If you plant fruiting shrubs right next to the road they will be subject to being soiled by emanations from tailpipes, brake linings and car tires. WSU used to (and perhaps still does) recommend planting vegetables a minimum of 100' from highways and freeways. Possibly this street has seen enough traffic and is old enough that the soil near it contains a significant lead buildup or similar problem.

If you are not bothered by these possibilities native evergreen huckleberry would probably be more satisfactory there than 'Sunshine Blue'.

Since you are growing other plants in the same bed maybe you really need to plant climbers (vines) on the fence, giving you more room for the other plants. This also opens up the possibility of having more rapid recovery of the screen than with slow-growing shrubs such as huckleberries (or blueberries). Plantings in front could be coordinated with the climbers, coinciding at flowering time or with climber leaf colors that form a pleasing backdrop to flowers in front of them.

I'd look into some of the evergreen clematis, if I had a chain link fence. I also like my Darwins' barberry bush, which has tiny holly-shaped leaves and bright orange flowers very soon; but it likes sun and I'm not clear on how much sun your fence gets. Ornamental grasses might be something to think about too, they'd come in quickly and many of them have winter foliage too.

Point well-taken about pollution from the street bboy. Since I have blueberries in the backyard for my own consumption, I had figured berries in the front could be for the birds, but still... I've included evergreen huckleberry elsewhere in the yard, but even though I have heard it can be sheared for a hedge, feel a little skeptical given that its growth form is kinda twiggy. But I guess with pruning it would fill out.

Googled Darwin's barberry bush and the flowers are quite pretty... but the thorns look ruthless. Maybe not the best for right by the sidewalk. The sun is kinda tricky. It is west facing, so the shrubs on the south side of the property will get full sun, but the cherry tree will shade as you move north. The noble fir died and we had to take it out (I thought the yard was too small for it, but it was a shame, the chickadees liked it so much). Osmanthus delavayi is on my radar as a planting possibility for the hedge. All the plants I am leaning towards are slower growing, which I think is appropriate given the size of the space. Thus, the need for a vine. I like evergreen clematis, my parter does not :( (he's yet to give me a good reason). Towards the south, I was thinking an annual vine (hyacinth bean?) might be fun until the shrubs get bigger (little less costly too, even if only for summer interest).

Thanks!

Evergreen clematis can be kind of like having an elephant in the living room. Gets big, and unmannerly, and rampant. Can overwhelm a small yard. And it looks ratty in winter, even though it's evergreen. Plus, bare at the base, like most all vines.

The osmanthus is an excellent choice - evergreen, good bushy habit, pretty fragrant flowers early in spring, takes well to hedging. But yes, slow growing, which will make maintenance easier but you'd be living with the chain link for some time until it fills in. There's an osmanthus delavayi hedge across the street from me and it's gorgeous and it gets no care at all, just an annual trimming whether it needs it or not.

Japanese hollies are another common hedge for the size you're talking about. Maintenance free basically, and a very nice glossy dark green with black berries, but not flashy at all. Very serviceable. No noticeable flowers, unlike the osmanthus.

Annual vines might be a good idea for filling in temporarily. Or, I have a section of chain link covered with a very heavy duty shade cloth, to keep my dogs from barking at the cats and squirrels in the neighbor's yard. You can use bamboo screening the same way, and it would be more attractive. Once your hedge fills in it would be easy to take out.

One school of thought on the edibles next to roads issue is, that what you're buying at the grocery store is already as contaminated with the same kinds of stuff; and that if the pollution levels are so bad that you shouldn't be eating this stuff, then you shouldn't be breathing the air either. We live in an imperfect world. But the blueberry wants to be arching out and I'm not sure how it would take to being sheared into a hedge anyway.

Yeah, I was going to point out on the barberry, that they're very thorny and not entirely appropriate for a confined space next to a walkway. Beautiful though.

I wouldn't think in terms of a sheared hedge unless it eventually gets so big some pruning is required - and then you could still prune selectively instead of shearing it to be rectangular.

The prickles on the Darwin barberry aren't much. It is a superb flowering evergreen, a classic. When established the osmanthus builds itself up comparatively quickly. Like the barberry it has a large (when happy) and arching habit.

Japanese holly swarms with bees when in flower, so a row of these near an access route could be cause for distress.

Fruit being grown in farm fields wouldn't be expected to be exposed to the same levels of lead, arsenic, asbestos etc. that might occur near an old urban road that has been traveled by numerous vehicles for a long time.

You might try a variety hedge, with something that liked part-shade near the cherry tree and something that like it sunnier further south?

My Darwin is noticably prickly, but doesn't really reach out and grab you, it's more when you're trying to weed inside it's branches. I've always thought that a bit of prickle is a good thing in a hedge myself, makes it less likely to be ignored. With the fence behind it that isn't an issue though.

I know they're old-fashioned and some people don't like the smell (my husband is one, unfortunately) but I've always liked boxwoods. I've never owned one, but I like the smell on a warm sunny day--I think I must have played near one as a child.

For the sunny part you could consider a rosemary too, even if it's too polluted to eat, the smell is wonderful. I have a pretty yellow-variegated one. Mine has hardy cyclamen at it's feet.

I've tried 3 types of Ceanothus -- Victoria impressive, Blue Star and a native. All 3 are growing very fast. You could research a type that grows about as tall as you'd like. The above varieties grow so big and fast you'd have to prune every year. Anyway they're evergreen, dense, and the flowers are beautiful, and they can withstand heat after establishment.

Of the vines in my neighborhood the most hardy evergreen seems to be the Hall's honeysuckle which has wonderful fragrance in late summer / fall. The confederate jasmine doesn't hold up well to the cold temps. The clematis armandii gets brown leaves and needs frequent watering and its roots need to be kept shaded and cool and moist. Thanks Reg Pnw7 for the info!

There was a vine thread a while back with pictures of folks' vine-covered chainlink fences -- amazing.

Wondering if there's a mid-dwarf conifer that could be sheared as a nice fence. Have seen large evergreen hedges of hemlock, thuja, leyland that looked luxuriant -- is there something comparable that stops growing at 42"? (riiiiight)

Thank you for all the feedback. Jennie, your yellow-varigated rosemary sound very pretty, I will have to keep an eye-out (it might be nice in front of my porch). Later this week I will be down in Seattle, and plan on stopping at the center for urban horticulture, I hear they have an osmanthus hedge. Right now I am leaning that way, with some interplanted annual vines. Part of the largest challenge is just taking the leap and taking out the photina. The photina looks just good enough to make me think, "maybe its not that bad" and just bad enough that I won't really be satisfied with the yard until its gone.

The osmanthus hedge there is tightly sheared, making it much less interesting - a blackish green wall sprinkled with fragrant white flowers in season. Kind of an odd effect, actually. A more traditional sheared yew hedge with contrastingly colored leaves and flowers in front, or even draped over it seems to have more appeal - not that any kind of a big formal statement is likely to look at home in an ordinary casual setting like a small home yard. Even at the CUH the sheared hedging doesn't really connect with the rest of it, including the architecture.

Traditional cottage gardens do have clipped hedges on the edges and behind often very casual planting, where they frame the scene. I guess partly what is "off" about the CUH hedges is that they appear as conspicuous features, very apparent from more than one viewpoint rather than background elements. Your clipped hedges are also what dominates the view in your picture, if you had lots of contrasting billowy planting in front of them then the crispness of the hedges would be balanced. That's why it would be better if smaller, unclipped shrubs were used.