Privacy Issue
Sam 6
Posts: 17
Hi all,
I moved into my first house about 5 months ago, and will be tackling the garden in the spring. The previous owner purchased some land running the length of the garden from the council, so the pavement goes up to the fence on the other side. The problem is this area is lower, about a foot compared to the right hand side of the garden. Subsequently we are overlooked by a row of houses.
It’s about 8 large fence panels long. I would like to gain privacy with bushes/hedges but don’t want to spend and arm and a leg due to the size. Should I just provide privacy to the most important part of the garden? This is around 5 panels. Can anyone recommend fast growing, cheap bushes/hedges? Will trellis or similar look naff for such a long run?
Please see the pictures below.
Thanks in advance.
Sam
Posts
Miscanthus can be quite a tall grass, mine are taller than me. You could buy one or two decent sized plants and split them and plant along the fence. Another very tall grass is Arundo Donax. It looks abit like a bamboo, ours has shoots 10 feet tall. It isn't as dense as a miscanthus but looks good, and the stalks are so strong we use them as canes. Some Cornus (Dogwood) can grow tall too. If you wanted instant privacy, big plants are the way but if you buy small, you can always propagate from them to fill in gaps.
Thanks Gardenmaiden. Can anyone recomend a good fast growing hedge? How long will it take to reach a height so it screens the garden? Obviously it will depend on the size of plant I buy etc.
Thanks
Personally I would build a 4ft wall and then place the 6ft fence on top of that. You will then have permanent privacy. I need not be that expensive.
Eucalyptus is very fast growing. 8ft in year 2/3 after planting a small one out an dis evergreen. Rowan/Ash will grow fast from small wips (less than £1 each bare root). Not evergreen of course but in the right spot will reach 8ft within a few years.
It is hard to offer good advice without more information, so these are really just a few thoughts. I'm guessing that the 'important part' is in front of the house windows. The side strip looks to be quite narrow and tall trees or shrubs could make it feel claustrophobic and possibly too shaded and would narrow it even more.
Which direction do you most need privacy from? If you try to work out sight lines you might find that a smaller tree a bit nearer to say your sitting area could give more protection than a larger one further away and would be more in proportion.
Instead of a hedge, could you arrange a group of 3 or 5 shrubs/trees so that from a distance they blocked the view into the garden? That could give more interest and variety to your view from inside the garden.
Or would something like an arbour or a pergola work? You could add one or two fairly vigorous climbers and get a degree of privacy quite quickly . It would shelter you from upstairs windows and look good too. You could add a trellis panel or two to one side of a pergola if you wanted.
How much privacy do you actually need? You might make new friends among your gardening neighbours if they can see you working on your plot as they are walking past.
Thanks for the reply so far. The most Important part is the main bulk of the garden (so from the back of the garage backwards), as this is where hopefully we will be spending some time in during the summer.
We need the most privacy on the left hand side (picture 2). We have already removed the grass in the corner as when we moved in it was dead and rotten. We plan of getting rid of the big bush as it's nearly in the middle of the garden. So really it's going to be a blank canvas.
The 3 or 5 shrubs trees option.... presumably they would be positioned at the borders?
In terms of the arbour or a pergola, then only place we can have it would be by the garage (this has actually been converted). However I'm not sure how it would look as it would be roughly the same height as the converted garage and would also be very visible from the street to that area being the higher level. It might give my neighbours the hump.
We don't need it to be completely secluded. We also had the property valued before Christmas. The estate agent said the left side could do with some screening and overhaul the garden in general.
Apart from a coupld 2 doors down, going on the look of the other gardens, we don't really have any gardeners down our road! To be fair I will be learning too.
You can see from the picture below that the garden is quite big (our house is the end of terrace). The left of the big bush is where it starts to slope towards the boundary.
Also, would you do anything with the levels? Or would a landscaper need to do this?
Thanks For all you helpful suggestions.
Sam
How much privacy do you want? you could do quite a good job by adding Trellis to the existing fence with its own supports then grow climbing plants up it, a mix of plants would give you privacy in the months you would sit out which with luck would be six months of the year. You would not need to lift it much to stop people peering over the fence, if you were sitting or laying down you would be out of the eye line. Take a batten or some cardboard out of the garden and raise it until you get a level when seated you are not in sight.
Anything you do will not be cheap, hedging needs maintenance, the higher the fencing the more prone to blowing down in a wind, once saw fifty feet of new fencing just disintegrate in a gust of wind whilst walking the dog. It needs thinking about and at what cost do you put privacy. Two sides of my garden are four foot board fences as we talk to the neighbours, the north side a six foot fence to keep the north wind out and the front open plan, I can sit in the sun and cogitate with only a couple of neighbours to see me if they wish to. Depends really on what you can afford, brick walls are definitely the best way.
Frank.
Going back to what blairs wrote, there is normally a limit to the height of fence you are allowed to have next to a public footway - check with the Council.
Apart from that, I'm very much with those who suggest shrubs closer to the house, rather than crowding the boundary; it will be more effective, look better and not be a nuisance in the future to passers-by. I think the problem is ultimately that you've bought a house on a street corner and, however hard you try, the solution will only be a compromise, so go for something you can live with.
I find that people aren't as nosey as one might fear, but watch out for the ones carrying step-ladders.
Agree that a high fence would be much more prone to wind damage - so would not go down that route but some 6' high trellis in front of the fence with some climbers growing through (per Frank's suggestion) might be good. That combined with strategically placed fast growing shrubs within the garden might be a nice solution.
In terms of which shrubs - buddleia is good & you will have a good sized shrub within a year or two - I quite like Black Knight with it's rich purple flowers but there are quite a few to choose from. Each shrub will eventually be about 2-3m spread by about 3m high. It is best cut back each year so will not necessarily give year round cover - but I cut mine back to about 3' each spring and it achieves 3m by summer. Same with some of the elders - sambucus "Black Lace" has pretty black leaves & pink flowers and there is also a gold elder. They will both achieve 2.5 to 3m each year without being invasive.
If you need year round cover from the shrubs I'm pretty sure with both of these you can just cut down about half the stems each year so you get the benefit of both continuous cover and fresh growth.
I would not consider a fast growing hedge. It will grow fast because it is vigorous but will then continue to grow once it's reached the required height. You will then be faced with cutting it several times each season - hard work!
Good luck!
The 'law' is normally a fence of 2 metres/8ft next to a public highway. The average fence is 6ft tall. Placing it on a 4ft wall give 10ft but still a 6ft fence...
You could use Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus Rotundifolia) the picture shows a hedge we planted under a row of Oak trees as one meter shrubs and reached two meters within a couple of years, It was pruned back after flowering once a year and was 500mm thick.
We also had a hedge of Escalonia over 3 meters high and needed pruning three times a year but provided much more interest with pink flowers that attracted bees and a nice perfume, even crushed leaves smell of pineapples.
If it was my choice I would plump for Ligustrum Ovalifolium ( privet) but check the soil first as it doesn't like it too sandy .
Good luck with whatever you choose in your new garden.