Hi Francine, I would look at cheap, fast growing, dense shrubs common to your local area. If you can find a local wholesaler who also sells retail (because of the bad economy, many will nowadays--ask!) you can get great deals. Also try looking at your local Craigslist. Sometimes you can find people who want to get rid of some shrubs, if you are willing to dig them up you can get them for FREE. If you post a request to Craigslist you may be able to find some. Another angle to try is local garden clubs. Dedicated gardeners are often pulling stuff out and replacing it--you could ask around there for discards. Recommendations would depend on what climate you are in, which you don't say. Roses are not evergreen, so you would have a period of time when they provide no screening. In a colder climate they need more care than you may be willing to provide, unless Rugosa roses are appropriate for your climate. But they would probably be more expensive than common green shrubs. Also I'm assuming you have permission from your landlord to plant stuff. Good luck with your project!

Thanks to you two for helping. At first I thought the Kerria might be it from the description, but when the picture loaded I saw it wasn't. I forgot to mention that it has yellow flowers. The leaves are like in threes. The bush actually reminds me of a Lady Banks rose. My neighbor was thrilled..she's like me, she likes to find things that not everybody else has. We won't know until spring if hers is the double or single flower, though. I sure hope my cuttings take...they should, because everywhere I read about it said that they will root on their own when they touch moist soil. Anyway, it is definitely the winter jamine (jasminum nudiflorum), but I still have not found a double flowering type on the internet. I'm still looking, though, and if anyone finds one, let me know!

Good job. So again, it is/was an attractive plant-no question there-but its proven invasiveness makes further use in the trade verboten-I think. Not going to drag this convo down into the weeds, but there is a huge amount of controversy overall about invasive exotic plants and their true impact. Again, not going to get into details but suffice to say, I believe each and every case must be considered on its own merits. I am one of a group of researchers and practitioners who believe some of the poster-plants for exotic invasiveness have actually never been proven to displace native species. But that said, the shrubby ones that I'm aware of all seem to create real and lasting problems. +oM

is it possible to kill a shrub by pruning at the wrong time of year? ==>>> i would add to the above .. there isnt much of anything that will die just for a pruning.. or even being run over by a truck .. lol .. with flowering shrubs.. timing is usually associated with flowering ... and if done improperly ... you just might miss a season of such ... so be it.. if they need to be taught a lesson ... severe cut back.. is not a hair cut thing ... get some good hand pruners.. and just track back down a stem.. to a branch with green ... and cut off the end ... the part left will assume dominance ... and take off ... if you go as far back ... as just a brown stick ... it may take a long time for it to regenerate ... and that might not be pleasant to look at for 2 years .. or whatever ... my key is.. you can always go back and take more.. you can not glue mistakes back on ... this is a very common problem.. the plants were sited for the size they were at purchase.. with no real concept of there future potential monster size.. and on top of that.. planted too close to the house ... by this time they are rather mature.. with a massive corresponding root mass ... and even if you go to town on them... they will probably be back to this size or bigger in 2 or 3 years ... and being one that doesnt really like the hobby of beating stuff like this back on an annual basis... i would think long and hard about removal .. and that usually happens after the second time i cut them back hard .. and decide.. ive had enough of that nonsense ... take some off now.. try again in fall if you wish ... who cares about flowers right now ... and if you arent happy by next summer.. be done with them ... ken