I am in need of some insight as to what shrub would best suit my needs to create a privacy hedge. It needs to be fast growing, evergreen, and *not poisonous* (our backyard egg laying hens say thank you!). I want to plant a hedge along our 4' tall chain link fence to provide privacy between our back yard and that of our neighbors (a 6' alternate board privacy fence is just not in our budget right now), but the location is fairly shady in summer. We have several large (40-60' tall) tulip poplars growing near the area where we want to create the hedge, so it does not get a lot of sun but there is dappled light filtering through. The other issue is that our soil is very clay-ey and while adding soil conditioners will be done at planting, the plants won't get fantastic drainage.

Thanks so much for any suggestions!