The obvious solution is a low, neatly pruned hedge: the plant equivalent of a wall. Low so that your neighbors don't get worried about your antisocial tendencies. Certainly the covenant keepers can't kill you for asking about a wall, which would be the easiest for maintenance, I imagine; and think of the pots of flowers you could put on top of it! If a tidy box hedge revolts you, you could make a different style--I'd still go with evergreen, but different varieties, shapes, and sizes of plants. I have a weakness for topiary, I must admit. My thinking is that the constant shade and root barrier such a hedge offers would tend to discourage creeping herbs and grass, would be unavoidably visible to mowers, and would make a very nice background to your roses and other plants as seen from inside your yard. Melissa

Curious: what did you end up planting? We have a similar situation; we live in a very dense, urban area and want privacy in our single family house from the adjacent apartment building. We'd like to plant along the fence line something evergreen, dense, tall--20-30'-- with columnar habit and a narrow base. The only thing I see out there that grows fast enough is the skyrocket juniper, which won't do well in Seattle's moisture. Can't deal with bamboo. We've had it before and it either flops over or spreads like mad and becomes a massive property value liability. What was your solution?

Koelreuteria elegans (golden rain tree) looks like a good match. I had looked at that earlier but the leaf shape and branch formation of the adult I was comparing it to did not seem to match; the sapling stage photos I'm finding do seem to resemble it well. Now that I know what the parent tree looks like, I'll try to find the parent tree. We do get a range of seed dispersing wildlife, though, so it may not be anything within a short distance. It may be something a few doors down landscaped into someone's yard that I've never noticed or something a mile away. It doesn't read like something I want growing as close as it is to the screened enclosure and brick wall that it's adjacent, too, so... it may not matter what it is, it's likely coming down... now the only questions is do I replant it considering it's likely invasive, etc.

Had to google viburnum as it doesn't grow down here in 10b. Wow that's gorgeous. Podocarpus is said to be moderate grower but it went from 3 to 6 feet in a year for me. It gets plenty of water and afternoon sun in the spot it's in. I paid $13 for a 3 ft shrub. It's evergreen, which is important if you need it for privacy. Google podocarpus hedge to see the different ways it's used, I prefer it to be a bit spaced and not so tightly sheared. Looks so fluffy. But the closely spaced and tightly sheared look is a nice and neat look too.