If your garden feels just a little bit too exposed for your liking, we’ve got some helpful tips on landscaping for privacy
It’s great to be sociable, but we all have times where we need to be undisturbed. Just to be able to spend an hour or so away from the hurley burley of everyday life is at once a basic human need and a luxury. But where better to grab a bit of seclusion than your own garden. Landscaping for privacy is very often near to the top of our clients’ wish lists. So here are some suggestions.
- Plant trees to block the view from neighbours upstairs windows.
- Position your seating area in the ‘blind spot’ in your garden so that it can’t be overlooked
- Consider screening off an area within your garden to create a room within a room
- Pergolas are wonderful for creating private spaces within a garden
- Fences and walls needn’t make your outdoor space feel like a prison yard – they can be very attractive
- Have you thought about creating a living wall? Wonderful for privacy AND the environment.
Planting trees for privacy
This privacy tree is clearly growing in the neighbour’s garden but it feels logical for the garden designer in this project to have made the most of the opportunity it offers
We’re all being urged to plant a tree for the Queen’s Jubilee so why not join thousands of other people in adding a woody wonder to your garden. Choose your tree species wisely and position it carefully so that it blurs the view from your neighbour’s property without casting a shadow over your whole plot.
Silver birch make great garden trees. They have slim trunks and delicate branches but they also grow reasonably quickly. It won’t take long for a silver birch to meet your objectives for privacy.
Pleached trees are fabulous when you are landscaping for privacy. They don’t take up a great deal of space in your own garden and they’re very stylish indeed. A series of pleached trees is like a hedge on legs. Choose something with all year round interest – fruit trees are brilliant! They offer blossom in spring and free food in the autumn as well as being a magnet for wildlife.
Position Your Seating Area Carefully
The thought of surrounding your garden with high hedges might not appeal to you, but in my experience, every outdoor space has potentially private places. You just need to know where to look.
When I’m asked about landscaping for privacy, my initial reaction is to scan the garden. Very often there are already spots that aren’t visible from neighbouring properties. However, the garden layout doesn’t harness their potential.
Look to the far corners of your plot. More often than not, the angle between two fences is almost impossible to see from other properties. Landscaping for privacy is all about placing seating areas in those secret places.
With the addition of some climbing plants, this pretty pergola built by Manor Landscapes, will offer complete privacy.
Use Structures For Screening
Screens, pergola’s, summerhouses and arbours can all be used to create private areas within a garden. Your structure could be something as simple as a series of timber posts set in a circle and draped with climbing plants.
If you add a roof and sides to your structure, it can be used in all weathers. Imagine supping hot chocolate in a cosy garden retreat while the rain is falling outside. You’ll benefit from the fresh air, the views and the relative peace of the outdoors.
Walls and Fences
Clever garden design can make walls, fences and hedges feel as though they are giving you a hug rather than keeping you in. The use of colour, sound, and focal points makes landscaping for privacy into a true art form.
This is a show garden, but you can see that by adding lots of interesting features to the space, that high fence doesn’t feel at all opressive
The area outside this back door provides a convenient ‘blind spot’ and is a great position for a private lawn and seating area
Hedges are incredible privacy barriers and are also very good at absorbing noise. Perfect for roadside gardens! Can’t wait for a hedge to grow? Take a look at these instant hedging solutions.
Finally, the ultimate privacy provider has to be a living wall. These beauties are a great way to screen parts of your garden AND boost biodiversity in your garden. They don’t take up much floor space but they do offer oodles of novelty value and endless all year round interest.
This living wall is actually in Singapore but you can see how there is a variety of plant colours and textures to provide lots of interest AND privacy. This would be great to give a tropical feel to a patio or deck with hot tub.
Need privacy solutions for your own garden? The Manor Landscapes team work with some incredible garden designers to offer a complete design and build service. Contact us to start your garden makeover journey.