A bush similar to the Oleander?

Question

We recently just bought this house and the front yard is huge! So on one side of our yard it's open with a long wooden fence seperating it from our yard and the back of our neighbors yard (corner house)! So we thought it would look really pretty to plant oleanders sorted out along the fence to hide it! Well since we just had a baby and we do have a dog, we didn't think it would be a good idea since the oleander is extremely toxic! so what's the next best bush close to that or similar looking?

new to gardening/planting

Answer 1

If you want to block the view of your neighbors, you want evergreen shrubs. Two very nice shrubs for your needs are: Lemon bottlebrush and pineapple guava. The bottlebrush have pretty red flowers which look like bottle brushes, and attract lots of honey bees. The guava have edible fruit, pretty sage-green leaves and red and white flowers. The bottlebrush become nicely compact and thickly bushy if you prune off the old flower heads each year. The guava are best left alone I think. That has been my experience. They have a nice shape just as is. If you have the vertical space, you can add interest by planting Italian cypress every other one, and alternate a couple different types of shrubs between the cypresses.