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Hide fence and housing for wide area

SuffolkFolkSuffolkFolk Posts: 3
in Plants
Hi there. I'm looking to improve the view and privacy at the bottom end of our east-facing garden. We have a 5'6" fence all the way along the back, but because our house is on a raised part of the lawn, it offers very little privacy and is plain ugly. I would like to plant along or in front of the fence to hide it, and also add extra height in order to offer improved privacy and a better feeling of the garden being a natural green space.



The view over the gardens to the left is particularly bad. Adding a foot or two of evergreen height would make an enormous difference.:



I'm leaning towards climbers along the fence, such as jasmines & ivy. I love the look and coverage of Parthenocissus, but it would be a no-go as it is naked in Winter. Although nice to have, I'm not that worried about flowers - my main aim is to completely hide the fence and add height so I can't see the gardens and driveway of the other houses at the bottom. 

As well as looking for planting suggestions, I'm also considering how best to support the plants. The fence isn't the strongest in the world, and suffered breakages last year in a storm, so perhaps I would be best creating some sort of climbing structure on taller poles in front of the fence?

I'm open to any suggestions - thanks in advance!
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  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    bring the planting forward so there's something to attract attention within the garden. At the moment there is nothing centrally. That Cornus to the left for example, more things like that to divert the eye


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    edited January 2019

    Climbers won't get much higher than their support, and if you want to block your view of the buildings from where you took the pictures then you're looking at going at least twice to three times the height of the fence.

    If it were mine I would have some strategically-placed trees within the garden (not up against the fence) positioned so that their canopies will grow into the spaces between the existing trees/shrubs but taller, and more shrubs to fill in lower down and screen the view of the fence.  Less maintenance than a tall hedge, and won't overload the weak fence.

    Edit:  here's a sketch to try to show what I mean - yellow=trees, green=shrubs, blue=perennials/underplanting

    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043

    I would either go with trees or a tall evergreen hedge. I'm not a fan of laurels in a small garden as they can get quite tall and thick, but I think you have the space there and a laurel hedge would block out your neighbours, give you privacy and remain green all year. Don't plant too close to the fence to allow room to trim behind it and maintenance of the fence. But check that there aren't legal height restrictions along the boundary.

    I wouldn't plant ivy on the fence, especially if it's a bit weak, as it could cause the wood to rot by keeping in damp after the rain.

    Another idea is to build a pergola a metre or two inside the fence and plant a selection of climbers up it. If you had roses and clematis it would be a pretty feature in summer and, although it wouldn't completely hide the view, it would subdue, semi-hide (can't think of a word) the view in winter.

    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • SuffolkFolkSuffolkFolk Posts: 3
    Jenny, that looks brilliant! What garden design software are you using? :p That would do a great job, and both of you are correct to point out that the lawn is decidedly empty at the moment. We had an extension built so the garden was re-turfed. It is a nice blank canvas at the moment. I don't know the first thing about plants to be quite honest, so this is an interesting curveball.

    I would need to balance planting with the fact that I have two young boys, and the bottom lawn is their playground at the moment. Saying that, they are quite adventurous, and making it more 'wild' might suit their play just as much as leaving it as a 'football pitch' which is what it currently is in my mind.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043

    Jenny's photo wasn't there when I posted but that is the effect I was thinking of when I said trees. I don't know how to do what Jenny has just done.

    Children like shrubs and trees to run around and hide behind, at least mine did.

    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    No garden design software - I just saved your photo, opened it in Paint and scribbled on it!  I don't have children so what I would do might not suit you and your family - it was just an idea to think about.  Maybe leave out underplanting until the children are older (young trees need a large-ish circle around them kept clear of plants and grass until they get established anyway).  The trees/shrubs that you already have will give more screening when they come into leaf, and they might grow taller depending on what they are.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • DampGardenManDampGardenMan Posts: 1,054
    As others have said, I'd go with a hedge. Plant it five feet in front of the fence so you can get to both sides and the cutting of it is in your control. Once it's mature, you can use the five-foot space to store "rubbish" that you don't want to see. If you planted it a bit further away then you could even have some compost bins in there - if you get into gardening you'll need compost bins!

    What I'd use for the hedge is Pittosporum tenuifolium - I've had it as a hedge about ten feet high and it works just fine. It's hardy (H4 says the RHS), so unless you're in a really cold spot it should survive happily. It can be cut back pretty hard and it just comes again.
  • treehugger80treehugger80 Posts: 1,923
    edited January 2019
    most local council have height restrictions for hedges (Leylandii being the main problem)
    so i would recommend a row of differing shrubs/trees that reach differing heights, bigger where the sight lines are and shorter where they are not a problem, that way your neighbours can't report you to council and council can't tell you to chop them back.
  • DampGardenManDampGardenMan Posts: 1,054
    If you have a row of shrubs and trees then the whole thing is considered a hedge. So, if the hedge exceeds 2m and the council approves a complaint made by your neighbour(s) then I think you might have to trim the whole lot! But I'm no lawyer ... though probably somebody on here is :smile:

    As ever, discuss with your neighbours first!
  • treehugger80treehugger80 Posts: 1,923
    edited January 2019
    a row of different shrubs and tree's, as long as they are not pruned, are not classified as a hedge.

    its all about pruning, if they're pruned then they're a hedge, not pruned its a line of shrubs
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