From hearing other people's opinions, the regulars that hang out on the landscape design forum are extremely helpful. You could try that forum. I can't quite tell what the tree is that you have planted there, but it kind of looks like a crabapple. If that be the case, you might want to rethink that as well. My brother had 1 planted in the exact same position in his yard & hated it because of the fruit falling on the sidewalk & the cars parked there. People tracked what they stepped in into the house & he was constantly washing his car. Loved the tree, but just wished it was planted elsewhere. I am pretty sure that the cultivar would make a difference though. Some of the recent varieties have persistent fruit, drying on the tree before falling making it much less messy. I really like the shape of your bed. The curves in the bed & the sidewalk already suggest informal. Anytime I visualize a hedge, I get the feeling of formal. I think what you might be referencing to is what is called an edging plant or a border plant? I don't know the correct terminology. If that be the case, I think you might want to pick that last at any rate. All the backbones (aka plants in the center of the bed) should be in 1st, otherwise how will you know how tall you can go?

As much as I like tea olive (_Osmanthus fragrans_), I would not recommend its use as a privacy screen in a full-sun, exposed location in Western North Carolina, halfway between Asheville and Charlotte. In recent years, we've had comparatively warm winters in this part of the Southeast; but there's bound to be a future winter in which _Osmanthus fragrans_ will be badly burned or killed to the ground by cold temperatures. It is, indeed, a fine plant and one to be enjoyed in a sheltered location; but at some point it will prove unreliable in a harsh, unforgiving exposed Piedmont location. Don't consider using it as a hedge unless you want to see it decimated. If you take a look at _The Southern Living Garden Book_ or similar books, you will find that there are several _Osmanthus_ varieties that are much hardier than _Osmanthus fragrans_. Like _Osmanthus fragrans_, they are evergreen with fragrant fall/winter flowers. These hardier strains of _Osmanthus_ would be more likely to have longterm success in a Western North Carolina landscape than the more tender _Osmanthus fragrans_. However, one wants his/her _Osmanthus fragrans_ to be near a frequenty trodden pathway or near a window where its fragrance can be enjoyed. Planting tea olive out in a hedge along the roadside would be a waste of its many attributes. Leyland cypress is an abomination. Avoid it like the plague. _Eleagnus pungens_ or _Eleagnus pungens fruitlandii_ would be a superb choice, requiring no maintenance and providing food for our songbirds. These species of _Eleagnus_ are not the Russian olive you're thinking about. A spectacular choice would be golden bamboo or black bamboo. I have a grove of golden bamboo on one side of my house and a grove of black bamboo on the other side. They provide a lush, evergreen, Oriental appearance and an abundance of privacy. Your roadway would serve as a "bamboo containment wall" on one side. Just let the bamboo colonize freely on the other side, creating a natural effect.

First thanks for all the replies. I will google mentioned fence types to get a better idea. Keep the kid in the back yard is one of the but not the only reason for the fence/hedge. Our daughter actually is not an adventure type - so even if we have a row of small tree and tell her to stay inside, she will do so. BUT with an enclosed fence, it is more a peace of mind to say maybe we can leave her alone in the backyard while we hop between in house and out. We also want some privacy - there are 3 houses on the south side of the road plus the passed cars. We also thought about put a fence and then grow some vine (like Ivy) to climb on the fence - but read about the fence will soon be deteriorated by the plant. The lot is not large - it's only about 0.3 acre. So an informal hedge might not feasible plus an informal hedge looks unmaintained if did not planned right. >>What kind of trees are they? Honestly I do not know. I only know the tree on the top left(North west) corner is an evergreen tree, others are deciduous. They are many years trees and very tall >>Do you like the look of less formal hedges that are made up of a variety of different species? Thought about that too, but... reason see above >>Would you consider a picket fence or other open, decorative fence rather than the solid gray boring wall you might be considering? Since privacy also a consideration, we need to plant tree beside the open fence too. So cost is also a factor to consider >>What direction is north? Top side is north >>Ignoring the kid, what would you do? Still want to put up a fence or tree hedge for privacy, more like tree hedge want more green around >>In the long run a hedge is not practical You mean it will become a duty you might hated to keep the hedge looking good? Unless you enjoy doing it? >>In time, it would become a huge, boring green 'wall' that would hide the house. Hah, I never thought about that. I would not think it will hide the house though, it won't be that huge, will it? >>Fence line A would not be a good choice because it will 'enclose' the house and make it look prison-like. You want the beauty of the home, and not the fence itself, to be the most important prominent visual element I honestly did not think about that, (enclose the house), it is a good point though. But on another hand, I did not think the side view of our house is that pretty (maybe I need to start appreciated it from now on) and I wanted more acre in my (now fenced) backyard so that I can put more craps in there :) >>Because you are on a corner lot, I think the south and southeast corners should be more open and inviting than a tall fence/hedge line would allow good point here too. And I think that's the reason the lot 3 did not have any fence on the south and west side. But that's the only property that does not have fence, all others (lot 4, 5, 6 (to the right side of 5) and my north neighbor) have fenced yard >>Just enclose the upper lefthand quadrant as a play area for your child. That would not work as it is too small, we need the whole back yard to throw balls and to run What the choices of trees for a hedge/ as plants for a boundary - I am not very good at tree names, I saw a lot property with nice tree hedges but never cared to know what kind of trees that they are using. From aesthetics perspective, we think hedge would be much better. But not sure about from cost and improve the property value perspective, which one is the winner. Again, thanks a lot

