Large screening shrub?

[greentown]

My garden is bordered by a 6ft wooden fence. On the other side of the fence my neighbour has a conservatory which has windows at around the 8ft mark.
I'm trying to find an 'instant' screening plant to obscure my view of the conservatory.
I've looked a lot at bamboo but the garden is fairly traditionally English and I'm not sure how the tall grasses would fit aesthetically - especially quite close to the house.
I don't want to go down the formal hedging route and nor would I want a large tree or anything that might undermine the fence.
I've looked at and like these Japanese Pittosporum - what do you think?

www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/landscape/shrubs/hgic1082.html

Have you any experience of these or could you suggest a better alternative?

I dont think they are that well suited to a traditional English style garden, IMO many Pittosporums look good combined with bamboo/grasses etc. That said, the plain green Pittosporums with small leaves are very effective at screening and grow fast. Did you have a particular one in mind?

Other options which are a bit more traditional are Escallonia, Elaeagnus ebbingei, Viburnum tinus, Portuguese Laurel.

Tahnks - Pannacotta - Good question! I've only seen it in a garden centre and it was just labelled 'Japanese Pittosporum' - didn't realise there were more varieties!

They had it planted as part of their own 'hedging' next to some sort of unlabelled privet and a laurel and it looked really good. Definitely want to avoid bamboo but I guess as it's Japanese, it probably would look good with grasses/native Japanese stuff.

It was Sunday and the only person working was also running the tea shop and was swamped so didn't want to bother her with plant questions.

Is there a particular type that grows fastest? Which would you say is best to look for screening-wise?

I would choose a non variegated variety, the straight tenuifoilum is good, I have an obscure one in the back garden with nice small leaves called Craxten, which is good for screening, think it is bred from tenuifolium.

www.burncoose.co.uk/site/plants.cfm?_cr=GA1&pl_id=3312

My neighbour has an evergreen ceanothus screening bush which has the most spectacular deep blue flowers in may I think the variety is 'Pugent blue' . Not sure how quickly it grows though.

Ceanothus Puget blue is really pretty I agree! They are not totally hardy though and our neighbours one has struggled a bit over the last few years. Same for pretty variegated pittosporum garnettii I bought a few years ago I might have a look at the Craxton one Pannacotta as I need to replace mine!

Could you use a structure e.g. trellis to add to top of fence or an arbour to screen the view with climbers?

Pyracanthus is quite fast growing although spiky and of course the laurels - Cherry and Portuguese ones. You could also grow a tall, narrow tree like Prunus Amanogawa although deciduous doesn't have invasive roots or take up too much space!

Unfortunately, we couldn't attach a trellis to the fence structure. I did think about a pergola close to the fence with trellis at the back - but I think I'd rather spend the money just on plants.

The Prunus Amanogawa is beautiful in flower. Long term, I will be looking to plant along the fence for about 25 - 30 feet to totally obscure the conservatory. But initially, I'm just trying to block the sightline from the kitchen.

Not sure about the Pyracanthus - do the birds like those berries?

Laurel is always pretty and practical. Is it possible to buy it at 6 foot height already? Would it be exorbitant? My maximum budget for one large plant would probably be £100 but I would want it to be tall and broad for that price.

We had a couple of ceanothus in another garden and they really are lovely. I would definitely have again but I haven't seen them available as large mature plants yet.

I bought a cherry laurel at about 4 foot high last year for £25 - it grew nearly 3 foot just last summer! I have seen them sold as quite big plants online and in garden centres but they are really fast growing. Birds haven't gone mad for my pyracanthus (orange glow) but apparently they do eat the berries.

What about planting some bamboo in a large pot just to give you that bit of screening in the short term?

For £100 you should be able to buy a decent sized specimen.

Have you looked at Potuguese laurel? I think its a nicer looking shrub than straight laurel, the leaves are darker and a nicer shape and a bit more traditional looking. They work well with other planting too IMO. and are much tougher than ceanothus, which are lovely but not that hardy. Also quite fast growing.

I think the red pyracantha berries are the most favoured by birds, but the branches are very thorny.

Do you have any good local nurseries where you could find a specimen sized shrub?

What sort of soil do you have?

With that level of growth a cherry laurel sounds ideal!

I did think about bamboo in a pot rather than in the earth but, it's just really the bamboo appearance I'm a bit ambivalent about.

Definitely interested in anything which entices the tweets too.

Does the portuguese laurel grow as fast as the cherry? We do like laurels so that's probably the way to go and if you think we can get a mature plant at that price - even better.

I think our soil is clay - very heavy, thick, comes up in clods when you dig it. Not sure about acidity or other technical stuff.

We tend to go to nurseries in East kent/Canterbury way. There are a few that seem like good ones but I haven't known what to buy yet so it's been back to the drawing board until we make some decisions.

I second the recommendation for Portuguese laurel over bog standard laurel. Much classier and just as fast growing. I'm also a big fan of Viburnum tinus because in addition to being a tough-as-old-boots fast growing screening plant, it is very pretty when it flowers.

Thanks Rhubarbgarden - off round the garden centres this wekend - so will see what we turn up. Portuguese laurel looks pretty and good for tweets.