Thank you both so much for your suggestions! I tried to take some photos to show the light conditions now that the leaves are out. This is in the morning, and there's some sun filtering through, but I can tell you there's almost complete shade from the stone wall at the back to about 15-20 ft. in front of the large maple tree all day. From the picture in the next post, you can see there's shade well into the parking lot as well. However, I'm really glad to hear you both think 10 ft. should be sufficient height. Yardvaark, you make a good point about competition from the small maples. So, I think we'll take those out, and possibly the smaller of the hemlocks as well. Then, put in a mix of evergreen and deciduous shade-tolerant shrubs/small trees that reach 10-12 ft with staggered layers for depth. I'm also somewhat relieved you said 'it's not a formal solution'. That means I should just relax since I can't really make a mistake! Lazygardens, I've wondered what the huge rhododendrons people grow around here were - I guess 'rhododendron maximum' is it! Regarding the fence, it's a good idea. I'm not really a fence person, but if we put in smaller, slower growing plants it's going to take a while to screen with greenery, so the fence may be the best short-term solution. Then we can take our time building up the plantings. Yardvaark, I really like your idea of testing out a few small varieties first to see what does well and then increase from there. Cheaper that way, too! Let me know if you have any additional comments/suggestions based on the new pics. Thanks again for your help!

Thanks for all of the advice guys. @ davidrt28 - thanks for the advice and ordering info @ kato_b , tsugajunkie - the larger 5 gallon plants don't look as bad. there is still some green, but they don't look that great. I actually started planting the smaller trees further back from the road because I was worried about the salt spray. I think they're around 28ft from the road and have those hedges in between the road and small trees. I thought that would have been enough protection... also before they even started salting last fall, they were starting to turn orangish. @ davidrt28 - nope.. I didn't fertilize them @ tsugajunkie - thanks for that link, I may have to look into a different species what a discouragement ... it would have been nice to see the majority survive after all the time and money I put into the project I'm thinking the best thing to do is look for several species that's resistant to salt spray and add a mix of trees This post was edited by duke90 on Thu, May 2, 13 at 0:53

The only way bamboo will spread is by rhizomes. Which are pretty much like roots. So as long as it can't travel from the plant through dirt in a path someplace else it will fine. Bamboo does not drop seeds. Well it does but only once every 50 - 100 years or so. Yes you can get bamboo already tall. Or just grow it from a smaller one. You can buy 6 foot tall bamboo for a reasonable price online. Get's pretty expensive if you go taller. In about 3 years it will have grown quite crazy even from a smaller pot of it. I bought some that were about 2 feet tall and very small and this year they are shooting at about 5 feet so far, and still growing. Some of my bamboo from the year before are looking at 10 feet maybe this year. Except zone 5 is another matter. Zone 5 is brutal on bamboo. That is the limit for only the most cold hardy species. And even then it usually dies back every year to the ground and will regrow in spring. But that's in the ground. In pots, probably forget about it. At some point it will probably totally die all the way in a pot. If you could wheel the pots in some place for the winter you'd be fine. Doesn't have to be in the house, just some place where winter isn't giving it a beating and slightly warmer than outside. Maybe a shed with a roof that lets light in or something. Probably won't even die back at all then. And will look nice all year. So if you can do that Phyllostachys Bissetii is very dense and very cold hardy. There is a dwarf version that is a little smaller also. That might be even better. I just started growing some myself. But again eventually so many roots and rhizomes will grow that you'll have to thin it out in a pot so it doesn't get rootbound. Good news is you can always sell those divisions you take off it. Or use them in other spots of the yard. Or if you can somehow manage to find a place in the ground you can just use a bamboo barrier (thick plastic barrier, you can buy online). The bamboo will take a beating in winter and die back to the ground but pop up from the ground in spring. You can throw a tarp over it to help it survive better too and protect it through winter. We have plenty of collectors on the forums that grow bamboo in New York, but it does take extra work, and time.

Well, arborvitae usually works, it’s green all year, but some may think it’s boring. Think about columnar shaped trees, such as Bradford pear, which has flowers on spring, glossy green leaves in the summer, and an beautiful gold color in fall. I’ve also used English hornbeams, which can be pruned to Four feet across. Amanogawa cherrie are gorgeous to. Just google “columnar trees” and you’ll find a lot of options.