Trumpet creeper - Warning it's a bit invasive...it came with our house... Cross Vine is another option.... Both of these are orange... Confederate Jasmine - aggressive/evergreen vine looks like Asian Jasmine All of the above have tendrils Carolina Jessamine evergreen vine/yellow flowers in spring. Not very aggressive. Can eventually develop chlorosis.. Dwarf Wax Myrtle- Fast growing evergreen shrub approx 5 feet tall. Soft texture/easy to shear. Perfect next to a chainlink fence

What a great gift for your daughter and son in law! Fun fun fun. You've gotten some great suggestions for sure. The first thing that came to my mind is the same as piranha's: hopseed/hop bush/Dodonaea viscosa. I've got a nice hedge of it in part of my back garden and it goes great in full sun, partial sun, and almost full shade (it's more dense in sun but is quite dense still in partial shade). Plus once established it really doesn't need much water, especially if you want its growth to slow down. You can trim it as tall or as short as you want. Let us know what you select and how it works out! Happy gardening! Grant Here is a link that might be useful: Hopseed description on Desert-Tropicals website

oakleafs grow at a decent clip, but i don't know how much the clay might slow them down. i planted mine in clay and it has tripled in size over about 5-7 yrs. was about 2' when i planted it- is about 6' all around now. i don't know what size the pot was, but it very well could have been 3 gallon. i haven't babied it at all- if you watered & or fertilized, the growth might be faster. nice flowers that persist. and remember, oafleafs are deciduous, so your screen will be bare come winter. i have a weeping yaupon in pretty heavy shade, and it's done well. i didn't plant it there, and in fact didn't know what it was for a long time. i think it must have been planted 20 yrs ago. there's a second one that's very stunted beside it. it's nice and dense and is about 10' tall. doesn't bloom or set as many berries in the sahde, but the form is still nice. althea(rose of sharon) can do ok in light shade and has the advantage of fast growth and nice blooms in a range of colors half the summer. disadvantage- it sets seeds. if you mulched well it might not be a problem. it's also deciduous. if you find someone who has them, they'd be happy to share, probably. i know i will if you want some. we had one that was about 15-20' in the backyard before fran came through. the remaining ones are about 12'. you might consider planting 2 or 3 types of plants in your space, just to vary it a bit, and so that if any one thing doesn't do well, the others can carry its weight. it tends to look a lot more natural, too. you can have your cake & eat it too if you have some evergreen & some deciduous back there. i would think for most things planting now would be just fine. good luck! tammy

There are some really skinny junipers that you might consider, like 'Sky rocket'. The evergreen habit might be a plus and the foliage is very beautiful blue/green. 'DeGroot's Spire' Arborvitae might be another one to research. The thread below might give you some ideas too. Here is a link that might be useful: You might get some ideas on this thread