Woke up to a chain saw this morning...

[GrandviewGloria]

Sounds like a job for BAMBOO! There are all sorts of species of 'Clumping Bamboo' (which forms dense clumps, and does not send out runners, to "take over"). One should be hardy in your area.... wherever that is. And most of the clumping varieties are a bit under twelve feet tall.

[EveKendall]

Hopes, we have a Blue Arrow juniper at the side of our house. It is tall and skinny and may suit your needs. It also stays pretty year-round. Note that they do need sunlight--we had to move ours because it was browning at first, but it recovered when moved to a sunnier spot.

Blue Arrow Juniper (Juniperus virginiana 'Blue Arrow') - Monrovia - Blue Arrow Juniper (Juniperus virginiana 'Blue Arrow')

[TinaMcG]

Originally Posted by EveKendall

Hopes, we have a Blue Arrow juniper at the side of our house. It is tall and skinny and may suit your needs. It also stays pretty year-round. Note that they do need sunlight--we had to move ours because it was browning at first, but it recovered when moved to a sunnier spot.

Blue Arrow Juniper (Juniperus virginiana 'Blue Arrow') - Monrovia - Blue Arrow Juniper (Juniperus virginiana 'Blue Arrow')

I love that -- what a good suggestion. It's tall and narrow, it would fit in the space, and it's evergreen. Nothing gives privacy like an evergreen. And though junipers are pretty maligned, they're really good to have -- except for the bagworm thing -- but most trees and shrubs have their own pests. Junipers are pretty hard to kill. Good choice.

[silibran]

I suggest a large privacy fence.

[AnonChick]

Seems like you're asking to solve a couple of different problems:

1) Having to see your neighbor's yard, which is not a stellar view.
2) Having to deal with the Lilac Bush from Hell.
3) Lack of shade for your flowers.

My suggestion then, is this:

Build a pergola right at the fence line, right where that lilac bush is. Then, plant some climbing vines at the base of the pergola. This will give you a creative and artistic privacy fence that obscures the view, shades your flowers, and might even grow some yummy berries and/or flowers. Or you could even make a little grape arbor built OVER your walkway, to serve the same function.

[movedtothecoast]

seems easy to me, but understand the need to vent , either

replace fence with a solid wooden fence and buy a huge umbrella for
shading your patio
or
plant yew , one of my favorite evergreen and buy a huge umbrella for
shading your patio
or
build panels of solid fencing with 2 ft of space between ,
with yew planted in the gaps and buy a huge umbrella for shading
your patio.
or
build a solid wooden fence and a pergola for shading
your patio.
see the pattern I would follow?
best of luck.

[GrandviewGloria]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Some people don't appreciate nature and landscape. The house across the street from my childhood home had beautiful trees and bushes. It was professionally landscaped to better homes and gardens standards. The new owners moved in a cut down everything so it was just grass because they wanted the house to look like a newly built house in a new housing development.

There's a word for people like that: SCUM.

In Mississippi, back before the booms of the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties ... back when nobody had any money, and everybody had old cars and shabby clothes (so few could afford the accoutrements which today help us 'read' those with whom we come into contact). The way one could ascertain the social class of new people moving into the neighborhood was to watch what they did with their yards.

If they started planting trees and shrubbery, and simply trimming the hedges, etc., one knew they were OK. It was fine to associate with them, let your kids play with their kids...

But if they started by cutting down all the greenery, then you KNEW they were trash, and to be avoided. They might be neatly-groomed, and seem to be apple-pie-wholesome - figuratively wrapped up in an American Flag tied with a Rosary.... but underneath, you could count on them having hidden dysfunctions and White Trash origins. These were the people whose kids would be the bullies at school. They'd grow up to be the date-raping football standouts. The daddies would be molesters, and their wives would have mysterious bruises. And they'd be in the front pew, every Sunday, at some holy roller church, thumpin' Bibles to beat the band.

[Flamingo13]

Wow - who knew that cutting down trees made you such a person!

Originally Posted by GrandviewGloria

There's a word for people like that: SCUM.

In Mississippi, back before the booms of the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties ... back when nobody had any money, and everybody had old cars and shabby clothes (so few could afford the accoutrements which today help us 'read' those with whom we come into contact). The way one could ascertain the social class of new people moving into the neighborhood was to watch what they did with their yards.

If they started planting trees and shrubbery, and simply trimming the hedges, etc., one knew they were OK. It was fine to associate with them, let your kids play with their kids...

But if they started by cutting down all the greenery, then you KNEW they were trash, and to be avoided. They might be neatly-groomed, and seem to be apple-pie-wholesome - figuratively wrapped up in an American Flag tied with a Rosary.... but underneath, you could count on them having hidden dysfunctions and White Trash origins. These were the people whose kids would be the bullies at school. They'd grow up to be the date-raping football standouts. The daddies would be molesters, and their wives would have mysterious bruises. And they'd be in the front pew, every Sunday, at some holy roller church, thumpin' Bibles to beat the band.