Fast Growing Shrubs

I really know nothing about gardening and landscaping so I need all of the help and advice I can get on fast growing shrubs that will fill in the area around our pool deck to look like this (quickly if possible).  While we absolutely love our new pool and hot tub, we quickly realized that we need some fast growing evergreen shrubs for privacy because our neighbors can see everything we do outside.  Not that we are throwing any crazy parties, but we do like to feel like we are tucked away in our own hidden oasis.  Evergreens seem like the best option because they will stay full and vibrant all year, but I am open to just about any hedging plants that you think would grow quickly.

I really need fast growing shrubs like these to fill in the areas around our fence line (the chain link design is just so ugly). The only problem is I have absolutely not idea what the name of these are or really how to find out.  I love looking online at landscaping ideas, but unless the photos have a description or somebody is kind enough to respond to my questions, I pretty much have to take the photo to our nursery and hope they have something that looks similar.  I would love some advice on the names of some of the best fast growing shrubs for shade like the purple ones in this photo.  Honestly I am not even sure if those are shrubs or flowers, so please clue me in on that also haha.

We just planted these fast growing shrubs to line the garden path that leads to the back acreage of our land (with our vineyards).  I am patiently waiting for these things to grow because I am so excited to see how our new garden will look once it matures.  Our neighbor recommended these shrubs for shade because they will thrive in limited sunlight and not be as affected by seasonal changes. Sounded like a good idea to me, so we went to the nursery and picked up all they had to disperse throughout the entire garden area out back.  The only thing left to do is line the fence in the back with some fast growing evergreen shrubs to give that area a bit of structure and some bright greenery. 

One of our company's most popular projects lately is installing fast growing shrubs throughout homeowner's lot lines for privacy.  It seems that people are looking for alternative ways to achieve the same type of visual barrier as a fence but would prefer to do that in a more vegetative way.  Landscaping shrubs are a great option for this because they essentially maintain themselves, and continue to grow larger year after year. As you can see from these photos, we used shrubs and mid-sized trees to create a barrier around this large home.  I think that thick evergreen varieties are the best trees for privacy because they stay full pretty much all year round and also provide great color to the landscape. 

When we asked for fast growing shrubs at our nursery and purchased these, I did not realize how quick they would literally grow.  In just one month our entire property bloomed with beautiful colorful shrubs that perfectly accent our new rustic style mountain home.  I love how they bring a warmth against the harsh stone exterior and make the entire large building feel much more welcoming.  If you just finished a new build like we did, and need some landscaping to fill in the barren yard like we did, I would definitely suggest talking to the experts at your local nursery or home improvement store because ours were so helpful in picking out species for us.  I think that the front yard landscaping ideas that they steered us to truly transformed the look of our property and make it feel so much more like home. 

We discovered that fast growing shrubs like these boxwood hedges are a great way to create a shield or privacy or even a natural fence around your lot.  I didn't really think about that fact that our neighbors are so close by when we built this small pool area beside our back deck and immediately started researching the best shrubs for privacy once we realized that they could see every gathering or pool party we had out back.  I thought that a gorgeous green natural fence would be the more attractive barrier for both of us and, although they were more of an investment up front, I think that in the long run they will likely be cheaper than the price to maintain a fence. So far I have been thrilled with our fast growing hedges and would definitely recommend them to anybody that doesn't want to install one of those traditional (and boring fences).