In need of a little summer privacy... :) Advice/suggestions welcomed.

Hello! A newbie in need of some suggestions for my new garden...
We have a lovely view from our garden and have a low (1-metre approx) drystone wall to take advantage of it. Unfortunately, well for us only, there is a public right of way running a couple of metres from our wall...instead of giving us a wide-berth (it's a large farmer's field!) people are often walking past (now more than ever as everyone scrambles to get their lockdown-essential 'daily exercise') and due to the low wall, look straight in to our garden. We didn't think it would be an issue when we bought the house, but sadly it's beginning to get to me a little when I'm pottering about in the garden...
Anyway, back to the point (apologies for rambling!) I am looking, and can't decide on one due to my lack of knowledge, for a hedge or small tree that might be able to afford us a little more privacy without blocking out our view too much. I think a max height of about 2-metres would be ideal, I'm not fussy as to whether it's evergreen or not. So far, I've considered; an azalea, a choisya, an exochorda macrantha.... I'd like a mini-tree ideally, but I'm worried about invasive root systems...
Please help!
Helen
p.s. I'll upload a picture of the part of the garden I'm talking about, if anyone is interested/curious.

 

Pleach perhaps?



That would allow you to enjoy the wall, and "fill in" above that point, or leave a gap above wall and below Pleach. Typically they start below normal head height ... but I can't guarantee that the Nosy won't duck-down for a peak ...

That would help

 

Hi,

Anything you plant, unless supplied fully grow and vey expensive, will take a couple of years to grow and knit together to provide a practicalble screen, so we would suggest you pop up a 6ft fence to give you the immediate privacy you want, then select some suitable large shrubs to grown in front of and hide the fence.

So many shrubs to choose from that are not invasive, even simple privat hedges, green or golden, Red Robin will grow to 2m , have a look at the online catalogues of the specialist hedging companies.

If you are happy with the fence, you could use it as the backdrop to the more ornamental plants, like climbing roses, clematis, climbing fuchsias, honeysuckles, sweet peas, ivy etc ,etc .

 

@Clueless in Cumbria is it just since the lockdown that it has bothered you? If so, I'd wait until it is over and then make an assessment of the annoyance factor during normal times before blocking the view you love.

But if you already have your mind made up, the above advice is excellent

Welcome to the forum!

 

@Kristen
Hi Kristen,
Thank you for your reply, great to hear your ideas... I had to Google 'pleach' as I hadn't heard of it before. Very creative, I'm just not sure I have the talent or patience unfortunately and it's quite a cramped corner...
I'm with you on the thinking that there'll always be a few people having a peak...luckily the cows scare a few people off!

I tried to upload a picture but it kept saying it was too big even after I compressed it to just under 500k. I'll take a pic tomorrow on my phone instead and try & upload that.

H

 

@ricky101 Hi Ricky, thanks for your input - much appreciated!

I did think about putting up a trellis of some description and growing another clematis...but I guess I just want it all (the view AND a bit of privacy!!!) We already have a few 'Red Robin' and a large hedge to one side and various different hedges to the dividing fence so I just fancied something a bit different and less 'solid'.

I like silver birch but again, the space isn't big enough to support that sized tree... I have been looking at a few bushes/hedge-style plants on the JParkers website but am undecided as it's the first garden I've owned and I'm new to all this!

I'm going to try and upload a picture tomorrow...the one I took today is too big to upload even after I compressed it

H

 

@CanadianLori

Hi!

Thanks for your reply and for your welcome!

It has definitely bothered me more since the 'lockdown' - numbers have increased a lot as it's a lovely spot....luckily, as it's a farmer's field, the cows have now arrived for the summer & it's putting a few people off!

It's a tough call as we obviously don't want to lose any part of the lovely view ourselves but we still get a great view centrally, it's just one end of the garden where the walkers pass closest to our wall because it's the shortest route (I'm puzzled why you would want to take the shortest route when it's a large, lovely field....I guess some people feel drawn to a hedge/wall )

I'm going to try to upload a photo tomorrow, the one I took was too big a file even after I compressed it!

H

 

@Clueless in Cumbria if you use the forum "upload file" it will let you browse your pictures, select and then it will do the sizing for you. At least, that's the way it works for me.

 

Hi there @Clueless in Cumbria .
I know how you feel!! We live down a lovely lane and it's closed to through traffic, so normally only a few walkers use it...but since lock down it seems as if we have the whole world using it as their daily exercise venue.

When we sit out on the east patio for our morning coffee...we must say ' hello' inbetween each sip of coffee. One woman obviously hadn't seen us as she stuck her head right through our hedge to look at our garden!! Her husband had seen us and he just kept on walking, obviously embarrassed!
When I 'coughed' she jumped out of her skin and quickly follow her husband...so funny!!

 

@Clueless in Cumbria

It's human nature to take the shortest route, just look at the number of places where a path has been worn in the grass as people cut the corner.
Half a century ago in the Scouts I was taught that unless there was an obvious path across the field to follow the boundary round to where we wanted.
Also with cattle in the field people will tend to keep to the edge.
As for the picture try resizing it to 800pixel*600pixel and then uploading it.

 

I don't think talent is a requirement, but some DIY ability would help. Trees are available which are already "pruned" so that they only branch in one plane. Just planting them will give you a flying start. But you would need some sort of frame to tie the branches to, horizontally, whilst they form.

e.g. these Limes from Ashridge trees (bare root, so only for Autumn / Winter delivery & planting)
Ready to Pleach Lime Trees - Buy Online | Ashridge Nurseries

I put some in



They replaced this


a couple of years later looked like this:



and at 6 years:



By about 5 years they were properly screening the view low down, and still thickening up / spreading higher up.

But, yup, for anything shorter term than that you'll need @ricky101 solution of a fence of some sort. Or both, fence "for now" and plant in front of it, and then when the plant has matured the fence can be removed.

Or a lottery win ! in which case you can just buy ready-formed Pleach from the likes of Barcham or Paramount Plants

Note that if the plant is deciduous it won't give you any privacy in Winter. My Limes are only just now coming into leaf ...

 

@Upsydaisy

Hello!

That's SO funny...it does make me laugh how nosey some people are but I guess we're all curious by nature...I enjoy waiting until I hear close-by voices when I'm weeding then appearing from 'nowhere' much to their surprise (at a safe distance obviously!) it's amazing how they pick up the pace...:giggle:

H

 

@NigelJ
Hello!

I see your point, good Scout training there... I did get one couple who got cornered by the cows...I was annoyed at how close they were until I realised...couldn't help having a giggle at their predicament!

I'll try to pic upload again, you'll all be very disappointed now, it's only a small space!

H

 

@Kristen

I feel quite inadequate after seeing your garden great work you've done there, it looks beautiful. My spot it definitely a little small for that kind of tree unfortunately...

H

 

Hi everyone!

Here you go, took them on my phone instead...

As you can see, it's only a small corner!

The first pic is the whole 'problem area', the second is the bit where the people pass closest; I want to put something between the hedge and the apple tree...the bush next to the apple tree is (I think) a Loganberry but that might be getting palmed-off on to the in-laws as I didn't really use them last year!
The third pic is the biggest space (just over 2 metres) where I pulled up the messy blackberry bushes...I think I know why they had them there now!!!

I was going to go for a temporary arch with clematis but I think I'm now just going to grin-and-bear it and stick to getting a bush or small tree. I'm thinking a dwarf pear or cherry on the right, and a bush next to the hedge...

H

p.s. for reference, the stone wall is about a metre high.