Kudzu, you're not misunderstanding this at all. Perhaps there is no solution from a planting standpoint -- it has confused us for an entire year. Planting on our side would be a fine option, except that we have had some trouble with people jumping the wall (it's actually a neighborhood community access lake lot, not a residential lot). My goal is to block visibility AND foot traffic. The lot tends to be a great hangout for teenagers after dark... And, our house is built up a little bit, so anyone on the lot can see us when we're on our back porch. The brick wall is very nice, so i was hoping not to block it using plants. Maybe there's something with a higher canopy that we could trim up to 6' and let grow taller?

We have pyracantha, lady banks, green hopseed, and a yellow flowered vine who's name escapes me now. The only one that grows fast and covers a big space is hopseed. The only mess it makes is from the female plant 1/year when it blooms and drops them all over the place. The lady banks grows reallyfast and long. It s not really hard to trim it to keep the tendrils on your side. You can kind of pull them back over to your side of the fence and tuck them in sideways to spread it out, or just cut them. Very forgiving in whatever you do to it. There is a yellow and a white, it sounds like you have room to try a lot of things. Oh yes, re: roses, remember that they drop their leaves in the winter so there would be some open space for a couple of months.

Fun monkey puzzle tree in the pic. I love them (especially in someone else's yard). I'd vote for the arborvitae, though I agree with the others they're boring boring boring as a line (I have one line of them that was already here and I like the visual privacy). I'd do the arborvitae and then diversify it somehow with some plantings in front of it (though not too close). Wayside has what they call the fastest growing arborvitae available, though at $30.00 bucks each I wouldn't call them an inexpensive solution compared to larger ones I've seen all over town for $9.99 of 'Emerald Green'. Piano's idea is terrific--I bet it looks much more interesting than a solid row of the same thing. I'm planning on something similar in my front garden, but my neighbor's deck is on their THIRD floor in back so I really like the privacy the arborvitae provide. Piano, any pics of your plantings? They sound terrific. I'm definitely entertaining a similar notion along my front garden, and something to make my arborvitae brigade not looks so regimented. Let us know what you decide to do, and how it works out. Take care, Grant Here is a link that might be useful: Steeplechase Thuja from Wayside

My heart goes out to you as I read your saga. Here are a few items that may be of assistance, they are not garden related but may help you enjoy your yard and not have to worry about your children. There is DIRT, an internet discussion group that is a service of American Bar Association and University of Missouri Law School that has a real estate focus. Post your story there and see what ideads that have. Ask if there is existing case law that would support your claim http://dirt.umkc.edu/ There is a legal concept of "unreasonable decision making" when a HOA does this, in some states the court will not allow them to restrict your actions. To be reasonable the decisions have to be documented and consistent. Some HOA have buried in them a clause that gives you the right to call for Arbitration to resolve an issue. I will pray that justice prevails.