Not sure of your zone, but from about zone 7 plus, many of the most popular runners will EVENTUALLY (after a period of several years) become highly invasive without some control. Remember, they WANT TO FORM A GROVE (NOT A FORMAL HEDGE). Some of the Phyllostachys are much more aggressive than others. The common P. aureum (Golden Goddess) can be very aggressive given the proper conditions. Believe me, I speak from experience! P. nigra (Black Bamboo is not nearly as aggressive but it too will need to be controlled (P. nigra though needs a zone 7 to thrive.) Pseudosasa japanica hasn't been such an aggressive spreader for me (possibly because the P. aureum eventually strangled it. You might want to consider clumping (NON-SPREADERS). Basically, in northern climates the biggest genus is Fargesia but they have some issues. Many have good to excellent cold hardiness but have relatively low heat tolerance (many are mountain species). They are also supposed to be slower to extablish (even the runners will take several years befor they TAKE OFF). (I just got into Fargesias so I can't give you and feedback on them.) If you go with runners you can purchase a rhizome barrier (even saw this being sold on ebay--they're not cheap). Or you could trench around each of your plants and cut the running shoots once they extend beyond the perimeter you've established. You do have to be concerned about spread to your neighbor as well. Remember some of the timber species want to attain an eventual height of over 35-50 feet (which could be an issue cropping up unintentionally in someones backyard). I have several species in large containers that overwintered well (aureum, vivax, viridis, nidularia and nigra). (Moved within the past year.) Now I am debating whether to keep them (civilized) in containers or to let them run wild in the back. There is a boggy expance just beyond a tiny patch of woods in back of me (so that should naturally curtail its expansion to the rear--as they are not supposed to spread into boggy conditions). Then I'll just worry about treching on the sides of the grove. Hope this was helpful. Good luck!

Hi, Julie. Thanks for the offer! Do you know how tall & wide the arborvitae will get? I like the idea of some evergreen plants in that area... I have all the other plants already somewhere in the yard, except the elderberry, that might be a nice addition. Oh, and the black currant--will have to look that one up, too. Any one growing white hawthorn? That one came up in a plant search and it sounds interesting.

Since you have ONLY three feet to work with this limit your choices. There aren't many plants that will grow in the conditions you listed. Of course the list grows if you are willing to trim and trim and trim. Remember your neighbor has the legal right to prune anything that is on their side regardless of how it is done.

There are also some indigenous (to Melbourne) plants that would be ideal and faster growing. Dodonaea viscosa - Pittosporum like and closely related to them. Has masses of bright earthy red seed capsules in spring. Myoporum viscosum - grows 2-3m wide as well as 2-3m tall. You would have to maintain this one as a hedge to fit it into the space available. But it is a very attractive plant if regularly pruned. Spyridium parvifolium - box like shrub Bursaria spinosa - also called native box or sweet bursaria and has masses of tiny white fragrant flowers in spring/summer.