Gardening people - what do I plant here?

[historically accurate]

My bedroom window looks out directly to my neighbor's dining room window. I would like some sort of screening plant between us. As it is now, we very, very seldom open the shades in our room which means that it is never bright and sunny in there. It always looks like a cave, and that room opens to the living room, so not very attractive. 

The red/green area you see is the stump of a tree (with lots of weeds!) we had to remove because it was way too big, ie: I was hacking it back multiple times per year so as not to touch the siding on either side and leave some room for walking to the backyard for us and accessing their AC unit for them. It keeps trying to come back and we keep hacking it back. There is a overgrown evergreen shrub as well as a peony, daylily, and a sedum to the side. They got plopped here when I had to split the parent plants. 

Things you might need to know: 

I usually have stepping stones through the area so you can easily access the backyard. I've just been lazy on getting them out this year. 

The houses are not quite 20 feet apart. Bottoms of the windows are about 5 feet off the ground.

I live in Northern IL, but this area is pretty sheltered and essentially full sun. 

I like to garden, but it sets off my allergies and I'm a weather wuss, so I am an inherently lazy gardener. If it requires lots of work, it won't happen.

Budget: the cheaper, the better.

Pic is out my (screened) bedroom window of the area between the houses. That window is their dining room table.

[Pawz4me]

I don't know about plants for that part of the country. But you might consider getting someone to come grind up the stump. Or if you'd like to get a workout you can rent a stump grinder from Home Depot (or at least here you can) and do it yourself. Getting rid of it would mean less upkeep and more room to plant something else.

[historically accurate]

11 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

I don't know about plants for that part of the country. But you might consider getting someone to come grind up the stump. Or if you'd like to get a workout you can rent a stump grinder from Home Depot (or at least here you can) and do it yourself. Getting rid of it would mean less upkeep and more room to plant something else.

It's on my to-do list (or actually DH's to-do list). We just haven't gotten energetic enough to do it though. 

[BlsdMama]

I’d planta sand cherry. They can be a tree or a shrub. I like them best as a shrub. Plant, cut back in early spring, then the next year, cut back HARD to make it fuller, then just let it be what you want. I prefer them about 4’ tall and full, but my brother in law has one that is about 8’ tall and more tree like. 

[BlsdMama]

Consider a magnolia tree too perhaps? We just planted one and they’re an attractive tree - full and 8’-10’. 

[KungFuPanda]

You can kill the stump yourself if you drill into it and put Epson salts in the holes. 
 

I would put a vase-shaped bush or small tree there. They’re easier to take care of than other plants.  You can keep the bottom/trunk area pruned up so you can walk in that area but still have leaves blocking the eyeline between those windows. 
 

I’d Google full sun, 8 feet (or whatever) native bushes and your location so you can narrow down the choices to things that will care for themselves. I’d want a lilac pruned into a tree, but I don’t have full sun so I have serious lilac envy. 

[Miss Tick]

A viburnum would fill in there pretty quickly, although it is deciduous. A holly would fill in slowly but be evergreen, it might not get tall enough.

You might also look at privacy window film for a faster fix. 😀

[KungFuPanda]

8 minutes ago, SusanC said:

A viburnum would fill in there pretty quickly, although it is deciduous. A holly would fill in slowly but be evergreen, it might not get tall enough.

You might also look at privacy window film for a faster fix. 😀

That would be the quickest route to privacy while keeping your light. Frosted window film is cheap and it applies without any adhesive, it just sticks with static or something. Home Depot carries it.  You don’t have to put it on the whole thing either. If I wanted privacy today, I’d block some with window film (or use sheer curtains) and a few plants in that window sill until your outside solution matures. If you don’t have a window sill, you can hang the plants. 
 

You really don’t want an aggressive plant outside that will outgrow that space quickly just so you can get results sooner. You want something that’s the right size range at its mature height and you’ll have y to o wait a few years for that. 

[kbutton]

A trellis near the property line with a clematis on at least one side. Make sure the trellis is something that will weather well. 

https://plantinstructions.com/flowers/how-to-grow-clematis-in-your-garden/  This link has some nice pictures. My parents have some on a vinyl trellis for privacy on their back porch. It's hardy and very pretty. I think they trim it now and then, but it's not hard to care for at all. 

A tall ornamental grass might also be effective (or two or three kinds arranged together). They come in all sizes and many colors.

https://www.bhg.com/gardening/flowers/perennials/ornamental-grasses/?crlt=[object Object]&crlt.pid=camp.Yg4KJqs8eMBI&socsrc=bhgpin051113fountaingrass

Rose of Sharon, may need mulching during the winter in your zone: https://horticulturetalk.wordpress.com/2014/02/28/growing-rose-of-sharon-hibiscus-syriacus-in-zone-4/  They are fuller throughout the whole plant than some tree-ish shrubs are, so I think it would screen more than a flowering tree would.

