try some rainbow eucalyptus they look pretty awesome. Also, bamboo may work.

Thanks. It is a beautiful tree but it gets up to 300 feet! Even 50 feet would be a tad too big. I think something along the lines of twenty to thirty feet maximum would be best for this spot. Anyone know anything about the silk oak tree, Grevillea robusta? I have seen some in the area, but I am not sure how it is for messiness.

Bruce

I love arborvitae. I have them planted as a privacy fence along my road. You can get different heights/widths. I have the techny arborvitae. Some of the AV's get really tall, so make sure you look at the description of the tree for its height and width. And they smell wonderful; you can use them in winter wreaths too. Green all year. Gee, I don't know if you have them in California, but my guess is they do have certain species for your area. Good luck!

Broadleaf evergreens in general typically drop spent leaves for a long time in summer. As you have found with the privets, if they produce anything else (flowers etc.) those will fall during their season also. Coniferous evergreens are also apt to be seen with substantial amounts of persisting litter beneath them anywhere nobody is cleaning up after them on a regular basis.

Nevertheless, you might get some ideas from the table of garden and patio trees in the plant selection guide near the front of the Sunset Western Garden Book.

Silk oak drops stuff year-round.

Jean, who gardened in SoCal for 30-some years and who had a silk oak in her front yard while living in a rental.

Cornus capitata probably would be a good choice for what you intend. Any Eucalyptus would likely be too large ultimately. If Podocarpus gracilior do okay in your part of Sacramento, they are very clean growing evergreens. Brachychiton populneus is a nice narrow growing evergreen, but will have litter from the spent flowers. Having grown up with the Grevillea robusta tree; beautiful foliage and flowers, but constant leaf drop and weak
branch structure subject to wind damage. Mayten trees make a beautiful weeping tree, but the do tend to drop leaves all year round.

The capital campus is planted as an arboretum, with signs identifying the trees. You might want to walk around there to see if anything looks like a candidate for your situation. Otherwise there is the University of California Arboretum at Davis.

Two points:

First, you might want to count your blessings regarding what you have, if they are the right size and allow you to garden as you wish underneath. It will not be as easy again to get the conditions that are just right for your understory garden. I suspect they are quite dense, and that will go some way to creating the protected conditions you enjoy.

Second, if you do need to replace, why not stagger the replacement? If you have three of them, replace one every five years or something. Then you can maintain something of your understory ecosystem as each one grows in.

Karin L

Staggering the removal as Karen L suggests seems a good idea, other than Privets self sow like mad. What about a structure to shade the area while the replacement grows? What about something temporary that grows quickly but can be removed once the desired replacement grows? Your original question was what to plant instead of the dreaded privets that pop-up on every fenceline in Sactown. I have a similar situation but don't need the shade, just the screening effect. I am considering a Bronze loquat or Chindo Viburnum. The Chindo is supposed to be fairly speedy to get height. I've seen a few pictures where it was limbed up. I haven't found any locally but Forest Farms has had them in the past and Monrovia lists them.

ntropics59__ I know this post is 3 months old but am curious as to wether you found a remedy or not? Can you post a pic of the privet you want replaced? What is the form of your trees, single trunk or multiple? Diameter of trunks and heigth of trees?
I remedied my pollen problem with mine but not sure if my methods would work for you long term (depending on the size you have) but could possibly be a temp fix to allow for a replacement to catch up in size.