Privacy Plantings

Privacy Plantings

Property-line plantings can provide year-round screening and are typically not restricted by municipal ordinances limiting their height. Where space is tight, as in a side yard, fast-growing columnar evergreens like Italian cypress and arborvitae or a sheared privet hedge can provide a simple solution for separating adjoining yards or blocking sight lines out a kitchen window.

To plant a new privet hedge, create a trench two feet wide and two feet deep, space individual shrubs about 12 inches apart, and bring soil up to the branching trunk. Water deeply and frequently the first year, using drip irrigation. To thrive, these deciduous shrubs require a temperate climate and a homeowner willing to wield sharp shears as often as needed.

Nancy Andrews

Layered Privacy Plantings

In larger yards, planting a mix of deciduous or evergreen trees, shrubs, and perennials creates a more naturalistic look, especially if you layer plants, grouping them in odd numbers. "Stagger evergreens in the background, and in the foreground step down the height with deciduous material to provide texture, depth, and color," says Elliott Brundage, a landscape architect in Andover, Massachusetts.

Planting deciduous shade trees-which generally grow from 25 to 60 feet high, depending on the species-is a good way to obscure a neighbor's view from a second-story window or terrace. Positioned over a deck or patio, the canopy provides privacy and shade in the summer. In the winter, the trees' bare branches allow the sun to shine into the house.

Nancy Andrews

Container Gardens for Deck Privacy

Potted plants such as arborvitae or clumping bamboo can be positioned to create a green screen around a raised deck seating area. Ideally, pots should be raised up on casters or made of lightweight materials so you can easily move them for parties or deck repairs.

TOH Tip
For a long-­lasting container display, combine showy annuals with ornamental grasses, shrubs that change leaf color in the fall, or dwarf evergreens. Go for a mix of colors, textures, and foliage types.

Philip Harvey

Fences and Walls

Newly installed pools, patios, and playgrounds may require a visual buffer in a hurry. A 6-foot solid board fence is the quickest way to add year-round screening-just be sure to check local building codes regarding fence heights (and any other restrictions). It may also be the best solution in a side yard, where space is tight, since fences have a smaller footprint than plantings.

Board fences come in various styles to complement the architecture of your home, and you can stain them to match the house. "But while a privacy fence might solve the problem, it's not always the most aesthetically pleasing solution," says Eric Sauer, a landscape architect in Dayton, Ohio. To break up the mass of a board fence, Sauer suggests adding an open lattice or baluster top, and planting flowering or evergreen shrubs in front to soften its solidity.

Courtesy of This Old House

Lattice, Wood Panels, and Ornamental Ironwork

Screens made from lattice, shutterlike louvered wood panels, or sections of ornamental iron with anchoring posts can be set into the ground to enclose a cozy corner or make a U-shaped structure that preserves desirable views. For maximum flexibility, consider placing the post ends in lightweight planters with wheels; to anchor them, add concrete plugs to the feet or set the posts in gravel. That way, they can be moved around to create more open space when you're entertaining.

Semitransparent structures may not provide complete privacy, but they add a lot of visual interest to a landscape and allow natural light and breezes in. "They create a comforting sense of containment and a psychological buffer," says Stephanie Hubbard, a landscape architect in Boston and TOH TV regular.

Michael Glassman & Associates