Most jm's do better with morning sun and afternoon, at least, partial shade and if you want at least some color you will need at least 5-6 hours of sun...so it depends on how your tree is situated. Pin oaks are fast growing but IMHO crappy trees ( although ANY 150 year old tree is a treasure!!) I have "inherited" three of them all about 50-75 ft tall. You should be careful planting them too close cause the nasty acorn fall in aug - oct may damage your leaves and small branches of your jm's...fortunatly the acorns are small..( although i've had my head cracked by them more than once and it's NO treat.)Also note the above fast growing statement ...what may be in partial sun this year may become full shade next and trimming ( or in your case falling old dying branches) near your maples may be problematic since pin oak brances are especially twiggy and heavy leading to possible damage of your JM's.( and I don't know how much more growing a 150 year old ree will do).If you have lived with this tree for a while you may be aware of everything I have posted but others here reading this may not!!! All the varieties you mentioned should do well in St. Louis... but the placement may be problematic ...David

Thanks everyone for the feedback!! I bit the bullet and just finished planting 3 Leyland Cypress. I know it will be a chore to keep them in check if I do hedge them and I have the enough garden space to allow the growth. Actually, I think this is the first time I have planted something this large. They will add some dimension to the garden which is a plus. I do have one more question: When I took them out of the pots and removed the ties and burlap, they were in heavy clay type soil and not a lot of roots. They were in 3.5 gallon containers. The growth is about 3 feet high and wide. I loosened and removed some to most of the soil. Is this normal to have so little roots?

I like the blueberries. I think I'll put them on the other property line. Doesn't entirely solve my current issue, but it still helps. They're typically 3-4 feet, and tolerate a higher Ph than other blueberries. I would still like to do a raised bed for them. I could have 4-6 feet with a raised bed. I rarely drink tea, to be honest. I think you may be correct about the Viburnums. Some seem like they are tasty, but from my little bit of digging, most of those don't appear to be evergreen, however, they do work in my zone. There is V. Pragense, but I am unable to find a definitive answer if they are human edible. Some said it was, most said it was not. And even the ones that said it was edible said it was not...that tasty. Some people claimed that not even birds or deer would eat some of the Viburnum berries. It seems the further away you get from "normal" plants, the harder it is to find solid answers. I like Unedo. I think I will make a place somewhere, probably near the hedge, but not a row of them, if that makes sense. I have looked at Elaeagnus Ebbingei quite a bit. It has it's own set of issues, though. It's invasive in some states. Although, I did not see it as being invasive in mine. Additionally, it doesn't appear to fruit reliably. There is also a fairly large seed inside of it. Fortunately, it's supposed to edible as well, from my understanding. I wonder if I could plant something like Ebbingei since it will still fruit and is evergreen, and then maybe plant something like huckleberry (vaccinium ovatum, similar to a blueberry?) supposed to evergreen, but quite small, or maybe sea buckthorn (not evergreen) in front of it. Sea and Huckle are supposed to be smaller than Ebbingei, so it would not shade, and both could get sun. I'm not sure if that would work or not.

Knowing what type of situation it will be growing in would be helpful, such as a photo and a bit of info about light, moisture and soil. General height wishes are important and whether you are looking for single plants or something that will look good massed (like this).