Many years ago when I lived near Riverside (Moreno Valley), I had a situation like yours a low part of my yard in a swale along our property line. To screen off the other house I planted some Acacia longifolia. It was the fastest and most succesful screen I've ever planted. I also transplanted some gaint reed (Arundo sp.) which grew like crazy, but it can become an ugly mess too.
RB

Probably he wants to use Ficus retusis ssp. 'nitida' aka Ficus nitida. These do have invasive roots and want to grow enormous, but they are commonly used as a narrow screen if kept trimmed. And they will suck up the water. If you plant a lot close together they keep each other's root systems in check--somewhat--for a while...

I have the Icee Blue Podocarpus. It's beautiful and well-behaved so far, but it is SLOW. Seriously slow grower, a foot a year, not more.

The native Prunus ilicifolia makes a really good fast screen if you head it back regularly. There are several growing in the neighborhood in shade and they look great.

Here is a link that might be useful: example of Ficus screen on blog post w/photos

Egads, Bob! I just had to cut down three Acacias that were totally out of control growing down there. They are very fast growing, no doubt, but have an ungainly growth habit, have HUGE invasive roots. They were an unmitigated disaster down there. Good news, I'll have lots of mulch! And Giant Reed is an invasive species in California, so I probably should steer away from that. It will also take over anywhere it's wet like the Acacias. I need something that will behave itself, lol!!

Hoovb, we had a row of Ficus Nitida at my parent's home growing up. Roots are invasive, but they looked very nice. My dad would take the electric pruners to then and zip, zip, zip. They always looked very manicured. But, Holly Leaf Cherry is a great idea. I'll have to check into that. Plus, nice berries for the birds which nest down there. Maybe I can keep them interested in the Holly Leaf Cherries instead of all my stone fruit that will be going down there! (all netted, of course). Thanks for the suggestions, keep them coming folks!

Patty S.

I'm not sure how tall you need the screen, but I planted Buddleia (Butterfly Bush) along the 70 ft of length of my chain link shade house that is 8 ft tall. They were planted every 6 feet and were in 1 gallon pots. Two years later, they were a solid screen hiding the contents of the shade house. They have been trimmed annually as they easily grow to 12 feet (that's all I have let them grow).

Bonus features: besides their rapid growth are the beautiful 8-10 inch flower spikes at the end of the branches. The colors ranges from white, pink,lavendar, purple and dark purple. They are low maintenance and the butterflies and hummingbirds LOVE them too! They also can be started easily from cuttings.

I love Buddleia, but I don't think this area has enough sun unfortunately. There are some newer varieties of Budlleia that have a nicer growth habit, too, not so rangy or scraggly. And they are a huge butterfly and hummer attraction. I've always had at least one in my yard. Have one out front on our slope that I let just grow into a big mound. When left to grow on their own in an open area, they can actually become very lovely if you can get them to stay symmetrical.

Patty S.

One thing to consider about screening plants is how much real estate and maintenance energy you're willing to devote to them. Escallonia, for example, will easily grow 8-10 ft. thick if left to its natural growth habit. It can be sheared much thinner, but realize that will be an on-going maintenance task for decades to come. Is there any reason you cannot plant a screening vine like Distictis, Petrea, Plumbago, Pandorea or Beaumontia on the fence itself?

I actually think that your plain-Jane green workhorse plants make the best functional screens. You don't want a lot of visual competition with your specimen plantings from the background borders. And here you basically have two options: 1.) something that will fill in quite quickly because it naturally grows to a larger size than what you want and you will forever be chopping it back, or 2.) a plant that will top out at your target height, but will take some time in getting there.

Ilex crenata 'Skypencil' has become a very popular screening plant because it only grows 6-10 ft. high, is not much more than a foot wide, is reasonably tolerant of both varying conditions of soil and sun exposure, and is evergreen. Its most remarkable characteristic, though, is its tiny permanent footprint...it really carries the meaning of "fastigiate" to a new extreme. Because of this, a tight visual screen will require that it be planted on 18" centers or less. You can often find quantity specials on Ebay, though, that bring the cost of individual starts to around $2 each, so it needn't be expensive.

Yup, a big consideration, Dick. I really don't want to become a slave to the screen, but we do need to create a fair amount of privacy for our neighbors, because their pool palapa and deck are nearly right against our fence. So, 6 to 10 feet would be a good thing :-) I'll take some photos of it tomorrow, when I'm snapping some pics of the walk & pick orchard, so you can see my two big dilemmas - the fenceline between the two yards, and the eastside of my greenhouse. The east side of the greenhouse will get lots of sun. The southern property line where our fence is, is nearly all shade, which gets much more shady as the ginormous Empress trees leaf out. And yes, I agree - the screen doesn't need to be fancy or special at all. Better to have it well behaved, and as a backdrop for specimen plants in front. I'll check out Ilex, that might work, as well as some of your other suggestions, appreciate it!

Patty S.

I planted Hollyleaf Cherry in a fairly shady spot. It did not grow much at all for 2 1/2 years. I read that it takes "2 to 3 years to get going." I found this to be true. After 2/1/2 years it did start growing. Now it is about 7 feet tall but it is not very dense. I regularly pinched the new growth but I did not head it back, so maybe this is why it is not dense.

I recently planted CA native Tecate Cypress (Cupressus Forbisii) along some of our 30O+' fence line. I purchased mine at Las Pilitas and Tree of Life Nurseries. Las Pilitas is probably pretty close to you. Take a look at their website. They are fast growing and have great foliage.

How about a bower vine,grows fast,has pretty flowers.Or honey suckle,purple potato vine,or white if you're into that color.
Kathi

If Tecate Cypress can grow with significant shade, that might be an option. The area is pretty shady and pretty moist since it is under a significant canopy and is the low spot in our yard where all our water drains down to. Bower vine is going to need more sun, and will only grow on the fence. I do have quite a bit of Bower vine on my back fence up on the upper part of my yard, and it is very pretty. And I need more of a screen, first, to grow taller than the fence which is about 5' tall. A vine would be great if I could find one that will grow in the shade, in addition to screening materials.

Patty S.