Garden privacy help / ideas

Hi,

We moved into a new house a short while ago and it quickly became apparent that we were going to have some privacy issues; not just with one neighbor, but also the next one along too. We put up a new fence (see attached image) which solved half of the problem. Unfortunately, it hasn't solved the whole problem. Neither has asking them to at least attempt to be discreet. It's a pain because we have children and we all like to play in the garden, but it's off putting when one neighbour heads peeps out from around the curtain every 60 seconds, and their neighbour just stands there in full view peering directly at us.

Our fence is 6 feet high. I think we'd need something in the region of 8-10 feet high in order to block out the view from the 1st floor windows.

Anyway, rant aside, we're looking for options that will help with privacy but also to help us to inject some colour and life into our garden. That side of our garden is mostly north facing, with some sun on it for a couple of hours later in the afternoon. The garden is on clay too, but we're happy to raise the garden up if this will help mitigate any issues that comes with having a clay garden.

We really like the look of Star Jasmine but we're not sure if this part of the garden would have good enough conditions for it to flower nicely?

Any advice and suggestions would be most welcome. Thank you.

 

Hiya barrowvian

Too shady I think for jasmine there.

Pyracantha would provide evergreen cover at height you require but it is prickly (young children???). Hydrangea Petiolaris is an evergreen, vigorous climber with white flowers in summer. You could add some clematis too for summer colour...Nellie Moser likes shade for example. I grow clematis Armandii in a shady spot in my garden and it flowers well.....very, very vigorous and will reach over 10' tall and wide in a couple of years. The foliage is attractive and the flowers, white and scented, are attractive. Many honeysuckles enjoy shade like periclimemum, Halliana and Serotina.....giving scent and colour.

How about some shrubs there too? Holly Golden King is a superb non prickly, evergreen that will tolerate most conditions. Philadelphus Aurea is deciduous with yellow foliage in summer and deliciously scented flowers. Shrubs will help reduce noise and give some depth to the planting there. Mahonia Charity is an evergreen, prickly but beautiful shrub that grows fast....has scented yellow flowers in winter. Berberis Darwinii too is evergreen with eye catching orange flowers in spring. If you have some tall climbers you can add shorter shrubs in the front like hydrangeas, winter honeysuckles, daphnes.....hey! You could make something really attractive there barrowvian in time

Consider some grasses.....miscanthus varieties esp. Variegatus has white/green leaves, fountain shaped, grows to 7' plus from a hard pruning in spring and creates both sound and movement. Has beige flowers in the autumn and looks effective over winter. Other miscanthus varieties with pink and red flowers too. They will all quickly give you privacy over the summer.

Perennials too......there are several tall perennials that will offer you privacy over the summer months and give you lots of colour....sanguisorbas like Pink Elephant, Red Thunder and Alba flower all summer and love clay soils. Thalictrums too like Splendide White, Elin, Hewitts Double and more are tall attractive plants. Persicaria Polymorpha will grow from nithing in early spring to a frothy white flowered plant to 6 or 6' tall in mid summer.

No doubt others will offer you suggestions too

 

Silver Birches are lovely trees, quite quick growing but not dense as in they filter the light through, you also get lovely rustling sounds from the leaves.

It looks like your garden is a good length but to get away from the long straight lines maybe consider shaping the flower borders to soften the look.

Nice fence

 

Star Jasmine also doesn't like clay soil - I purchased a couple from RHS Tatton Park some years back - they survived but looked sickly and never bloomed/hardly grew. Chucked them on the compost heap this year.

For high window privacy how about a strategically placed gazebo/arch - then grow an evergreen climber - honeysuckle 'copper beauty' grows rapidly in my clay soil and is evergreen.

Lower levels - my favourite Cherry Laurel - I grow it here so should suit your clay soil.

 

Perfect, thank you all for the detailed advice.

We're lucky to have a nice sized garden, but at the moment it is very sad. I don't think the previous owners too much interest in the garden as it was mostly just grass and some dusty/gravel area that appears to have had a pond in it at some stage.

I'll have a research into some of the suggestions that have been made and will no doubt come back with some more questions. Thanks again.

 

This is what ive done.

 

Just curious as to why people are staring at you. Could it be that they are drawn by the sounds of children's laughter? Kids outside tend to shout (particularly in a swimming pool) and that might draw attention. I have a flag flying in my backyard and the movement of that draws the eye too.

 

What a pain, wow. Part of me would just stand in front of their window and spook them when they draw the curtain. Or the other part would think "how shallow their lives must be" Or the other part would send them a note----I see you checking on us, if you have questions please ask. and send cheesecake to welcome us. So glad to see there are some good examples for your privacy issues. Recently, our neighbors to the left sold their house. I just prayed for new "quiet" ones, and that is what I got, like church mice. But we have distance and woods and shrubs between us so privacy is not ever an issue. Good Luck to you.

 

Its normal in the uk Lori its full of nosey peeps who have nothing better to do than see whats going on around them, as soon as you have something nicer than them they get the face on and start some sort of trouble.

 

Your guess is as good as mine. However, it's not just when the kids are out. For example, on Saturday evening the Mrs and I were sat in the end corner of the garden having a couple of beers. We had no music on, weren't running around or doing anything to cause a scene. Just sitting there having a drink and a chat. I must have clocked the woman two doors down at least five or six times peek out from the corner of the window; just enough to see the top half of her head. Eventually I just casually waved at her and she disappeared. Ten minutes later she's up at her loft extension just standing there in the window staring right at us again. Might be me just being paranoid, but even our other neighbours have noticed her too when I was out talking to them.

 

Ha ha, I have a nosey neighbour.....my cousin. Think he means well but he is always peeping into my garden. A couple of days ago, I spotted him again....low down face between a gap in the bushes...." want a pair of binoculars Brian" ? I called out. He is ok, really, but what a gossipy old nosey fellow he is. Told him too, with a smile. Depends on my mood I guess but......... live and let live!

 

It is what it is. Yes I find it irritating, but I'm not going to start an argument over it. I'd rather just put something up that gives us the privacy we'd like whilst making the garden look nicer.

We really liked the earlier suggestion of Honeysuckle 'copper beauty' ... That looks really nice and would add some much needed colour to our garden. Just trying to find any examples where someone has created the type of privacy wall using it in the way that we're looking for.

 

A quick fix for this summer, until the plants grow, would be to increase the height of the fence with some cheap rolls of willow or brushwood screening. This sort of thing:Classic Willow Screening - Garden Screening

 

Runner beans do a good quick job while other things catch up i have some sunflowers and nasturtiums with them.

 

Martin that looks stunning. Please post a piccy when the Sunflowers are out as well.