Arborvitae--you don't have to get really big ones.

Weeping spruce or other evergreen--check mature sizes. Some are dwarf. 

Hollyhocks: https://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dictionary/perennial/hollyhock/#:~:text=If there's one defining feature,it's really quite a show.

 

[happi duck]

What's the privacy goal? Or is it a shade goal? Do you need it covered 100% of the time?

Can you change your window coverings so it's easy to pull it closed when you need it? But otherwise leave it uncovered?

[historically accurate]

24 minutes ago, SusanC said:

A viburnum would fill in there pretty quickly, although it is deciduous. A holly would fill in slowly but be evergreen, it might not get tall enough.

You might also look at privacy window film for a faster fix. 😀

Huh, I hadn't thought of window film. That'd solve the problem faster than a tree or bush would grow into the spot. Thanks!

[Miss Tick]

Just now, historically accurate said:

Huh, I hadn't thought of window film. That'd solve the problem faster than a tree or bush would grow into the spot. Thanks!

@KungFuPanda
is right that you don't have to do the whole window, which reminded me that in my bathroom i bought some top-down/bottom-up shades for the windows which were a bit pricy, but do the same kind of coverage young in a flexible way. Since it is my bathroom i never do the bottom-up (traditional) option, but every summer we lower the top a bit for more light.

[historically accurate]

Just now, happi duck said:

What's the privacy goal? Or is it a shade goal? Do you need it covered 100% of the time?

Can you change your window coverings so it's easy to pull it closed when you need it? But otherwise leave it uncovered?

It's definitely a privacy goal. There is always someone in their kitchen as they have 7 people in the household, so anytime we walk through our bedroom to the bathroom (door opens to the window wall), someone is at their kitchen table. They all work different shifts (there is only one child there), so someone is always up and at the kitchen table. 

I don't really need shade as that's the north side of the house. 

[marbel]

I don't have plant recommendations but someone mentioned top-down/bottom-up blinds. We have those in our living room, which faces the street. I love them. We pretty much keep them halfway down all the time. We can sit in our living room without feeling like people are able to peer in at us, but we still get plenty of light. They are really useful. Next time I am buying blinds for my bedroom, that's what I'm going to get. 

[Lori D.]

How about a free-standing trellis at the property line, and cover it with vines?

 

ETA - never mind, @kbutton beat me to it😉

Edited May 23, 2021 by Lori D.

[KungFuPanda]

I've got the hillbilly version of top-down shades.  I have a giant window that's open to my carport.  I don't need a view of my car.  I mounted a roller shade 3/4 of the way down the window so that the top is always open and the light comes in.  It has the effect of having a transom window in that room.  Now that I'm thinking about it, I could put a translucent shade there and get more light.

Edited May 23, 2021 by KungFuPanda

[Pam in CT]

You want a solution 12 months a year, right?  So I wouldn't do anything deciduous; I'd focus on both privacy and something pretty to look at all year long.  And it's also not a huge expanse of space, so I would be wary of something like viburnum (mine are GLORIOUS at the moment.... but 15+ high and equally wide... which good neighbors, would not make).

I like the idea of a trellis with climbing vines *very* much.  You can get or build ones like this, that have an attached planter, ready to go. Then you can plot out a multiyear plan:

• Immediate gratification: stuff the planter with armloads of tall annuals (cleome, upright verbena, cosmos) in the middle, and start some clematis on both ends.  I've had good luck with clematis even the first year so long as it gets sun, which it sounds like you have plenty of.  I've also had good luck growing out those $5 bareroots that Walmart carries; just plonk them in very-rich soil or starter.
• Fall: plant one or two climbing hydrangea in the middle.  These are maddeningly slow-growing in my area, but they are GLORIOUS and long-lasting and, here's the rub, they have evergreen glossy leaves, so even in the winter they look good.
• Next spring: put something cascading near the edges of the planter near the clematis (I use creeping jenny a lot for this kind of purpose -- it's a wonderful golden color that stays in leaf almost all winter and starts up again very early spring, and once established it creeps out vigorously but not invasively, so I can always harvest a fistful if I want to decorate another pot), and plonk some shorter all-summer-long annuals in for color (dianthus and lobelia are my go-to all-season annuals).
• Once the hydrangea is finally good, you may not need the clematis any more; or you might move them down to the ground instead of the planter. They're pretty tough; I've successfully moved long-established ones.

Alternatively, if you regularly traverse *through* the space in addition to looking out at it, you might want to try something that smells good, like honeysuckle.  (I've longed for jasmine for going on 30 years, but I don't think it'd do any better in your climate than mine, sigh.)