Front garden raised beds inc trellis and privacy

A little back story:

We moved in to our house in June 2013 and ever since one job on my list has been to remove the conifers between our and our neighbors front gardens and to replace with something more appealing. Come our first child and my breast feeding wife, a further criteria is added in that as our neighbors park up and exit their car they don't have full shot of my wife and son sat on our sofa. The present day my wife is 6 months pregnant with our second son and the conifers are still standing (photo attached, apologies for the reflection it was taken from my son's window). Also the front lawn has been neglected for a long time due to it's indetermined future.

This is where I am looking for advice. My plan is to build raised beds where the conifers stand approx 2-3ft wide by 1ft high followed by 4ft trellis. The aim is to replace the conifers with more lovely greenery and flowers. For the shorter plants I know what I like and want. Where I am struggling are the climbers for the trellis to maintain the privacy. I have researched but am yet to find an ideal solution. The criteria are: ideally evergreen or multiple climbers to cover the seasons, flowers for definite, maintenance or training or pruning requirements etc are not an issue. I am really looking for help and advice as to what to plant. Clematis are an obvious for me but which meet the criteria? Help anyone?

 

At the moment the conifers are providing the privacy and this is your front garden?
Personally, I'd leave it as it is for now. Whatever you do won't provide any more privacy than you're enjoying at the moment. Your immediate concerns about your wife will in time resolve themselves anyway. Presumably these are your conifers so you can replace them with something more in keeping with a front garden. I'd be devoting the sort of efforts you are suggesting to improving the enjoyment of your back garden.

 

I have to agree with DHR personally i would add to what you already have and plant the new comers in the main area of concern,

Start putting something new up could create issues with planning your not allowed anything over 1mtr from memory on the front garden, stick with what you have do some reshaping in places and a bit of a border and it will look great.

 

Thanks for the replies.

I'm aware of the 1 metre height limit for fences adjacent to roads. I believe this is to avoid visual difficulties when accessing/departing the drive and for other road users e.g. avoid creating a totally blind bend. As I am in the corner plot of a quiet cul de sac, friendly with my neighbor who has offered to help remove the conifers and planning to erect a basic open square trellis I am not expecting any problems with complaints.

The trees really aren't in a healthy state and a new car means the tight drive is no longer big enough and we will expand it with a new one. The trees will be an eye sore which is the reason for looking again at what I can replace them with. I've uploaded a couple more photos. The conifer next to the Range is mostly cut down now and started to dig it out. The ground level photo shows the state of the trees.

 

Most Local Planning Authorities only enforce this for fencing fronting the highway, but some interpreted the restriction as also applying partly to dividing fences close to the highway and included this in their Supplementary Planning Guidance.

Many developers have imposed covenants restricting fences in front gardens, which should be noted in your Land Certificate, and many Conveyancers are sloppy in not advising their clients of such restrictions.

 

I have various climbers but the only one that's evergreen is passion flower its quite invasive. this link might help Climbing Plants (Evergreen) - Page 1 - Burncoose Nurseries - plants by mail order direct to you

 

You don't mention whereabouts in the UK you are, Steve. That will have a bearing on plant recommendations. Unless you're in a particularly cold spot, Trachelospermum jasminoides or T. asiaticum could be a good option. They're evergreen climbers with scented white or cream flowers. Sometimes the leaves turn red in winter whilst still staying on the plant, which is attractive too. You could perhaps add in a couple of large-flowered Clematis for flower-power in summer.

 

Why not replace the existing conifers with new dwarf conifers that are more manageable





Or a 1m fence

 

I pulled out all the conifers when I moved into my house last year and have replaced most of it with bamboo. It's evergreen, i think it looks nicer and will provide good screening once fully established. You have to watch as some are invasive.

 

Update:
As can be seen by the recurring theme of window sill reflection images the conifers are now out


The light level in the living room (directly below) has increased dramatically and the whole front of the house feels much move spacious.

I'm based on the border between Sheffield and Rotherham, South Yorkshire. The passion flowers do look appealing however I have never seen one in real life. A visit to the garden centre provided some semi-evergreen options but I'm not familiar with the term so not sure what to expect until I've googled the plants further.

Raised beds and trellis to come next. The trellis will sit on the border with the bed expanding both sides into my front lawn and next door's drive.

 

Hi Steve presumable near Swallownest then i am near to crystal peaks.

 

Update:

Quite annoying when looking at the dates. My neighbor got some wood and built the planters, I painted them and sorted the trellis. We've finally got them in place and I've started filling them today. My second son joined the world in July and by the time we actually got what could even be considered to be spare time it was winter. I didn't want to have empty planters out so they were stored in the garage. I also don't have the range rover anymore which was one of the reasons to have done this but it makes getting the boys in and out the cars easy.

Anyway, they're out now. The planter directly in front of the house is overgrown and will be dug out and replaced in some way. I think I'm going to get some seeds in there that I've got stored and see what they do then fill them up with bulbs this autumn.

I'll try to remember to get a photo from ground level.

Drive to sort next...