Privacy Screen Issue

4 years ago

My new house is located on a corner lot and has two front yards with 20ft set backs or 4.5ft height restrictions for fencing. I would like to add more privacy to my yard since I'm also located downhill so my neighbor across the street on the right-side and neighbor who sits below me can both see directly into my yard. Consequently, I am considering a Emerald Green Arborvitae hedge. I have a few questions:

is it okay to put the hedge on the outside of the fence so it doesn't eat my yard space or would it be more ascetically more pleasing to see the trees inside of the backyard... I will also add small trees, inside and outside of the yard.
I don't have any privacy issues with my neighbors on the light-side since they have a ranch-style home so I'm wondering if it would be strange to just have a L-shaped hedge where they are privacy issues... I've only seen U-shaped or single row hedges.
By chance, if you have any ideas about that rock garden in the middle of the yard, please share them... I've been thinking about removing it

My yard (bottom left):

My yard (bottom right, from inside of the fence):

My yard (from the right-side)

Featured Answer

kitasei

4 years ago

At the same time you’re focusing on creating privacy, think as hard about preserving open views, which would appear to be just as valuable. Privacy is a funny thing. It’s alwsys been the first thing I obsessed about in moving to a new property. As time went by and I got to know neighbors I found I appreciated them as part of the view. It’s a balancing act. I’d think in terms of specimen trees judiciously planted rather than a hedge wall.

Maybe a thought for another thread, but how is our new self/distancing era going to affect our landscape desires?

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Comments (7)

PRO
Flo Mangan
4 years ago
Looks like you are in the Northwest? Not sure if they would work there, but Italian Cypress would grow tall and slender so stay pretty compact. I would add plant material to the rock garden area. Keep that, it adds some interest and can be built-upon for more interest. Some flowering or variegated plant materials would help. The overgrown shrubs really need to be trimmed or probably replaced. They have been let to grow too big. In the back, I would consider bushy (not arborvitae, along fence in back to break up fence. That fence needs a good power washing to preserve it and a good semi-transparent stain. That might be first thing to tackle. Some terracing on that hill could be nice. Need an overall plan that you can execute as funds allow. Start with the fence, and work from there.
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I don't see your zone, but I would use a mix of deciduous and evergreen shrubs, including some conifers. I would think that deciduous would be ok even where you want to hide the trailer, etc. since you probably don't hang out in the yard a lot in winter, though if you do all hollies there, repeat a group of hollies at least once somewhere else. Most shrubs grow at least as fast as the hollies you're presently interested in, though they'd be much wider, a plus as far as I'm concerned in that there would be less lawn to mow :). With a mix, you'd also get flowering and berries, and in some cases fall color. You might look at the huge range of Viburnums--V. sargentii 'Susquehanna' is about 15x15 and deciduous. V. pragense and V. rhytidophyllum (several cultivars available) are evergreen down to minus 10 at least. Groupings of V. dilatatum (many cultivars available) are also good. (To get good fruit set from the viburnums, you must plant at least two different cultivars of each species.) There are lots of others as well. Other shrubs include Magnolia stellata cultivars--very early, fragrant bloom and dense leaf cover-- and many gorgeous conifers with a range of colors from green to blue to yellow. Another tall, narrow conifer is Juniperus virginianus 'Taylor'--but it's hard to find and expensive. Since you have so much room, don't skimp on the width of this border. If you plant a narrow plant near a wide one, you can "thicken" the border in width smaller shrubs to face down the narrow one. If you spend the time to do this right, you'll have privacy, year round interest, low maintenance, and the value of your property would be increased. For conifers, the conifer forum suggest coniferkingdom.com or westernevergreen.com. Klehm's Song Sparrow Farm offers some each year too. One warning--don't make the border polka dot, though of course you can repeat certain shrubs. Hope this helps.
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PRO
Yardvaark
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Your statements about areas, and questions, are confusing. I'm not exactly sure what area you're asking about with each question. And I'm not sure you're interpreting the fencing regulations correctly. It would be good if you could relate your question to a plan view sketch, or to a Google map or satellite view. With questions, it is usually best to ask about one area (front or back) at a time so as to avoid confusion.

