....and I will now, as I always do when Ken makes that claim, lay it to rest: True enough, there are some tree types which are both fast-growing and short-lived. True enough, there are some trees considered slow-growing which are also long-lived. But that simply does not indicate that this maxim is always-or even usually-true. Take one tree mentioned above-white pine. It is always and everywhere considered a fast grower. So how short is the lifespan of white pine? In good conditions, right around 500 years! Is that a short lifespan? No, I didn't think so. Let's look at a couple more examples: Out in northern California and parts of neighboring Oregon, they've got this little tree called coast redwood. Extremely fast-growing, these things only last for a couple thousand years. Red pine-a tree which is planted by the millions in my state, is a fast grower and only good for about 400 years. See where this is going? You may have noted my examples are all conifers. There's a lesson in there for those who will learn. For those who won't, well, you've got Ken's pronouncement! I would also like to disabuse any reader of the notion that white pine's range is limited to only far-northern regions of the Great Lakes states. A trip to Wisconsin Dells, the famous vacation land in my states south-central section would reveal white pines of extremely high quality and size that would rival those from nearly any other area. Likewise, in the Twin Lakes area which actually straddles the Wisconsin/Illinois border, white pine is numerous and healthy. All I'm saying is, regional differences matter, and in many cases matter far more than generalities.

"Best trees to plant near swimming pools" https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A86.J7vUD0dYXUUAr5cPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTBzdHZpaXZrBGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNyZWw-?p=best+trees+to+plant+near+swimming+pools&type=osf01s1&hspart=avast&hsimp=yhs-brwsr001&ei=UTF-8&fr2=rs-top&fr=yhs-avast-brwsr001 10 Messy Plants You Don't Want Near The Pool When it's time for the acacia to release its flower clusters, they spread—all over your yard and into your pool. If you must have an acacia, plant it in the front yard and hope a mighty wind doesn't blow around the time of pod and flower drop. "The little tiny flowers [of Crape Myrtle] fill the pool surface with brightly colored debris. It clogs the skimmers and when it sinks it's so small a pressure-side cleaner won't pick it up most of the time," says Brian Alan Shirley, owner of Abracadabra Pool Technologies in the Decatur, Georgia, region http://poolandpatio.about.com/od/patiolandsaping/ss/10-Messy-Plants-You-Dont-Want-Near-the-Pool.htm

I have heard of people who have QF in the northeast and it is a about as tall as me so 6' by 6' (not sure how old that shrub was though). PW seems to be bigger when I have seen pics so assume it can get to 8' (it may get wider than it is tall, so assume >> 8'). With a shorter growing season, similar shrubs in your area may be smaller and not as wide in 10 years but may be in 15 (just a guess) they may be. Also, consider that those numbers in the plant labels are "guestimates" ;o)) to begin with, probably around 10 years of maturity, not just 4 so get the smaller versions for those spaces. If you are given a size range in a plant label, assume the larger number applies to places with a longer growing season (ex.: usually the southern states) and the smaller number applies to places with a smaller growing season (usually cold northern locations). Finally, hydrangeas never stop growing so, yes, you can assume that they will keep getting bigger. However, in cold regions, dieback will occur sometimes and help keep large sizes in check. But paniculatas are also known for being vigorous growers... after being pruned, forexample, they recover almost all their previous height in a single growing season. Lastly, paniculatas like VS which have not been for sale "long enough" do not yet have a track record so it is difficult to see if the estimates in the plant labels will turn out to be way off or not.

I have a mixed shrub bed that is probably 15’ x 60’ and am in a similar zone. If you want arborvitae or Rhodies, just plan to spray with a deer repellent. Some are oil based and some can be mixed with a substance like Wiltpruf to prevent it washing off so that it only has to be renewed every few months unless there is new growth. I second the comment about blue spruce not being worth a long term planting in the humid east. Mine after 10 years are bare on the bottom and losing needles and shoots on the top, so I will take them out in the next few years. My preference is for having a rhythm of repeated characteristic plants down the length of the bed rather than clumps of one kind, and then I fill with variety. Here is a thread where about half way down I added a couple of posts with photos and an explanation of my plan and goals, so rather than rewriting the whole thing, I am sending you to the link. https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/3113384/shrubs-for-privacy-along-a-fence#n=22 I have listed plants I used and even after 10 years I am generally pleased. Some plants have not done well (Pieris and Cornus are much beloved by the voles and don’t live long without roots) and as mentioned above, the blue spruce are disease prone. By now many of my groundcovers and perennials have been shaded out. Right now it needs editing, but I have spent the last year dealing with a terminally ill family member, and it has done surprisingly well with quite literally no maintenance. I will do some editing this fall when it is a bit cooler, and if you can find dwarf versions of other evergreens that are less popular with deer if you don’t want to spray, that would be good. My Norway spruce which isn’t in my shrub border, while lovely, at something like 25-30 years, it is huge, perhaps 25’-30’ wide and well over twice that tall. So if you want to use a spruce, look for ones that grow more slowly. For instance, there is a slow growing version of Serbian spruce/Picea omorika as well as one that looks bluish, so look for those. I went to all the nurseries in my rural area and chose from what was available that suited my needs since I wanted somewhat larger starting plants. One of the fastest growing plants I put in were panicled hydrangeas, and between their ability to gain size quickly, their need for little attention after the first year or two, and their months long bloom, I would use these again in any similar garden. I deliberately used more than one color and texture of evergreen for winter interest, particularly during the long fall and early spring when there isn’t snow. My cover photo shows a piece of it during this stage if you click on my name. If you have questions, feel free to ask.