Buying a new home is an exciting time for most people. Moving into a home that best suits your needs and improves your quality of life will bring you joy in its highest form, so the last thing you would expect to have to think about is having to use landscaping designs to solve a problem. But what if you’ve found a great home and it suits your family perfectly; however, there is one major issue that’s keeping you from committing? Your perfect home has absolutely no privacy.
Privacy is generally an issue in just about any suburban neighborhood, although some locations are better than others. The good news is that if you think you are going to have to give up your perfect home due to a privacy issue, we’re happy to tell you that you don’t. There are multitudes of ways to address privacy issues by creating a private oasis around your home that you never dreamed possible. Here are the top four landscaping designs that will creatively and effectively address any privacy issues you might have.
Can I Put Up a Wall for Added Privacy Around My New Home?
Solid walls are a great way to give your home some much needed privacy; however, this is generally the most expensive option and they are not usually an attractive feature. A wall can be painted or dressed up by adding a mural or other personality specific designs for maximum satisfaction though. However, you should take a look at all your options, before deciding to go this route. Additionally, you will need to check with your city’s code enforcement office and your homeowners association to see if this is an option they will allow in your neighborhood.
Are Extra Tall Fences A Good Option for Privacy?
Fencing is another great option for adding a little privacy to your home and is probably the most common solution. Fences come in many different shapes, colors and sizes and can be made out of a wide variety of materials as well. Fencing can also be dressed up to suit your personal design tastes. You can plant vines and ivy and so on to cover up the dull fence look if you’d like. Fencing can make the perfect natural oasis in your backyard once the vines and plants have grown enough to cover it. You can also hang some decorative outdoor yard art to your fence, paint a mural on it or hang baskets for extra storage for things like kids toys, dog toys and so on.
However, once again, you will need to check with your city’s code enforcement office and your homeowners association before you begin to see if they allow fencing in your neighborhood (some neighborhoods don’t allow fencing of any kind) and if so, find out if there is a height limit. Some city’s don’t allow extra tall fencing and have a set limit as to how high of a fence you can install. And, of course, you will need to find out if a permit will be required, which in most cases, installing a new fence will require you to obtain a permit.
What Kinds of Plants Can I Use For My Privacy Landscaping Designs?
This is a great question and unfortunately one that many people neglect to consider. There are a variety of plants that are perfect for adding a layer of privacy to your home. Additionally, plants will provide you with a beautiful, serene oasis that a wall or fence just can’t offer. And using plants in your landscaping designs is good for the environment, as well as your local wildlife, such as birds and so on. Probably one of the most popular hedge screens you could use is bamboo.
Bamboo comes in many different varieties and colors and it grows extremely fast. In fact, bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants in the world. Therefore, if you need privacy fast, bamboo is definitely the way to go. However, with that being said, planting bamboo isn’t without its issues. Therefore, you really need to educate yourself about the intricacies of bamboo before you begin. For example, many varieties of bamboo have spreading rhizomes (running bamboos), which means they spread aggressively and if you don’t anticipate that and plant it properly, it could easily get out of control. The other type of bamboo is a clumping bamboo, which will produce a more dense mass of culms and foliage and is therefore much less invasive. Clumping bamboo doesn’t vigorously spread like the running bamboo varieties. You should also take into consideration that some bamboo varieties can grow 50 feet tall or more; therefore, you really need to assess your available space and know what you’re getting into before you begin.
What Types of Trees Are Good For Privacy Landscaping Designs?
There are a wide variety of trees and privacy hedges you could use depending on your situation. You will need to assess how much space you have and if the mature plants will fit into that space by width and height as well. You could plant some Boxwood, Glossy Abelia, Juniper, Holly, Cypress, Thuja or any other privacy trees that suit your needs.
The Bottom Line
Privacy hedges are a great way to build a lush private oasis in your backyard and are usually less expensive than building a wall or fence. If you want to see pictures and get ideas on how to create the perfect privacy landscaping designs, go to pinterest.com and type “privacy hedges” into the search bar and it will pull up a multitude of advice, as well as pictures of your many available options. This will give you a glimpse as to what your landscaping designs could look like when using any of their suggested privacy hedges. What a great way to get an idea of whether or not you will like the look of the full grown plants before you spend any time or effort on this project. With that being said, you don’t have to pass on your dream home due to a lack of privacy. Get creative or use some of the ideas presented here to build a privacy inspired paradise right in your own backyard.
2 Point Highlight
1. Â Moving into a home that best suits your needs and improves your quality of life will bring you joy in its highest form, so the last thing you would expect to have to think about is having to use landscaping designs to solve a problem.
2. Â If you think you are going to have to give up your perfect home due to a privacy issue, we’re happy to tell you that you don’t.
