I am looking for a good woodland screen that would be fairly tall (8-10'), evergreen and grow resonably fast (or can be bought reasonably tall). This would be for the Northern Virginia area. My preference is Kalmia, but I can only find small hybrids for sale. Is this a good choice? Have a better one? Know where I can get taller species plants? Area is open woodland (but oak and beech trees overhead provide significant shade). Area is not wet, nor dry. Soil is acid woodland with a natural cover of leaves. Zone 7b.
Kalmia is slow. Large rhododendrons like R. maximum will be faster, although still not fast relative to other shrubs. If it doesn't have to be native then yew, holly and box are good traditional hedges. There are many kinds of hollies, including native Ilex opaca. Like most fully hardy broadleaf evergreens these are all slow, however. You can expect to wait 20 years to get a 10 foot hedge from something like this. With screening it is always long term suitability versus quick effect, plants that shoot up tending to keep going, being less dense and refined than those that are slow growing.