Are you trying to screen off the complete height of the front of the house?
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
4 years ago
first pic.. tall conifer? outside the wall ... what is that .. im wonder if there was a line of them.. which eventually failed ... in thinking maybe that is why the line across seems to be underdeveloped.. landscaping-wise ... is that the approx. setback???

where are you.. big city name and zone ...

what is behind.. inside.. the big window set ... what will you be doing in there.. that demands privacy??? .. in other words.. its a new house.. figure out how you use the spaces inside... so you can figure out the outside ...

many of the smaller windows could be handled with window films ... to solve the privacy issue form the inside.. and those would be instant impact.. not waiting a decade for some trees/conifers to grow to size that would be useful ...

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=window+films&ia=images&iax=images

when i moved into new homes... it took me a year.. to figure it all out .. inside and outside the house.. before i could really come up with a viable long term plan ... i dont know how new you are to the home... but it sure wouldnt hurt to see how it all develops this spring and summer ...

same with the rock garden.. you have to see if anything pops up in there.. spring bulbs.. dormant perennials.. etc ... but on the other hand.. it almost looks like perhaps some old overgrown plants were removed.. just leaving the rocks ... btw ... rocks that size are expensive ... whether you remove that garden or not... keep the stone ... or try to sell them to a landscaper ...

what is the material of the fence.. as it is.. its kinda cool.. color and design-wise ... and it mirrors the deck color ... but if it is wood.. it probably does need some type of weather seal on it ....

ken
WestCoast Hopeful
4 years ago
This is tricky. If you put things outside the fence then it isn’t technically on your land and can be removed. Is it the area in front of your fence the easement?

Shrubs and trees take so long to grow. Unless you invest a lot right now you are planning for the future. Our yard is far more open than I want on one side and I’m kind of just going with it now.
Embothrium
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Maybe hire somebody local who can view the site and discuss it with you in person. Garden coach, consultant, contractor (as in design & build company) or designer - somebody with a handle like that, who is able to make a one time visit and advise you on how to proceed, without necessarily doing any of the resulting work themselves.

Note that Houzz has a FIND PROFESSIONALS feature near the top of the page, you can use that to discover participating businesses in your area.
Juli
4 years ago
Your'e welcome to brainstorm here on this public forum with your landscape design questions where the thoughts and opinions of others are FREE.

My thoughts are:

I wouldn't use emerald green arborvitae but instead an evergreen shrub that matures at about 8 feet or so tall without pruning, http://www.greatplantpicks.org/plantlists/view/1630 I would plant that hedge outside the fence on the side yard and front yard. I would remove all of those junipers now from your side yard.

Remove all of the sod and the old tall arborvitae from the front and side yards and replant with groundcovers, perennials, grasses and small shrubs from a planting design.

You have a nice size yard inside your fence boundary and I would spend some time to think about how you use and move about the yard. Where do you want to sit, outdoor cooking, hot tub, fire pit, entertaining space, or more secluded places. etc. the like. Think of the yard as more like "rooms" inside your home. Then plan your walkways or how you'll move from one room to another. Eliminate 75% of your sod. Install hardscaping like flagstone for those walkways you planned out, how about an arbor with a grapevine for shade in the summer to sit under and fruit to eat. Then get together your planting plan for those landscaped areas where you've removed the sod and plant with groundcovers, grasses, perennials and small or large shrubs that will provide you with color, fragrance and texture in your "rooms". And now you want to look around where you are in the yard, where do you need privacy? Should it be very close to you or farther out away? Should it be an evergreen large shrub or deciduous tree or an evergreen tree? Then you'll adjust your planting plan for plants that need sun/shade.

I hope this helps some, I think I've entertained your questions.

Privacy Screen Issue

kitasei

Comments (7)

Flo Mangan

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Yardvaark

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

WestCoast Hopeful

Embothrium

Juli

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