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any opinions, recommendations. Thought of skip laurels. thanks for all the help.

OK, took me a while to figure out, but is this a canal?

I'm not sure you need narrow growing plants. It's possible that just a couple of ordinary trees would do the trick if they were placed right, and that does not need to be right on the property line. You don't say exactly where you need privacy from what vantage point, but that is your key question. Time of year determines whether it should be evergreen or deciduous. Deciduous is fine for say, the neighbour's vantage point looking onto your back yard. If it's window to window, on the other hand, I'd be looking for evergreen.

Local availability will be a key factor unless you want to mail order, or ask nurseries to special order. So in a way your best bet for plant selection is your local nurseries. Check out the Trees forum for some discussion on good small trees; or ask for recommendations there yourself. Here you are more likely to get advice on placement, and for that you would have to give more detail about your privacy needs.

Lining plants up along the fence has its moments, but personally I would prefer to mitigate the effect of the fence panels that are already lined up in soldierly fashion by placing trees and beds in a three-dimensional arrangement, rather than to exacerbate it.

Karin L

Thanks for the information. Where would you placed a small deciduous tree,to increase privacy from side neighbor's yard during summer? We like to play lawn games, looking for a placement that would create privacy but not inhibit games. thanks

Where to place the tree would probably depend where the problem is that you want to hide.

You have a 6-foot fence. Apparently you're not worried about the view from the neighbor's house over the fence. So what -- and where -- exactly is the problem? What is it about the current situation that gives you the feeling of a lack of privacy?

Perhaps you simply need to hide some or all of the fence and give the illusion of being surrounded by greenery (as opposed to other people's yards). Narrow shrubs would work well and not eat up too much of your yard. Varying the shrubs and the width of the planting will look more natural.

The neighbor has a large tree already. I can't tell how far that is from your fence or how a tree on that side of your yard would interact with the larger tree. What kind of tree is it? How far is the edge of the tree canopy from the fence -- or do the branches overhang your yard?

How about the small tree you've planted along the fence closer to the house? What kind is that?

It would help to know what direction you face when you stand at the back of your house. That will tell us whether the neighbor's tree shades your yard. Also whether, if you add another tree or a row of shrubs on that side, there will be more shade in your yard.

I am trying to block view from the neighbors house over fence. Looking at the fence is south and the canal is west. Both trees are pear trees, the neighbors tree does help but would like a bit more privacy. What do you think of crape myrtles being planted along fence?