I use the process in the article referenced by " pretty_saab"with a slight variation/s. I dome the, vinyl ad-mix, concrete at the posts to prevent the affect of ponding which van occur from soil subsidence, wash the posts with vinegar, prime, using a string line mount the brackets. The field posts are sleeved/enclosed with 1x and 2x for posts where gates are installed. There are any number of capitols available for the post tops, or you can fashion your own.

Gosh, there are so many to choose from, it's hard to know where to start!! I would pick a mix of evergreen and deciduous to get structure and winter interest as well as flowers. berries, stem or foliage color. I would go to the best local nursery you can find and look through their offerings to see what you like. Rhododendrons, Mt laurel, hollies, boxwood, dwarf conifers, cherry laurel, ninebark, flowering quince, forsythia, hydrangea, clethra, rose of Sharon, smokebush, weigela, spireae, roses, lilacs, shrub dogwoods and willows and viburnums are just a few that come to mind. A couple of small trees would work well also - crabapple, Japanese maple, even a couple of the aforementioned shrubs trained as a standard. Pick some thing that will be in flower early (forsythia? quince?) and something that will flower late. Choose something with berries or interesting seed pods or colored bark to hold winter interest. And you can use taller grasses and vines as well as shrubs and a few perennials.

Thanks for the comments for far! The green poles I drew in the pic was what I was thinking - like Italian Cypress trees or something but even those I think would get too thick. And yes tree trunks would be useless. I have no idea why the developer decided the backyard access side of the house should be close to the fence while there is copious space on the other (dead) side - DOH! We'll worry about the rest of the landscaping later but this part is the worst as the neighbors see right in your house. There are NO back neighbors - its protected land and mountain views so we wouldn't want to block that with trees!

You might want to cross post this in home repairs.