technically speaking any shrubs can be made into a nice living fence. Informal fences such as flowering bushes can be used. Roses, rose of sharon, pg hydrangea, to name a few. informal fencing - barberries, burning bush, etc. Formal fencing (meaning it needs pruning) - yews (dense lovely foliage but slow growing), boxwood, holly, privet, beech, hawthorns, etc.

How's the drainage? I have clay soils and grow some 100+ different species of trees and shrubs. Never fertilize, do not mulch. Bought 10 acres of a place with about 4 trees. Something like Chionanthus virginicus grows fine, is deer resistant, but needs well drained land. It absolutely needs sloping ground if you have clay. The shape is a mound about 15 ft. tall (after about 10 years from a sprig). Native evergreen Hollies (like Ilex opaca) make a decent screen after just a few years. If you want to put up a trellis, you can hide anything in 3 years with Aristolochia durior (macrophylla is a synonym). Doesn't spread all over, thrives in shade that is not to deep. If your idea is to plant it and forget it, forget it. Even the best situated, native or foreign plant needs a pruning to eliminate crossing or dead branches. Pruning to shape is also often needed. Spending every weekend is not required, but 10 hours/tree/year should be expected. (Pruning, weeding etc.)

You will in general have best blooming if you plant them where there is at least some sun. I will often plant in brighter areas and along the edges of my woods to get the best bloom, but many plants will grow loosely in deeper shade. What is your soil like, both in texture and pH? I have acid fine sandy loam, and if your area is at all similar to mine, I will have lots of suggestions, but they all require acid soil.

I have photina fraseri hedges and they are excellent for tall privacy screens. They are in full sun and I never need to water them since they have become established. They take severe pruning without any ill effects and I have even seen them espaliered to less than 2' wide and 10' plus tall. I have mine at the bottom of a small slope and they still block my uphill neighbor's basketball court and light poles. I had a smaller hedge of them next to a fence which did succumb to that fungus/blight disease but that was only after my neighbor butchered a large percentage of the bush off that was growing over the fence toward the sun. They are much healthier with full sun. Summers here regularly are in the 90's with periodic hot spells up to 115. Winter lows regularly in 30's and occasionally lower. The only negative is that I find the scent of the small white flowers disagreeable. The foliage is of a coarser texture than the xylosma. The leaves being larger and thicker. Also the branches can become quite thick and sturdy which may be an advantage in windy areas. The foliage of the photina is a darker green while the xylosma is a brighter spring apple green. Both need to be clipped to keep confined as they will grow into a enormous mound otherwise. I'm considering replacing the hedge that died with xylosma to block the neighbor's view of our deck but would really like to use standard lemon trees. I need something around 15' tall minimum and evergreen. Has anyone ever tried doing this? and was it necessary to espalier them or will judicious pruning suffice?