 | One of the best rewards for hard work spent caring for the landscape is the chance to sit back in the solitude of your yard, relax, and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Something difficult to accomplish, with neighbor’s ogling your every move because of lack of privacy.
Let’s face it. The greater the seclusion, the more peaceful and tranquil the setting, the more enjoyment is enhanced. As when indoors, we may enjoy watching the world go by, but we don’t always appreciate having the world watch us.
In addition to purposes of enjoyment, a well designed landscape also offers a greater measure of security and safety. The benefits of putting up a privacy fence, for instance, are instant and readily realized. But fences aren’t the only way to make a yard feel more private and secure.
With a little creativity, and a little work, you can make your yard a more private, enticing spot to relax. Here’s how.
First, thoughtfully assess your yard. Decide where you need privacy, and what visual intrusions you would like blocked. Certainly areas where you like to relax and entertain, and places that connect you to a neighbor’s yard are likely areas for privacy landscaping.
Secondly, decide what method you would like to use to add privacy to each area. Methods include fences, screens, and plantings.
If any neighbors would be affected by your changes, talk with them about what changes you are considering. Not only is this basic thoughtfulness, but where fences are concerned neighbors are sometimes willing to share in the expense, since they too would benefit from it.
If you are thinking about planting a tree for privacy purposes that could affect a view from your neighbor’s yard and create hard feelings, you might want to consider another solution, or discuss the situation with your neighbor beforehand.
Before building or planting anything, make sure you know exactly where property boundaries are. Also check the laws and regulations applicable to your neighborhood concerning placement and height of permanent structures.
Whatever method you select for privacy and increased safety purposes, you more than likely want something just above eye level or taller. Six feet is the usual height of a privacy fence. On the other hand, if you merely want more privacy while sitting on the patio to dine or relax, a “wall” of three or four foot plants might suffice.
When selecting plants to increase privacy in a yard, also consider maintenance needs. A clipped hedge of arborvitae, for instance, requires more upkeep than a yew; a relatively trouble-free evergreen, attractive whether clipped or left informal.
Also consider the height of mature plants, and how much they will bush out as they grow, and situate them accordingly. Some good plants to consider for use as a hedge, border and screen include:
- Barberry – Dense evergreen and deciduous varieties that grow 2 – 9 feet in height. They prefer sun but will tolerate light shade. Most grow a profusion of small, bright yellow flowers, single or clusters, that mature to red, purple, or black berries. Many types remain decorative throughout the winter. Appropriate for zones 4-8.
Honeysuckle – Fast growing and low maintenance, deciduous and semi-evergreen varieties that grow 3 – 15 feet high. Many have fragrant flowers and attractive red fruit that attract birds. Twining vine types are good on arbors and trellises, while upright specimens are good as a shrub border or as a single plant. Tartarian varieties are considered the best. While most lack autumn color, they make up for it in the spring and summer with a showcase of white to pink flowers. Prefers full sun; prune as needed. Appropriate for zones 3-10.
- Rose – Of course, as the most popular and loved plant in the world, the rose is ideal for arbors, trellises, archways, and informal hedges. Available in both shrub and vine forms. Shrub types are hardier, easier to grow, and have far fewer pest problems. Many offer beautiful autumn color, impressive flowers, and an enticing fragrance. The orange to red rose hips that remain after flowers are spent are edible and a rich source of vitamin C. Musk rose varieties flower repeatedly. Growing 3 – 15 feet, this deciduous plant thrives in sun and late-afternoon shade. Appropriate for zones 2-10.
- Viburnum – An easy to grow, mostly deciduous shrub. Viburnum is a good specimen plant, great near foundations, and an attractive addition to a mixed border. Obtaining a height of 5 – 12 feet, depending on variety, it lends year-round interest. Flat to snowball-shaped clusters of small flowers in the spring, attractive green foliage in the summer that turns scarlet in the fall, before producing bunches of scarlet berries birds appreciate through the winter. Flowers are mostly white or cream. Prefers full sun, and is appropriate for zones 3-9.
When planting a formal hedge, select a spot where plants will receive good light and adequate air on both sides. Set plants at least half their mature width from the property line.
Lay a string line on the ground so that you plant in a straight line. Strip the sod along the line, and dig a trench as deep as the root systems. After preparing the soil by turning it and breaking it up, add a generous amount of humus.
Lay plastic to control weeds, cutting holes for the plants as needed. Set plants in the ground at the same level as they were in the nursery. Adjust each plant to keep it vertical and in line, spacing each according to shrub type.
If you decide to construct a fence to make your yard more private and secure, keep in mind the following considerations:
- Solid fencing may yield the most privacy, but it also restricts light and air flow. Slightly open fences, such as latticework, can allow sunlight and wind, while still screening views into the yard. Some people combine both; a solid bottom, with a lattice top.
- Be considerate of your neighbors. Select a design that looks as good from your neighbor’s yard as it does from yours.
- When enclosing a large area, incorporate occasional variations in the fence to add interest and keep it from being monotonous; a gate, an area of latticework with vines that spill over the top, cast iron plant hangers with a waterfall of flowers exploding from pots.
- Select a fence design and color that matches the house. For instance, redwood fences look great alongside a red-brick home.
- Fences look less “imprisoning” with the addition of plants.
When including a gate in a fence, carefully plan location and style of gate. Points of access will determine location. The style will depend upon how much attention you want it to draw.
If the gate’s main purpose is as an entry for visitors, design the gate to contrast with the fence. If it is to be used mainly by family members as a private access route, construct the gate to blend in with the fencing.
Also be sure and build the gate wide enough to accommodate whatever might need to pass through it: a riding lawn mower, patio furniture, a car, a truckload of sod.
Privacy screens are usually used within the yard itself, rather than as boundary markers. They can be used to block views from outside the yard, as well as from one section of the yard to another.
A screen takes less room than a fence, shelters while allowing a feeling of openness, and is less restricting to air movement. Whether used to shield the setting sun from a patio, or to add privacy to a special nook of the yard, a screen can be “free standing,” surrounded by flora, or covered with vines.
In addition to plants, fences, and screens, well placed lights – landscape or otherwise – will add to yard security and versatility. Deprive intruders of cover by clipping shrubs near windows and doors low. Locate trees away from the house, and remove lower limbs on tall trees that could serve as a ladder.
With careful planning and a little finesse, the landscape around your home can become a safer, more attractive haven with the privacy you’ve always wanted.
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