Your backyard is often a place where you want to relax and enjoy a peaceful environment in an intimate setting. As the average home size has increased, lot sizes have remained the same, leaving little space between them. This can frequently make you feel as though you have no space of your own. If your backyard faces your neighbor’s, it can be difficult to escape the sound of voices or air conditioner compressors. There are numerous backyard landscaping strategies that will provide a visually appealing space as well as enhance your privacy. Ornamental structures, trees and novel gardening techniques can turn your yard or patio into your own private retreat. Always check zoning regulations and ensure you have any required permits before installing backyard structures. Below, you’ll find some helpful backyard landscaping tips that will beautify your home and create more privacy.
1. Plant Trees and Shrubbery
You can create a living privacy fence around your yard or garden with evergreen shrubs. Planted closely together, they offer privacy and help screen out traffic noise. Columnar conifers provide a natural appearance and are low maintenance. Manicured hedges offer a more formal display and are typically used for garden borders but require frequent trimming. Tall deciduous trees can block your backyard from view of your neighbor’s second floor windows as well as provide shade for your patio or deck. Use smaller trees such as a golden locust to shield your yard from view and provide a lovely focal point for your landscaping. Clumping bamboo will also render an elegant aura while keeping your yard hidden from view.
2. Layered Planting or Vertical Gardening
Take advantage of gardening techniques and plant arrangements that add beauty and conceal your home from view. Layered planting positions your plants in pockets throughout the yard to obscure portions of your home. Staggering a variety of plants of different sizes and colors will add texture and depth as well as provide a more natural appearance. Planting your garden on raised beds or a berm will raise the height of plants and provide a sense of seclusion. Adding a foot or two to the height of tall, bushy plants and ornamental grasses will position them above eye level to provide an attractive display while securing your privacy.
Large garden pots can be used to create container gardens and form a privacy wall for a patio or deck. Hang tiered pots with fast growing, flowering vines such as morning glory to provide cover for a porch or patio. Vertical gardening is popular in cities and other areas where space is limited. Fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowering plants are grown on a custom designed metal grid. They can be mounted or freestanding and offer a delicious and appealing privacy structure. Vertical gardens also offer additional insulation for buildings.
3. Trellises and Lattice Panels
A trellis can provide an attractive support for plants as well as a privacy screen for a garden or other outdoor seating area. Trellises can be found in a variety of shapes including rectangular and fanned. They are designed to support plants and encourage them to grow upwards. Some types are erected by implanting them in the soil and can be used with plants in the ground as well as those in a flower pot. Others are free standing and have four sides. You can use a plant growing along a trellis to shield a patio, porch or deck from view. When used in a large, lightweight flower pot, they can easily be transported.
Lattice panels are versatile structures that can be sized to fit practically any space. They are available in various grid patterns, textures and materials and can be used to create a semiprivate wall for a porch patio or deck. Similar to a trellis, a lattice panel can be used to grow trailing vines and provide even greater privacy.
4. Install Fences and Walls
Fences and walls are available in a wide range of styles and materials and can provide privacy as well as security. A board fence is ideal for a pool area or patio. You can find them in a variety of styles and stain them to coordinate with the color of your home. Vinyl fences are durable and won’t decompose. They are also extremely low maintenance but are more expensive than wood.
Stone, brick or adobe walls can introduce texture and add rustic beauty to your backyard or garden while keeping it hidden from view. These structures are weather resistant and built to last a lifetime. They are low maintenance and will retain their natural beauty indefinitely. You’ll also find that they are quite effective at reducing noise and can offer protection against intruders.
5. Mask Sounds with Waterfalls and Fountains
Even if you don’t see your neighbors, you may be close enough to hear them. The soothing sound of water flowing from a waterfall or fountain can mask unwanted sounds from your neighbor’s yard such as voices, air conditioners or a radio. If you live near a busy road, a water feature can block out the intrusive sound of traffic. Fountains can be found in a wide range of sizes and designs. Some are small enough to be placed on a table top while others are mounted on a wall, splashing water into a pool beneath. More elaborate versions can be installed by a contractor and become the major focal point of the backyard. Waterfalls, like fountains, offer the relaxing sound of rippling water. They, too, are available as small scale versions with artificial rocks over which the water falls. You also have the option to construct a larger simulation with real rocks and a babbling brook.
2 Point Highlight
There are numerous backyard landscaping strategies that will provide a visually appealing space as well as enhance your privacy.
Ornamental structures, trees and novel gardening techniques can turn your yard or patio into your own private retreat.
