Narrow privacy screen ideas
The house next to me used to have a short length of privacy fence, but a property management company bought it to rent it out and removed that fence when they fixed it up. The distance between me and my neighbor is relatively short, so I'd like something to block my view of their patio from my deck. I'm looking for a screen that would be between 6 to 10 feet tall, 6 to 8 feet in length, and about 5 feet wide. I'd rather not wait years for it to start screening. I've thought about different things for far too long and I'm not making any decisions. Everything from just ornamental grass, to a variety of shrubs, or a single type of hedge. Suggestions since I can't seem to make up my mind?
This screen grab from a street view map shows the area I'm referring to. The yellow box would be the new screen. My house is on the right. That small wood fence you see on the left is no longer there. You might ask why I wouldn't put a shrub up against the fence line. That's because there is a swale there. An underground spring is back behind our property somewhere, and when it rains a lot we have water coming down the hill and through our property line right where that fence was. This is why i'd need to put this screen a bit closer to my side. I'd put a small berm there to give it a bit more distance from the water.
Comments (11)
Brian S
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Privacy Screen Ideas
Comments (5)I should clarify that the above arial photo shows the shed on the other side of the yard. Alot of the trees on the right side of the arial photo have been thinned out and the shed is on that side now...See MoreNeed help finding extremely narrow privacy/screening shrub
Comments (20)Without a photo I am having a difficult time understanding why privacy is needed at the front end of your driveway which presumably leads to the public street? One would think privacy activities take place in the back yard. That said it is your right to want it :) But eighteen inches of width and a desired height of eight feet that behaves and stays that size is a tall order- it would be my opinion that anything you do is going to require more maintenance than it is worth unless pruning is your favorite hobby. I don't think DeGroot's would be good for privacy as they are so narrow toward the top. I have three in a group and while they are one of the best looking arborvitaes I have their use is more architectural than screening. Mine have gone from a couple of feet to approximately six/seven feet in five years. How long are you willing to wait? And I have to say that the thought of pruning a plant as naturally perfect in form as a DeGroot's makes me a little ill. Again, without a photo it is difficult to say but I would plant something thick and screening down as far as was practical and then use decorative boulders in the narrowest section. Or surprise my wonderful neighbor with some plants that he could plant on his side of the fence. Maybe a neighborly discussion is in order?...See MorePNW privacy screen, tall, narrow, columnar, evergreen 20-30'?
Comments (10)Semiarundinaria is quite vertical. There are many unconfined plantings of it in the area, that have not spread all over - this is true of other species used here also, the outcome varies with the situation. But any running bamboo can suddenly start coming up yards away from the mother clump, making the installation of barrier essential where such an occurrence would be a problem. All the full height Thuja occidentalis cultvars have approximately the same vigor. The 'Smaragd' will be so much more prevalent than the others because it is what people are looking for. The only problem with it is it is more prone to poor soil drainage than most others, resulting in frequent internet questions about part of a hedge of it going brown. I have also seen it browned in sections by mites during hot weather. But this latter development is probably not especially peculiar to 'Smaragd'. 'Oregon Blue' is merely an otherwise more or less typical Chamaecyparis lawsoniana with a saturated blue coloration. The vigor of some local specimens suggests these are programmed to grow into towering trees just like thousands of other examples of the species in local plantings. In the wild the species is interesting for growing just about everywhere within the comparatively small range it occupies, unlike many other wild tree species now confined to small ranges - and also being limited to specific site conditions within those ranges. So no, there is no particular soil moisture regime etc. that must be provided for it - numerous other cultivars of C. lawsoniana are still all over the place on local properties, despite the inroads of several different root pathogens in later times. The main thing is to place it in soil that drains well - and is not or does not become infested with one of the water molds that kills even specimens that have been in place for decades....See Morenarrow 8' tall privacy screen wanted for NJ (zone 6)
Comments (2)I think you're out of luck. Any clumpers that would survive your climate (same as mine pretty much) would not be very upright, and would take probably 5 years to reach the height you want. How about running bamboo in large pots? Might be worth a try, although I'd be most concerned about winter damage....See Moreken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
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