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Light screening for front garden
sue reid
Posts: 1
My front garden is approx 8ft deep. I am looking for planting ideas to lightly screen my front room from view.
I don't want a heavy hedge, but lightweight/wispy plants - preferably evergreen that impeed people staring straight in to the room as they pass. Although a north facing room it is very light so I am not overly worried about blocking get light if I cn find the find the right sort of plants.
Not bamboo
Thanks
0
Posts
It's hard to find a plant that will answer your needs given the northerly aspect and lack of direct sun. I suggest you invest in some trellis panels which can be painted or left natural and then grow a climbing rose suitable for this aspect. David Austin recommends a few of their own here - https://www.davidaustinroses.com/eu/specific-situations/climbers-for-north-facing-walls
I find they take a year or two to get their feet down and establish but can recommend Teasing Georgia and Generous Gardener from my own experience. They do need good soil and a good feed every spring and you need to dead head to keep them flowering from June thru to the frosts.
There are also clematis that will grow well in the shade. Here is one list to get you started - http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/new-clemlist.cfm These are all group 3s so hard prune in spring then train as they grow back and flower all summer. They need to be planted deep in good soil and with regular spring feeds to keep them healthy and flowering.
As Obelixx states, it's almost impossible. Most shrubs that are evergreen will likely block light to some degree and form a dense barrier. Because of that, I suggest a semi-evergreen shrub that is garden-worthy for any place, but for your situation, it can work as long as you are prepared to prune it every now and then to remove excess branches. Because of its habit, it is quite easy to do.
Viburnum x Hillieri 'Winton' has lovely coppery tinged leaves in spring and then clusters of small white/lime flowers that then turns into red small berries that eventually mature to black in colour. In the atumn, the foliage turns red, so througout the seasons, there is always something going on. The shrub responds well to pruning, so quite easy to avoid excess height or allowing it to get too dense.
I agree totally - anything evergreen, by it's very nature, won't really be 'wispy'. I think Obelixx's suggestion of trellis with climbers would also be excellent. There are some evergreen Clematis, but most need a sunny site, so you wouldn't have the right aspect.
The trellis itself would offer screening when plants are dormant. You could even design your own - it isn't difficult to make something using a few posts and some battens. I've made a screen in my garden doing exactly that.
In addition to Borderline's suggestion of shrubs, some of the bigger grasses might do, but they need cutting back in spring, so you'd have nothing while they get growing again. There's also a method of growing some shrubs called cloud pruning. If you google it, you'll get the idea, but it does require some effort to maintain, although a careful choice of shrub would help. I've seen it done beautifully with Pyracantha.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...