What zone are you in? Some SHB/NHB mixes try to keep their leaves, and may stay everygreen in your location. Southmoon and Legacy are rated to zone 6 and both try to hold leaves. But they usually drop them, they are confused plants, being both SHB and NHB crosses. Sharpblue is rated to zone 7, If you're in that zone, it may work! If you decide to go with NHB, many are pretty good. I like Chandler. It's an aggressive grower, produces very large berries. Most of the NHB I like are for colder zones like mine, 6a/5b. I like Toro, Liberty, Sweetheart, Cara's Choice, Spartan, and Bonus. I have not tried them all, but have been researching for years. I have Chandler, Liberty, Toro, Cara's Choice, Southmoon, and Legacy. I wil add the others once I move.

While I am not totally sure that there isn't some question about invasiveness with the English hollies in the PNW, the American holly cultivars should be just fine. If you want berries, you will need to plant male and females of the appropriate varieties - if you aren't too enamored of berries, then plant what you can find. If you don't want a "Great Wall" - depending on the length of ground you want to plant, then planting a mix of hollies and other evergreens would give a "Tapestry Hedge" effect. There are also madronas, ceanothus, etc., as well as California bay, but I have forgotten a lot of the plants I once knew - it's been almost 9 years now since I moved from San Francisco! If you want others, there are cedars, thujas, chaemacyparis, cryptomerias, clumping bamboos, camellias, Rhodies, loropetalums, possibly pittosporums, possibly podocarpus, and various viburnums (check as some have made the invasives listings in other parts of the country). 'Hope those give you a place to start looking. If you can plant a hedge of double or triple thickness, then the front row doesn't HAVE to be evergreen, and can include deciduous, flowering shrubs and trees, just to give additional interest. The Sunset Garden Book should have a listing of good, evergreen hedge plants (it's a very good book anyway, so you probably should have a copy if you don't already), and there should be any number of books available through your local library to look things up in. As well, here is always Google and the rest of the search engines. You can also try your local county extension agent, as he/she should know what will grow well in your area - try looking under gov't offices in the phone book - there should be an office in the county seat.

Blueberries are often recommended as a hedge and work well for that purpose. You though asked about a privacy hedge and in my opinion they make a lousy privacy hedge. The growth of the southern highbush BB is just too open and depending on a few factors it may not be tall enough for much privacy. They are well worth finding a spot for them though......I have 70 or so lol.

NormansFarm, If I was you I would google the closest blueberry farms in my area, visit them, ask questions to the growers and even sample the varieties. Sometimes they even sell blueberry plants. Now is time in my area to pick blueberries, and this season they are very good! One of the farms near my home has very good varieties but after sampling all of them, I prefer one and I only pick in that line. In my garden, I have few varieties, the Emerald, Jewel, Sunshine Blue but it is not enough for fresh eating, make preserves and other recipes that I make. I picked from the farm around Easter and in about another week, I will go and pick again. Silvia