Quick Growing Plants for Privacy | Dense Screens Fast

A neighbor’s new window or a busy street can turn a backyard into a fishbowl overnight. Waiting five years for a slow evergreen to fill in is painful when you need privacy now. The good news: several shrubs and trees put on three to five feet of dense growth every season, giving you a real screen in two to three years instead of waiting a decade. Below are the fastest options, how to plant them so they actually fill in tight, and the one mistake that leaves you with bare winter branches.

Best Fast-Growing Privacy Plants By Height

Tall evergreens (30–60 feet) are your best bet for a permanent, year-round screen, while mid-sized shrubs (12–20 feet) work for lower sightlines. The table below lays out growth rates, mature sizes, and growing conditions for the top candidates.

Planting for a Solid Screen Fast

Getting a thick, unbroken wall of green in two seasons comes down to spacing, soil prep, and consistent watering. Digging holes correctly matters more than the plant variety.

• Spacing matters more than price. Space Green Giant Arborvitae 7–9 feet apart; Nellie R. Stevens Holly 3–4 feet apart. The general rule: space plants as far apart as their mature width to avoid overcrowding and thin centers.
• Prep the ground. Remove weeds and grass, then loosen the soil with a garden fork or tiller. If drainage is poor, mix in compost or peat moss.
• Plant at the same depth as the root ball. Burying the trunk flare invites rot, and planting too high exposes roots to drying out. Keep the crown at soil level.
• Keep evergreens at least 12 feet from your home’s foundation. Roots can mess with drainage and structural soil. Stay 6 feet from patios, fences, and power lines.

Water deeply — every week during dry spells for the first two years. That consistent moisture is what pushes fast root establishment and dense foliage. Apply slow-release fertilizer in early spring and mulch the root zone to hold that moisture.

Common Mistakes That Waste a Season

Two errors kill privacy projects: choosing deciduous plants for winter screening and ignoring your USDA zone.

• Deciduous plants drop leaves in winter. Pussy Willow, Serviceberry, and Hydrangeas are fast growers, but they leave your yard fully exposed from November through March. If year-round privacy matters, stick to evergreens like Arborvitae, Holly, or Leyland Cypress.
• Green Giant Arborvitae stops growing fast outside Zones 5–8. It sulks in Zone 9 heat and freezes out in Zone 4 winters. Cherry Laurel is better for warmer climates (Zones 6–9); Privet handles colder sites (Zones 4–9).
• Running bamboo is invasive in most US regions. If you want bamboo’s speed, use Clumping Bamboo (Fargesia spp.) — it stays where you plant it and still grows 4–6 feet per year.
• Dense foliage needs full sun. Conifers like Arborvitae and Cypress planted in partial shade grow loose and thin. For shaded spots, Oakleaf Holly or Cherry Laurel perform better.
• Do not plant tall trees under power lines. A 50-foot Green Giant under a utility line means future pruning costs or removal. Use low-growing shrubs instead.

Starter vs. Mature Strategy

If you need privacy within a year, use a two-stage approach: fast temporary screens backed by permanent evergreens.

Pussy Willows or Hybrid Austree Willows can shoot up 4–6 feet per year and fill the gap while your Green Giant Arborvitae or Holly hedges mature. After three to four years, remove the willows and let the evergreens take over permanently. This method costs more upfront but delivers visual cover every single season rather than waiting. For fast-growing climbing plants that work on fences and trellises, the same immediate-coverage logic applies — vines give you a quick green wall while slower shrubs fill in below.

Container plants run $25–$45 for a 3–5 gallon shrub and $60–$120 for a 10–15 gallon tree. Many nurseries offer privacy-hedge bundles that cut the per-plant cost. Buying ten plants at once feels expensive, but you are buying one screen that lasts decades.