain the size, but it depends on how much work you want to do and how high you can allow them to grow.

nativetexas, you are most welcome. It can either be grown as a hedge/screen from soil line upward or the multi-trunked plant can be pruned at the base to display bare trunks. Pruning up a few feet would allow for under plantings, which could add additional interest. Of course, you could also get the same effect by planting in a bed in front of the Sweet Olive. To give you some perspective, I believe we planted Sweet Olive in 2009 with plants about 36-40 inches high. Today those plants are 12-14 feet in height, growing in dappled shade. I don't know how well Sweet Olive might do with your soil and knowing how spread out San Antonio is, soil conditions probably vary, depending on the specific area. Thought the following might at least provide a bit of information from someone in your general area who grows Sweet Olive. Best of luck with your research and new plantings, whatever they might be. ... Mary The following comments about Sweet Olive were written and posted on another garden site by a San Antonio gardener. "Great as an understory planting under tall oak trees! Mine are about 18 feet tall and require little supplemental water. The fragrance in late winter, early spring and about the first of October is almost enchanting! In 20 years, I have never had to do a thing to these small trees - no pruning, no leaf rake up, no spraying for insect infestations and no fertilization. The deep green foliage is very attractive and the almost delicate appearance contrasts nicely with the oak. They should be used more, but they are difficult to find at garden centers. Neighbors and passersby always ask from where the delightful smell is emitting. I tell them and they never have heard of the "sweet olive".

I think you're going to have a hard time creating a decent privacy hedge so long as you allow old competing shrub material to occupy more or less the same space. It would be better to clear out all the old before bringing in the new. Then, obviously, it will need to be shade tolerant material. You'd also want to make sure the tree is limbed up sufficiently so as to let light below it.