A hedge, more or less, is a wall. One thing I think always looks odd is a solid privacy fence (a wall) with a hedge (another wall, but green) in front of it. I think it's better to extend the height of the fence without blocking the fence entirely. One way to do that is to place large tree forms (of the height you wish to grow) in front of the fence. They can be placed as singles on periodic spacing ... or as groups, depending on what you are trying to achieve. They can be spaced so as to connect completely at the canopy area, or be spaced out so as to allow gaps, again, depending on what you are trying to achieve. Crape myrtles are one plant that can be used in this way, but there are innumerable others, depending on what you are trying to achieve. See sketch. (Oddly, this sketch I did awhile back was for someone else in Austin.) To question whether vines can achieve the height you want in a single season indicates that you have no experience with annual vines. Morning glories can grow 25' ht. in a single season if you do the things (common garden practices) that make them happy. Perennial vines are usually slower to get going, but they are there continuously. The easiest vine trellis is made by erecting two poles a few few apart. Install a large hook at the top of each one and span a chain between the poles (hung on the hooks.) Tie twine to the chain at intervals and connect it to the ground (tie to bamboo barbecue skewers from the grocery store.) Annual vines will quickly run up the twine and coagulate around the upper portions. (It can form a solid screen if you drop enough twines.) As annual vines go, there is nothing faster than gourd. Once it begins to climb it will reach the top in a week and begin sprawling all over the place in a couple more. (With kids around it can be a treat to watch the gourds form. Especially, try maranka -- the caveman club gourd -- for something they will really enjoy.) But leaves begin dying off from the bottom up after not too long, so it would best be followed with another annual vine ... like morning glories (Heavenly Blue cannot be beat) or Moonflower vine, if scent and evening flowering appeals. (IMO, moonflower makes the better screen.) I don't think it would be practical to trellis in your whole back yard. You might use the tree form shrubs for most of it, and use a trellis where you need the quickest screen.

I had the same problem and It was so challenging. It always looked unfinished and I felt like people would fall off of the edge of the deck. Plus our dog insisted it was a dog run which was kind of gross. We found a work around. We bought a fence screen from an online store that offers next day delivery (website to remain unnamed. :-) They come in different lengths, height and colours. (Forgive the mess. We were prepping the spot in front of the equipment to extend the concrete pad and address the gap) The fence screen we are fast an easy install and this fabric doesn't fade or rip. It allows air to flow through but keeps dirt from going through the fence. After I dug a trent for the trees, I ran the landscape fabric over stones that we placed along the bottom of the fenceto create a basin. then back filled with soil. Fence fabric https://www.amazon.ca/Windscreen4less-Privacy-Grommets-Warranty-Customized/dp/B001OJXVKW/ref=sr_1_7?crid=LGXTY2DJMA7U&keywords=fence%2Bscreen&qid=1652055342&sprefix=fence%2Bscreen%2Caps%2C121&sr=8-7&th=1 The chainlink acts like the retaining structure, the fence screen helped to keep everything on myside and the landscape fabric, wood and stone helped with drainage. We have a 20" drop from deck height so we didnt' have to dig down too far to plant cedars and we could fill up the gap with soil. To break up the green we had cedar privacy screens, strategically placed to be over drainage, and grounding wires for the pool. I plan to plant hydrangea bushes at the base of the cedar screens but my husband wants hicks yews (no maintenance required and all around greenery for those of use who have cold weather 8 months our of the year).

You are proposing to create a problem --a rotting fence -- and then spending time and effort trying to figure out how to prevent the problem in spite of its existence. The only good method is as Lyfia suggest ... keep an air gap (several inches at least) between the raised bed and the fence. There is no other way. And this creates another problem ... a place where trash is trapped and maintenance is more difficult because of limited access. Cedar will disappoint you with its shortened life span if you don't make sure it is able to dry quickly after its gets wet. I ask the same question as Lyfia ... why does the garden need to be raised? If you wish to raise the grade, the proper way is to create the raised area and place the fence on top of it. Placing anything against the fence will ensure that it doesn't dry quickly.

Right, that post. I did look at it. I can tell you why I didn't respond and why probably others also didn't... which will probably frustrate you because when you ask a small question people ask for the big picture and when you ask a big question people say you're asking too much. I really don't mean to be unwelcoming, so please don't take this that way. What I hope to do is help you ask questions that will stimulate a good discussion so that you have a good experience here. You gave a lot of information about the yard and plants in your post - too much, to tell the truth - but very little about you. It's not that we're nosy, but that landscaping is done for people, not for the yards themselves. Also, what you asked for was help designing something you've already pretty much got in your head, and you've described rather disjointed elements with no reference to how the yard is going to be used, or what you like to do in a yard. No one can help you with that. And with the amount of detail you'd already given, there was overload, and probably little inclination to ask for more, because you were asking for something the forum members likely aren't here for anyway. We're mostly here to learn, to exchange ideas, and to help you learn, not to take decisions off your plate. Blunt, I'm afraid, but I hope clear. To the question of whether there should be a raised bed right "here" I would say it depends on whether your gardening needs require a raised bed or whether those needs could be met better elsewhere with less compromise, expense, or trouble, or to better effect. What the forum excels at is helping you solve a problem or make a decision that you're stuck on for some reason. Your other thread, you aren't stuck; quite the reverse - you know pretty much where you're going. Things like just where the patio should or arbour should go are things that, even if you could give us enough information to make the decision, I don't think that's what anyone comes to the forum to do. It's quite different from the direction the Home Decorating forum has gone - more power to them, it's a busy place and people enjoy being there and sharing their opinions. But this is different. KarinL