Need a Quick growing plant for heavy shade

My Daughter in Law's neighbour has just cut down a tree at the bottom of her garden, which had given seclusion to DIL's garden.
What is now needed is a shrub/bush/plant that is a quick grower that can rise above a 5' fence to act as a screen from the other side.
The area is at the back of an area of shrubs of 3-4' covering an area of approx 6' from the lawn to the fence, so the area for the new plant is heavy shade until achieving 3'+ growth.
Any ideas anyone of a suitable plant.?

 

Why not plant a small tree that will already be well above the 3' mark and provide more or less instant cover? It might be worth spending a bit to get a biggish one which will act as an immediate screen (at least after it leafs out).

I have a North facing fence and lilac, yellow privet, cotoneaster, pyracantha rodgersia and laurel are all doing well on the N side. Not sure if I'd recommend them exactly, I inherited most of them. I also planted hydrangea quercifolia which has taken a while but is now up to the top.

 

If you plant an "8-10" (measurement of circumference of the trunk) bare rooted tree (you'll need to buy & plant in the next week or so, as we are at the end of bare rooted planting season) it will be probably 8' tall, maybe taller (but not very "wide" as yet)

If you want a shrub then you will have to wait for it to get some height I'm afraid.

For privacy you will perhaps be looking for evergreen? so it works in the Winter too. Otherwise if you are in a hurry, but only want it in the Summer, than plant a Banana - Ensete maurelii would be my choice. Fantastic focal point, it will do 8' - 10' in its first year, but you'll need to dig it up and store it, dry, in a frost free garage (dark is fine) over winter.

Hmmm ... that may be a bit "off the wall"!!

Can't think of good, evergreen, shrubs that are going to take less then 4 or 5 years to get up to 6' - 8' ... but my list would include Cotoneaster and Pyracantha (as Madahhlia says), and Ceanothus

 

Elaeagnus x ebbingei are fast growing and will tolerate shade. They are fairly cheap to buy as medium sized plants too. Try Shrubsdirect.co.uk or else a local nursery.

They have a spreading habit too, so they grow quite wide as well as high and when they flower they smell lush.

I bought some in May/June last year to form a hedge (in containers) down the side of my drive. This is what they looked like when I bought them:



This is what they looked like less than three months later (notice how high they are in relation to the top of the fence and how much bushier, albeit that these get sun for part of the day):



Alternatively Laurel grows quickly and likes shade - for £12.50 you can get a 120cm - 140cm high one. Again, they grow quite wide. They are also more widely available at local garden centres and more attractive in my opinion.

Both of these are evergreen so would give year round screening.

 

Laurel's a bit of a thug and unless it's constantly attended to it gets the upper hand - I know, I've got one. Very attractive shiny leaves, though, and evergreen.

 

Yes, not suitable for a normal-width hedge, needs to be "quite wide" IME.

 

How wide is 'quite wide'?

I only ask because I'm thinking of filling a dingey corner with something, and I do like laurel, but my garden isn't massive so I have to be practical.

 

I would think that a "normal" hedge could be made in 4' width (no doubt you can clip a hedge narrower, but that feels like what I would expect Box, Privet, Thuja etc to.

Yew I would be inclinded to make about 6'

I think Laurel would need 8' - 10' (but, again, not doubt you could force it to be narrower)

 

Thanks Kristen. I guess Laurel is out of the question for my requirement then. I'm looking for something with a much smaller footprint. Not exactly a hedge, just something to mask a horrid metal fence. I have some bamboo that I'm going to relocate, and I thought about getting some birch, as I don't need a dense screen, just something to soften up the 'jail perimeter' (the church next door felt it necessary to erect a 7/8ft high fence of steel bars).

Anyway, sorry all, I don't mean to hijack the thread.

 

How about putting some climbers in which might relish the steel bars to climb up (as long as the church don't mind).

 

That's a good idea. I can't see how the church could possibly object, although once when I used cable ties to train a rather fierce but pretty wild rose to it, I went out for a few hours and came back to find all the cable ties had vanished. They were cheap ones that may have simply fell off, but it has crossed my mind that Mr Garden Police who thinks he owns the church next door, may have done it.