How to Add Privacy to Your Yard

Backyard Privacy Landscaping

Overview:

Enjoying your backyard in glorious solitude is the ultimate in privacy. Unfortunately outdoor privacy may be impossible if there is an open boundary on either side of your property with an open view into your yard you have no privacy at all.

As larger houses occupy ever smaller lots and the demand for outdoor living areas grows, backyard privacy becomes more of a premium. It’s not just about prying eyes invading your space; you may want to shield your view of the neighbor’s activities.

There are many ways to add privacy in your backyard, from landscaping ideas to building fences, stone walls, or garden structures. A staggered wooden board fence makes very good and inexpensive fences. They create a one of a kind privacy fence when softened by shrubs in front and a feathery tree canopy overhead.

Just how you add privacy to your yard is determine by how much you want to spend. The most pleasing and inexpensive way to add privacy is by adding shrubs and trees.

Backyard Privacy Landscaping

Property line shrubs can provide year round backyard privacy and are typically not restricted by municipal ordinances. Where space is tight such 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 from your home.

To plant a new privacy hedge dig a trench two feet wide and two feet deep the length of your property line. Space individual shrubs about 12 to 18 inches apart in the trench and fill with soil up to the branching trunk of the shrubs. Water deeply and frequently the first year using drip irrigation. These deciduous shrubs require a temperate climate and pruning to make an attractive privacy fence.

In very large yards planting a mix of deciduous or evergreen trees, shrubs, and perennials creates a more naturalistic look, especially if you layer the plants by grouping them in odd numbers. Stagger evergreens in the background and in the foreground step down the height with deciduous shrubs to provide texture, depth, and color. Planting deciduous shade trees that grow 25 to 60 feet high is a good way to obscure a neighbor’s view from a second story window or terrace. When positioned over a deck or patio the canopy will provide privacy and shade in the summer. In the winter the bare branches allow the sun to shine into the house.

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 privacy screening. Check the local building codes regarding any fence restrictions.

Board fences come in various styles to complement the architecture of any home and you can stain or paint them to match the house. However, a privacy fence may seem to be the correct way to go they are not always the most aesthetically pleasing solution. Break up the mass of a board fence by planting shrubs or evergreen in front of it to soften the look.

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