Shade/ privacy

[Brizzo]

Morning! I am trying to hide our neighbor’s fence with something low maintenance (per my husband) and where it is mostly shade. Would like something anywhere from 5-12 feet tall. It seems evergreens/ arborvitae and boxwoods all need full to partial sun. What am I missing? There must be something, but my search has been futile. Below is the area back in 2020. TIA

 

[Meadowlark]

Welcome @Brizzo .

I use Azaleas for a similar purpose. Those pictured below are at least three decades old. Very low maintenance. You can get plants whose growth ranges from dwarf to large depending on variety. They prefer acidic soils and some shade.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I did a quick look into native Delaware shrubs and found Arrowwood Viburnum does decent in shade. Various sources list it as 6 ft - 15ft, but I assume in full shade it would be shorter. Maybe between 4'-10', and 4' would be in very dry soil. Any average soil moisture in shade would likely have it grow to around 6'-8'.

You could probably research some of your native shrubs and find at least a few that would work. Always try to plant native when possible. There's pretty much a native plant for every condition, and they're beneficial too!

Here's a website with a list of native shrubs. When you scroll down there's a list of shrubs after trees. Not a ton of info about lighting but if you copy/paste each latin name into google you'll find some sites that tell you about each one.

Native Plants for Delaware Landscapes | University of Delaware

This factsheet focuses on Native Plants for Delaware Landscapes.

www.udel.edu

 

[oneeye]

Nellie R. Stevens holly can grow in shade though it prefers full sun to partial shade, and is a good choice for privacy screens or hedging and will grow in your zone.