I grow most of my shrubs in more or less that format. They may not all perform in your area but they are leatherleaf viburnum (V. rhytidophyllum), Hydrangea aspera, Philadelphus, elderberry (Sambucus nigra 'Guincho Purple'), Disanthus cercidiphyllum, and one that naturally grows in this shape, Leycesteria formosana. And, for that matter, some of my rhododendrons. The primary criterion for success with this form, it seems to me, is that the shrub has to not sprout too aggressively from the base once it has relatively mature stems. This rules out grafted shrubs, or at least, it does if you don't always want to be pruning suckers from the base. In fact my contorted filbert (Corylus avellana 'Harry Lauder's Walking Stick') would also qualify, and Hamamelis cultivars such as 'Diane' could do so, but there are always suckers. And even on others, you have to ruthlessly remove new growth from the base unless you want one to grow into a replacement stem - and I do prune out old stems from time to time. I also failed to achieve this form with Vitex, because mine sprouted aggressively and very laterally from the base - but that could have been because we cut it back severely at one point. I'm just working on converting it to a single stem tree form. The Vitex's history actually brings me to another criterion for success, which is that the reason we cut it back hard was that we were moving it AWAY from the house wall where it WOULD NOT grow upright - it leaned so far out that the adjacent patio became useless. It, and all my deciduous shrubs, now are planted away from structures and fences so that they get light from all sides, and they grow nice and straight )although if shaded by each other or other trees they also grow their bulk toward the sun). Next to a structure or wall, any deciduous shrub will lean away. If the garage is fairly low and the plant can get light once it grows above it, you can train it upright until it gets there. If the garage is taller and you can determinedly tie to the garage even as the plant grows to its full height, then of course you can grow whatever you want there - just don't expect it to happen naturally. I finally had to ask on another forum why conifers don't seem to have this problem... turns out conifers will grow upright even next to walls because they grow against gravity rather than toward light. Deciduous shrubs, on the other hand, grow toward light. Geotropic vs. phototropic, I think it was. Broadleaf evergreen shrubs, like rhodos and the Viburnum, seem to have some mix of the two properties, but don't quote me on that. I base this on noting how they grow in one-sided light conditions. Karin L PS another good candidate might be Hibiscus syriacus.

Not sure where in the upstate you are, but if you are anywhere near Easley, SC, there is a large nursery there that should be able to assist you in picking out suitable plants. The name of the place is simply The Easley Nursery. Its been there a long, long time. Bill

Matrices, I am not sure if you are still considering skyrocket junipers, but if you are, find another narrow evergreen to use instead. Skyrockets are a cultivar of J. scopulorum, which is a western tree that doesn't do well in humid areas. Unless it is in a relatively dry area it is likely to get fungal diseases on the foliage and so even if it doesn't die directly from them, the view won't be pretty. I also suggest that you check to see if there are healthy purple leafed sand cherries in your area since they are often denuded of leaves due to insects or foliage diseases in humid areas. I honestly can't offer a lot of positive suggestions of specific plants since I don't know what will grow well in your area. I do have a couple of general observations/suggestions to offer for you consider. The last photo you offered with the various labeled plants has a very different feel from the more regular look of the strictly alternating plants of the photos you posted near the beginning of the thread or the formal look of Yardvaark's mockup of a hedge of all one species. Figure out which look you like and then use that. I am glad to see that you are using at least some repetition since even a bed that has more irregularly placed plants looks more pleasing with repetition rather than one of each. Another suggestion is to at least consider whether having screen on or by the deck might be more useful to provide screen on that level, which would free you to be less restricted in your plant choices in the fence bed since the fence blocks the next yard from ground level. For instance, would having an obelisk or three with vines in that corner of the deck work, or planting a bushier tree closer to the deck that eventually would be limbed up provide both seasonal shade and a visual screen for the neighbor's yard? Also, there is a Detroit area designer, Deborah Silver, who often deals with narrow side areas that need screening. I will see if I can find a way to filter her blog posts (Dirt Simple) to get just a listing of the ones with your issue so you can see some images of solutions that both provide the screening and are well designed since you have mentioned not finding inspiration photos that address your needs. Edited to add: I just searched for the term screen. So some posts won't apply, but there are a bunch that do show narrow beds planted to provide screening. Dirt Simple screens

I wonder how expensive it would be for me to send you a few of my little Sabal Minors, I have several. I will likely not have room for all of them. I can send you a few maybe, if you are interested. As for the oaks, I'm kinda glad you are interested in them because I will be talking about them now. I LOVE Live oaks, I can't grow the Quercus Virginiana here in Pa zone 6, but, I'm growing a hardier variety of Live oak, but, it grows really slow. I've tried a Quercus Ilex also, but, it died, and as far as the Quercus Chrysolepis, it is also zone 6 hardy at least and I'm zone 6. So I must be happy with my Quercus Fusiformis "Quartz mountain". You can look it up if you care too. If your interested in my baby Sabal Minors let me know, maybe I can send you a few when they are dormant in October. I don't expect any money for them as long as I can send them dormant with no soil to make the package heavy.