This is a red flag to me: > could they be planted just a foot or two from the fence, growing only out away from it? If this is a solid fence, like stockade or board, there's a significant "rain shadow" effect that you'll need to consider. IMHO, it's almost impossible to grow anything within 2 or 3 feet of a solid fence, unless you're willing and able to provide most of the moisture yourself - and that's a lot of water. I have such a fence, and wasted a lot of cash (3 times) trying to establish rows of holly, cedar, and, finally, magnolia (M. virginiana, in my case). When I finally gave up on crowding the plants against the fence, acknowledged that this privacy screen was a very important aspect of my yard, and set aside enough space for it to do it properly, I succeeded on the 4th try, by planting everything centered at least 5' from the fence. I still had to irrigate and mulch, but it was a much more reasonable amount of water. Last, I'd be very careful placing any hollies anywhere near a pool, except ones with smooth leaves. You've only got to step on a dry leaf with bare feet once to remember it for a very long time.

Klpzguy, You might get a better response if you filled out your trade list on your member profile or at least listed what you are offering in exchange. You might also try the Plant Exchange Forum here on Gardenweb. It's more active than this forum. You still need to offer something for trade.

If you are looking at a maximum height of only 6-8', then you are looking at shrubs, not trees. 'Full privacy' typically means evergreen and I am unfamiliar with what broadleaved evergreen shrubs are best suited to your area. However, a mixed shrub 'hedgerow' type planting that includes both evergreen and deciduous plants will provide excellent (if not "full privacy") screening plus offer extended seasonal interest as well as wildlife habitat. And eliminates any 'gaps' that could occur from the failure of a single plant in a monoculture hedge. Since you have a mixture of light conditions, that broadens the selections available. I would consider rhododendrons, pieris and kalmia as evergreen suggestions (possibly boxwood or Japanese hollies also) if sufficiently hardy, mixed with fothergilla, hydrangea, spirea, clethra, shrub dogwoods and dwarf lilac for the deciduous components but the choice is up to you and there are almost endless possibilities. Also, dwarf conifers could be included as well.

Evergreen plants will also drop spent parts on the neighbor's lawn. And probably also shade it out more effectively than deciduous trees. So now there are two other aspects of the proposed scheme where a tall planting over along the fence may not be the optimum way to achieve the desired level of privacy. In other words if you don't want to affect the neighbor's lawn at all, including merely dropping leaves etc. on it you are simply not going to be able to have a tall hedge or screen along that fence line. It's too bad the wire fence isn't the maximum height allowed by local codes (6 ft.?). Then you could achieve a lot of screening merely by covering it with vines, such as the clematis. This approach would occupy minimal horizontal space and vigorous kinds like that develop rapidly. Even this arrangement would still produce a shadow, generate debris - and in addition would have to be pruned to keep it close to the fence - on both sides of the fence. A big part of the problem is that the neighbor's have done nothing to give themselves privacy from you, on their side of the fence. I have the same situation here. In addition I have had them reach over my similar height wire fence - I am not the one that had it installed, would have gone to the full 6 ft. height allowed if I had - and cut off part of a screening planting I had in place, throw the prunings down on my side of the fence because "it drops leaves on our bark". So I took the planting out. Now they complain about my sensor activated flood lights, which "shine in our bedroom window". Point being is if there is any possibility of similar reactions from your neighbors you again may want to instead focus on doing what you can over near where you are when you think you are too open to view, instead of over by the fence.