Plants to cover neighbors chain and link fence

[musiclvr56]

Because it is not my fence, I cannot use a vine. I do not want a bush, I.e. boxwood, that I will have to trim and shape every year-I don't have a good eye. This is an area of my yard that I don't want to draw attention to. Something that grows tall would be desirable, but not necessary, for privace purposes. The only plant I can think of would be possibly a holly.

Any ideas are greatly appreciated

[lorax]

Astilbes? They'll cover the fence and need nearly zero care other than a hard pruning to the ground in the fall/winter. I had them in Zone 2a, so they'll definitely survive your winters, and they come in an assortment of pleasant colours.

https://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=astilbe&gbv=2&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

[rainbowgardener]

Some kind of ornamental grass?

ornamental grass pictures

Once established, the only care they would need is to cut down the dead stuff in early spring.

[Midwestguy]

I would recommend lilac shrubs. They grow tall and wide and dense. They don't need any maintanance and are drought tolerant and long lived. My parents had a few behind their house when I was growing up. They didn't do anything to them, but they thrived. They are a pretty unassuming shrub except when they flower in the spring.

[rainbowgardener]

Lilacs are beautiful in bloom, but they get HUGE, tall AND wide. I have one old lilac tree in my front yard and it fills up half the yard. And of course they are deciduous, so don't provide any screening in winter.

If you want something evergreen that won't fill up your yard and doesn't need trimming, look for the sky pencil varieties. There's sky pencil holly and skyrocket juniper and similar columnar arbovitae and cypress.