As much as I like tea olive (_Osmanthus fragrans_), I would not recommend its use as a privacy screen in a full-sun, exposed location in Western North Carolina, halfway between Asheville and Charlotte. In recent years, we've had comparatively warm winters in this part of the Southeast; but there's bound to be a future winter in which _Osmanthus fragrans_ will be badly burned or killed to the ground by cold temperatures. It is, indeed, a fine plant and one to be enjoyed in a sheltered location; but at some point it will prove unreliable in a harsh, unforgiving exposed Piedmont location. Don't consider using it as a hedge unless you want to see it decimated. If you take a look at _The Southern Living Garden Book_ or similar books, you will find that there are several _Osmanthus_ varieties that are much hardier than _Osmanthus fragrans_. Like _Osmanthus fragrans_, they are evergreen with fragrant fall/winter flowers. These hardier strains of _Osmanthus_ would be more likely to have longterm success in a Western North Carolina landscape than the more tender _Osmanthus fragrans_. However, one wants his/her _Osmanthus fragrans_ to be near a frequenty trodden pathway or near a window where its fragrance can be enjoyed. Planting tea olive out in a hedge along the roadside would be a waste of its many attributes. Leyland cypress is an abomination. Avoid it like the plague. _Eleagnus pungens_ or _Eleagnus pungens fruitlandii_ would be a superb choice, requiring no maintenance and providing food for our songbirds. These species of _Eleagnus_ are not the Russian olive you're thinking about. A spectacular choice would be golden bamboo or black bamboo. I have a grove of golden bamboo on one side of my house and a grove of black bamboo on the other side. They provide a lush, evergreen, Oriental appearance and an abundance of privacy. Your roadway would serve as a "bamboo containment wall" on one side. Just let the bamboo colonize freely on the other side, creating a natural effect.

My beast grew untamed for 13 years. I always thought it was a good shield between the house and the dirt road. It reached 30 feet high and 15 feet wide. It's only saving grace was obscuring the view and catching some of the dust from the road. It finally started to encroach on the driveway and the wife complained daily that it was an eyesore and needed to be trimmed. My brother and I went at it with a machete, an axe and a chainsaw. It took us two days to get it to this. Still ugly and as I looked down the years to come was going to be a pain in the butt to maintain. We also had a clump of bamboo that was getting out of control and at my wife's urging we hired a backhoe to rip out the hedge and the bamboo. Best damn decision I've ever...my wife ever, made me decide. The root systems are not extensive even for a 30 foot laurel. It only took 45 minutes to rip out 18 of these bad boys. It's been three years and this is what the area looks like today. It will take a few more years for the rhodies to grow up and partially block the view from the road and I really don't notice dust. Everyday I drive up to our place I'm greeted by this nice view and my wife is very happy.

It depends some on your dog, but I wouldn't count on a hedge to keep a dog in. At the least it will need a wire mesh fence in the inside of the hedge to keep the dog contained until the plants grow together. Even a well grown, mature hedge may have some gaps near the base which a dog could slide through, so it may continue to need a wire fence for the first two or three feet. This request may be a bit of a problem: "shaped like a box (not spherical and not pyramidal)" since in order to maintain dense foliage near the bottom of a hedge, you will need to taper it some so that the upper parts of the hedge don't shade out the lower parts of the hedge. To maintain a boxy tapered shape rather than a more rounded shape will require pruning to give you flat sides. Do you have deer? If not, there are forms of Thuja occidentalis that will stay shorter and will grow together to make a good hedge. I don't personally have experience with how they take to pruning since I like my plants unpruned for the most part. I have 'Sunkist' (green-gold) which will be easy to maintain in the 6'-10' range for quite some time based on mine as they seem to have slowed considerably at about 5'. I bought plants in the fall of 2007 at about 3'. As individual plants they are a bit floppy in heavy snow/ice situations, but that may be less of an issue with a hedge. 'Techny' is dark green and grows to 10'-15', and I have seen photos of it pruned into a hedge. I planted mine at about 4' in the fall of 2007 and they are about 6' now. I imagine that you can find other selections of this native evergreen that are dwarf in size compared to the regular species (which grows to around 40'.) If you have deer issues they aren't a good choice, but in my heavily wooded rural area, they haven't been bothered. spring 2010 From evergreen shrubs spring 2014 From evergreen shrubs Another possible choice to look into is a really hardy Rhododendron, though they will have a more rounded form and IMO don't look great pruned into boxy shapes and will make a more gently flowing shaped hedge. They will have the added benefit of spring flowers if you don't prune them. In really cold weather they don't provide a lot of sight privacy since the leaves tend to curl up, but most folks don't require a lot of privacy when the temperatures are below 15 degrees. The link below will take you to a search page from the American Rhododendron Society which allows you to put in height preferences. On left side of photoPJM rhododendrons in 3/4 shade (so not as dense as full sun,) about 5' at 6 or 7 years in the ground from >1' when planted. From evergreen shrubs You could ask this question on the shrub forum or the conifer forum for other suggestions beyond what you get here. It also might be worth visiting local nurseries (not big box stores which often have poor or inaccurate info and plants that may not be hardy here) to see what they have in stock that would fit your requirements. They could most probably order more to complete your hedge as it will take a rather large number of plants. Here is a link that might be useful: Rhododendron Plant Search

Bay is eventually a 35' tree. That doesn't happen fast, but the tree's DNA wants it to happen, so long term there will always be a conflict between what the tree's DNA wants and what you want. Long term, a plant that wants to be closer to the mature size you desire--it's a good idea. If you are not expecting instant results, consider Camellias--they make a long-lived, dense screen in time, with the bonus of beautiful winter flowers, and root systems that will do no harm to the block wall, or your yard, or any pipes in the area. If their roots are shaded, they have quite low water requirements, once established. Camellias are under story small trees in their natural habitat, growing in dryish soil beneath larger trees. Nuccios in Altandena could give you suggestions as to which varieties would do best for you. Other shade-lovers to consider perhaps Fatsia japonica, Schefflera arboricola, Acuba japonica. Keep in mind that in always-shady areas, soil retains moisture a lot better than in sunny areas, so don't be quite as concerned about water needs in those areas as in all-day hot sun. It could also be mentioned that one day your neighbor may cut down everything in his/her yard, leaving your hedge exposed to sun. It happens. Doesn't hurt to plan for the unexpected!