| My garden is 7 metres by 2 metres, its the 7 metre length that I want
to
| hedge. I dont want my hedge thicker than 60cm if possible. I did think
of
| planting sunflowers as there is plenty of light but they are annuals
and
| therefore harder work

You could let the elder grow upwards, pruning it to be narrow, which
will give you flowers and fruit. If you prune elder back every year,
you will get no flowers and hence no fruit.


Although I would like some flowers and fruit, privacy is what I want the
most


And you could then solve your privacy problem by growing a climber
up and around the elder, once the latter is established. You would
want something not too vigorous, so perhaps the smaller clematis
(e.g. C. alpina, but there are dozens of them).

Now that is a good idea


Thanks people.