Matt, There's a couple of things to consider when planting a hege for a privacy screen. First of all, what you can plant hinges on what kind of soil you have. Some plants do very well in clay, for example, but others do not. Most plants do well in sandy loam, but a few need more acidic soil than others. So keep your soil type and pH in mind when choosing your plants. Secondly, be sure whatever type of fence, trellis or plants you choose to use do not violate any of your Home Owners Association rules, assuming that your use of the term 'neighborhood association' means that you have a HOA. Some HOAs have very strict rules about fences and hedges. Third, if you want year-round privacy, be sure to choose evergreen trees or shrubs. Also, to help keep your sanity, choose very well-adapted plants that do not need a lot of upkeep/maintenance and that are resistant to pests and diseases. I agree with what Moni said about a mixed planting. If you plant a long row of one type of tree or shrub and it is hit by disease, the disease is likely to move from one plant to another, or to hit all of them at once. Also, think about how plants grow in nature in clusters of multiple types of plants, and not in single rows of perfectly-spaced identical plants. A monoculture hedge of one type of plant is pretty tedious and dull to look at too, whereas a mixed planting looks natural and is a delight to view. Be sure to space your plants at the recommended spacing and be patient and wait for them to fill in. Most people who want a privacy hedge tend to space their plants too closly together in order to get an 'instant hedge' and then they spend the next decade fighting plants that are too close to one another to grow well. There are tons of plants you could use. I always recommend hollies like Dwarf Burford (shorter, but still tall--mine are about 8 years old and about 10-12 tall and 4' wide) because they form a very dense planting in just a few years and are very disease resistant. We have those here, and Southern Wax Myrtles (the standard ones, not the dwarf ones), but there are all kinds of evergreens that could meet your needs. For example, some of the shorter and more compact magnolias like 'Little Gem' or trees that spread out very wide like the Chaste Tree (Vitex agnus-castus) although it isn't evergreen. You could choose from the many kinds of junipers or pines or other conifers, or from broadleaf evergreens like hollies, photinias, or abelias, or you could use deciduous shrubs (like one of the viburnums) or understory type trees like redbuds, etc. I like Glenda's recommendation of ornamental grasses too. Some of them get quite large and are very beautiful. If I needed a really quick, almost 'instant' hedge and I didn't care it if was evergreen or not, I'd plant cannas. If you plant the tall types, they'll make a pretty solid screen in just a year or too. I have cannas in the shade of a pecan tree and, while that don't bloom as well as cannas in full sun would, they still or very pretty and lush and do bloom occasionally. In full sun, my cannas tend to get 4-6' tall but in dappled shade they get a couple of feet taller. If you put up a fence or trellis and grow vines on it, there are some that stay evergreen or mostly evergreen and do tolerate shade. American Cross Vine is one that I used in our shady backyard in Fort Worth and it had leaves on it from about February through December, so the fence wasn't bare for long. Many of the coral honeysuckles, like 'Pink Lemonade', for example, grow fast and bloom fairly well in part-shade to dappled shade. Virginia creeper does tend to be invasive and it isn't evergreen, but I love it and have it in several places in our landscape. To give you an idea of what kinds of shrubs and trees do well in much of Oklahoma, I've linked the website for Sooner Plant Farms because their photos and descriptions are very, very good. In addition to browsing their tree and shrubs pages, they have a 'Plant Selector' and you can plug in your data and get their recommendations. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Sooner Plant Farms