Running bamboo is the only other evergreen I'm aware of that grows well around here and meets your height and width requirements without substantial espaliering effort. If your HOA is on the ball, they won't let you plant it without installing a barrier to keep it out of your neighbors' yards. I'm not a big fan, but our neighbors have some 12+ ft tall growing in a corner that has not been a lot of trouble living next to. Birds seem to love it and you can't see through it's 3 or 4 foot depth year around. Seems best used in the few spots where line-of-sight from a window needs to be blocked... an 80 ft run of it would provide a lot of privacy with a healthy dose of monotony.

Here is a link that might be useful: Example of running bamboo as privacy screen

There are a few clumping bamboos that might survive in your area also, but it depends on how much protection they have from the cold. If it is planted in between houses, then it should do just fine.

Kt

Thanks for the ideas - will look more into each one.

Magnolia could be a nice option if either the 3 ft depth constraint is relaxed or a serious commitment is made to a trimming and training regime. Pleaching (rather than espaliering) was the term I couldn't recall earlier. The following link shows pleached magnolias from SFA. It's a more familiar practice in the UK than the US, but they use several plants in addition to magnolia that also grow well here.

'Raised' or 'Stilted' hedging is another technique to check. We grew an 8 ft Burford holly to a depth of 3 ft doing this informally which required only one or two training trims a year. Apparently some faster growing options can need trimming every few weeks during the growing season to keep them in bounds. We'll be trying this with a Texas mountain laurel planted to replace a section of an 8 ft nandina screen, but are still years away from it reaching this height.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pleached magnolias from SFASU

That's very interesting. Do you know if the pleaching could be applied to a Thuja Green Giant?

Ooh! We keep needing something to put on either side of the entryway and everything is either too big or won't live there. But Saturday at Calloways I saw Blue Italian Cypress that looked like it might work for me. It might work for you too. I took a picture of the tag so I'd remember because there's were $100 each!!!

That's pretty; wonder if it can be trimmed to 15 feet? Don't think our HOA will allow that tall.

Found this Juniper - Skyrocket but was wondering how well it would grow in zone 7.

Do you know if the pleaching could be applied to a Thuja Green Giant?

Suspect it's conical shape renders it a poor choice for pleaching. Long flexible stems in the crown are preferred, so usually done with plants like fruit trees, photinia, ligustrum, etc. Not complicated, but a non-trivial and lengthy dedicated effort.... or expensive if done/maintained professionally. Found a preview on Google books at the following link that provides a sidebar overview of the process.

We've only espaliered pears, so unless an actual expert chimes in here, you may want to check on the GW topiary forum for more on plant options for pleaching and actual effort.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pleaching preview from 'Landscaping for Privacy'

I'm late to this party. If you have a backyard for full Sun and you need privacy...why not build a trellis and grow things that can climb it? Roses come to mind, evergreen vines, climbing veggies in the summer.

I hope you keep us posted about what you do. smiles c

Yes - we're really hoping to get HOA approval for lattice enclosure for the patio area. It would be nice to have the backyard private too. There are some really nice cedar bench/planter/lattice combos that we are looking at on Amazon. The tree issue is more tricky! Once we decide everything, I will post a followup.