Photos of your adjacent inside space and of what are trying to screen would be helpful.

If your space is 8 stories up on a balcony, chances are good there are rules for what you can put on a balcony. Have you checked with the building management? You could have one solution for summer and one for winter.

let me get this straight ... you have 48 inches at ground level.. and you want the trees to grow 80 feet tall??? .. thats what the title says ...

how about some curtains.. and keep them closed??

ken

I am in a condo which is 8 stories high on the 8th floor I do not want the tree to grow 8 stories high. I said 8 stories high as landscapes / gardeners of places.I contacted said it is an issue as

1) you get full direct sun

2) Being 8 stories high you get 100KM direct winds being on the Lake which is important vs someone on ground floor.

3) Being on concrete its hard to have a 4 season cedar or evergreen or living tree as concrete will not be good for the tree you need special plants.

I cannot use curtains as I cannot adhere anything to the concrete or anchor anything to the floor.

It is standard size balcony width of just over 4 feet.

All I am trying to do is to block one side so the neighbors who I can spit on this is how close they are so I don't see me outside nor do I see them. As we are in a pandemic and I work from home I want to work outside without have 30 neighbors staring at me.

Plan A was Bamboo fence

Plan B was get an INside room divider and take it in and out every single day

Plan C was what everyone recommneded was doing privacy hedge with mature trees that I order and have delivered. Places I have called said the 3 factors above may they dont know what tree will survive in those conditions being in a container all year round.

My frriend suggested I reach out to this group

Plan A is the only viable option........relatively inexpensive, as portable or temporary as you would like it to be and available in a range of heights.

Plan B = PITA!!

Plan C = just throwing your money away, as there is almost nothing that you could grow in a container that would provide privacy and survive a N. Ontario winter and strong winds.

Photos would help enormously.

"As we are in a pandemic and I work from home I want to work outside without have 30 neighbors staring at me."

They aren't. This is the spotlight effect:

"The spotlight effect is a term used by social psychologists to refer to the tendency we have to overestimate how much other people notice about us. In other words, we tend to think there is a spotlight on us at all times, highlighting all of our mistakes or flaws, for all the world to see."

You will not be able to get a plant to survive this.

Bamboo screen is a good idea.

Depending on how your balcony is shaped, a tension rod may work.

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/categories/decor/window-coverings/curtain-rods-and-hardware/tension-rods.html

Yikes...

With all that wind, you want to work outside? Bring a tree inside, open the slider, and enjoy the view.

Seriously, you are on the 8th floor and you have 30 neighbors who can see you on your balcony? Is everything safe? No support dividers between apartments?

If you post a picture of the balcony from inside your home and a picture of the end/side of the balcony that adjoins/faces the next unit's balcony, we might be able to come up with a different solution. This is not a unique problem and I have seen many types of dividers.

Do you have any pictures?

When I had my condo there were so many restrictions and one restriction was not to have anything like a bamboo fence or any other kind of fence on the balcony.

I understand that you probably can not attach anything to the building or any railing. How about something like this Ikea "arbor bench"? Other companies have similar items - google "arbor bench." This one is not quite 48" wide so you can set it across the end of your balcony. The bench has railings across the top that you can hang a 42" wide woven wood blind from Lowe's, Amazon, etc. Because of the wind, I suggest you leave the blind rolled up when you are not on the porch, lowering it when you go outside. Get one long enough to reach the seat. Some colorful outdoor pillows on the seat would be nice. So that my outdoor pillow do not blow away, I put a large safety pin on the back and thread string through the safety pin and around an arm of the chair when it doesn't show.