I would be VERY leery of using black bamboo - I think you'll want to check out the thread below discussing this. More proof that depending upon what salespeople tell you is just not the most reliable information, unfortunately. It seems to me that the biggest lack of privacy is at the corner, where the side yard widens into your backyard. I assume you use your side yard like most people do - it's a passageway, not a destination? That looks like a gate at the end of your photo. In that case, access and not interfering with the house drainage are the really critical aspects of landscaping the side. What if you created an angled bed that contained a couple of strategically placed small trees? The bed can segue into a long narrow bed against the fence (warning: you'll need something to form a soil barrier to prevent the fenceboards from rotting) for some nice colorful plantings to break up the "march of wooden fenceboards" look (I have the same problem, as you can see from our photos). Here's what I mean about the angled planting bed. Place the trees correctly, and they should interrupt the neighbor's sightlines and give both of you some visual privacy without seeming rude. For the side yard, yours seems a bit narrower than mine, so imagine just the concrete path and the planting area on the right, which is only 12" total - you should be able to make yours about 18". We started off with this: And ended up with this 3 yrs later: Our zone 9 is very different than other regions so I won't suggest plants outside of cannas. I've had excellent luck using shrubs trained as standards, though - they're faster growing than trees, and often provide beautiful flowers as well. Here is a link that might be useful: Black Bamboo: clumping or running?

Why? They're a lot easier than clematis to get started, and are actually beautiful. In fact some are being sold now simply as an ornamental. It can take years to get the standard clematis to any size, however a grape vine can be substantial by its second year. If you want rampant vining, hops and sweet autumn clematis are also rapidly growing and can fill a space quickly. Your idea of a living privacy screen is surely valid and it works.......but do you have any idea how long it's going to take to achieve your desired results? Will your child be an adult by the time your hedging gets big enough to screen him from the grouchy old man? We are rural and I started years ago planning to protect our privacy from the influx of sub-division of farms in our area doing strategic plantings. You can still look out our windows in summer and not see another human habitation.........but it didn't happen overnight. Your's wont either.

The natural state of New England is forest, so there are plants that will sprout in sun (early succession species) and in shade (late succession species.) When you add to that all the various invasives that are around like buckthorn, bittersweet, barberry, ivy, etc. there really isn't anything you can do to prevent sprouting, either regrowing from cut plants or from seeds, particularly in a wooded area as small as 1/3 acre which will get good light throughout, unless you want to use chemicals such as glysophate (generic Roundup). You will probably find that everything you have cut down will resprout before fall this year, and if you want to use glysophate, this fall before leaf drop would be the best time since your plants have had one shock this year from the first trimming, and at that time plants are pulling back nutrients from the leaves, hastening the transport of glysophate to the roots. It's also less persistent than most herbicides. I will use it mixed at brush strength on poison ivy in areas we walk and on really persistent invasive plants (buckthorn and bittersweet), though in general I don't like manmade chemicals in my garden. I only use it on specific plants, either from a sprayer on a large droplet size that won't drift or on a paintbrush used directly on leaves or the cambium of the cut stump. If it is level and smooth enough, you may be able to use your lawnmower to mow it, otherwise I'd invest in (not just rent) a walk behind mower made for rough areas because as Mad Gallica said, it will need regular mowing to maintain. On our much larger property, to maintain rough field (which had been starting to turn back to woods when we bought it) and to keep access roads open in the woods, DH uses either a walk behind rough mower (a Graveley in our case) or a brush hog that is tractor pulled, depending on the area size and turning radius. I have a large pair of lopers for small saplings in areas that aren't mowed as well as a pair of long-handled adjustable pliers for yanking out woody seedlings. I also have a machine like a gasoline powered string trimmer that is heavy duty and in addition to the string has a soft brush blade (raspberries and other semisoft plants) and a blade that will cut woody stems up to about two inches. Certainly spreading a 2" or slightly heavier layer of mulch will discourage many seeds from sprouting that need light, but I wouldn't go much deeper than that due to the shallow roots of the existing trees needing oxygen. Likewise, if you can get extra leaves this fall and chop them up, they will make a good mulch. Unchopped they will mat unless mixed with pine needles or wood chips. If you go this route, you can't mow and will need to use hand tools to remove things that grow despite the mulch. On the positive side, you may find that now you have cut out the brushy stuff, you have spring ephemeral wildflowers in your woods that grow and bloom before the trees leaf out, things like trillium, Actea (dolls' eyes), bloodroot or Solomon's seal. If you want a dense groundcover plant that may shade out some seedlings that need a lot of light, try hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula). It will tolerate some mowing and grows quite densely. We have some natural stands of it, and I find it quite lovely.

You know, in general, people still respect your privacy when you live in an exposed home. We've never had people leave the sidewalk and peek in the windows or anything of that sort. We did get lots of people coming up on the porch to the doors before we took the sign down (it was a B&B) but now that's rare as well. I guess you find your own privacy whereever you live :) For me, the views posted here would be my escape. Believe it or not you do look past the heads and into the sunset! The only area I was having trouble with privacy in was the yard because it's so exposed. People stand in front of it to take pics of the house so while pausing they'll often chat. We don't mind, but the dumb dog goes bonkers and DS is too friendly (offers tours of his room LOL) so we put in a fence that suits the house but sort of blocks the tourists heads from our relaxation area (we're outside a lot). It's heaven and we still see the view because the yard is on a slope. To me, looking up at a farm or out at land is actually not relaxing. I love the water and can mentally escape the world while enjoying a view of it from lake, stream or ocean. I've lived in remote areas, and I'd never trade them for this location. Besides that...our walls are a foot thick LOL So if I want to ignore the world, it's not hard to do so. Ohhh and Lynn, I have SO MUCH difficulty with that door problem. I have 9 outside enterances....that's probably 7 too many LOL. I get Fedex out of one, UPS out of the other, the post office likes another, and the tourists another. Only one of which is the actual front door LOL