But why did you build a raised deck when youy already were having issue s with privacy . For me privacy is usually not attainable in a neighborhood where thre are houses all around you and honestly most people have better things to do that try to see what you are doing. You will never have privacy with homes taller than your deck so get over it and do what works for you and your life .

We are not the original owners who built the deck. The deck was built before we bought the home, and we knew we never liked the backyard and wanted to redo it. I would like to redo it.

are you limited by height ordinance? Have you looked at sun sails?

How about a tree or two in the unpaved area?

Yes definitely an option. I am wondering if I should leave the deck as it…..add a 1-2 trees or, extend the deck but include raised beds near the fence or…..

You could deck the whole area, built a frame around the top and sides and just add curtains on rods that can be moved so they provide the most privacy without encapsulating the whole thing.

link below for directions to this ^^^

diy

Have you considered hiring an actual landscape designer for this project? You are going to get more practical and better thought out suggestions from an experienced designer who can visit onsite (so a local, not online). They can most efficiently plan a layout that will address both your privacy, slope and space issues that cannot be adequately addressed from just a couple of photos. A pretty modest dollar investment for a huge return in satisfaction.

If you don't want to see the audience from the stage, then you remove the stage. Get your outdoor surface 3-4" above grade rather than 20+" above grade. So that means tearing out the deck and starting over.

Extend the deck. Add potted evergreens, like arborvitae or juniper. And any other plants in raised boxes you want. Think of your space like a Manhattan penthouse. Rooftop Garden Design & Installation NYC | Amber Freda

Whether you can see out/see your neighbors is a whole different thing from whether they can see in. Those 2 story houses in every direction will likely have visibility into your backyard, unless you liberally use sun shades and/or plant some pretty tall trees.

I'm seconding the idea for a boots on the ground consult. This may be a tough one to internet. Olychick's idea will work if you like the "build your own cabana" idea and may be perfect for the hot tub....but depending on how big that backyard is, I'm not sure fully enclosing it like that is feasible without building a circus tent. :)

Some of those houses look fairly far away, which is a whole different line of sight issue from a next door neighbor peering into your yard from their 2nd floor. The first is not hard to solve, the 2nd is - you may need to fix this in layers.

Love that rooftop garden and definitely planning to get a landscaping designer I agree this is a tricky one and I do want to make sure I love the end result

Add a few boulders and plants and the swale could become a dry streambed with an Asian feel:

The trees shown are a dwarf weeping cherry and a small-ish Japanese maple. It would take a while for these to grow enough to provide privacy, but they're perhaps a more interesting option than a row of arborvitaes.

Omg can you please give me the program you use to create that? These trees -they are beautiful! I will research them for sure. Few questions:

1. Seasonal leaf pick up: leaf pick up every year over the river rock- wouldn’t it be hard now not being able to rake ? am I being stupid? lol

2. Trees and root rot: My biggest concern with trees would by root rot with the water pooling in rainy days- would you know how to navigate that?

3. would love to incorporate a hot tub somewhere- is there a way I could plant trees and incorporate a hot tub?

Random internet people are not the ones to answer these questions for you. It's lovely that people are generously giving their time but you need a designer. You can gather ideas online but it will take a designer on the ground to plan this.

Carolyn, I just use Microsoft's Paint to edit these photos, pasting in cutouts from other photos (or other areas in the photo being edited) to create the new suggested landscapes. I do have to pay attention to scale/proportion and to intensity/direction of light for the edits to be accurate and convincing.

You asked good questions about leaf removal and the effect of standing water. Even though I am just a "random internet person", I will offer some possibilities.

A blower is the easiest way to move leaves from the rocks to the grassy area where they can be picked up (and bagged for disposal if you have no area where you could compost them).

I don't know how long water stands in your swale when it rains. At the botanical garden where I work (and design), the Japanese garden has several inches of standing water for hours after a heavy rain. We have two Japanese maples growing in the area that floods, and they are thriving. (We do have sandy soil under that garden, however, so the water drains away relatively quickly; it doesn't stand for days.) Our weeping cherry is on a mounded island, so its roots are above the floods. I therefore can't speak from personal experience as to how well it would handle recurrent standing water.

Regarding hot tub placement, I think Cecily is right that local advice will be needed. I can't see enough from the photos to speak to that. Assuming the tub is covered when not in use, trees overhead should not be much of a problem.

And just for general encouragement, neighborhoods look much better once trees and shrubs grow! Yours will feel much more settled, pleasant, and private in the years to come.

Definitely pay for a good design! There’s such potential here for a true outdoor room. And the possibilities around plants are so climate dependent, you do need a local. I personally would deck the whole space on the same level, putting the space on the ground, surrounded by decking, so that it doesn’t look so big…and I find with close neighbors that the feeling of privacy comes from not looking directly at them. So you don’t need necessarily a solid hedge, sometimes it it enough to have something lovely in the foreground to focus your eyes on.

Fissfiss thanks for your input! I totally agree that I see this area right now- it’s uninspired and exposed, but that just leaves so much opportunity for a transformation into an outdoor living area! Just seeing the images of trees in there is beautiful for example and not something I initially considered.

Thanks!

It is important to realize that these 3D renderings rarely provide an accurate visual portrayal. Neither a dwarf weeping cherry or a "smallish" Japanese maple is going to provide any degree of privacy and certainly virtually none in winter.

Again, I will reiterate that the involvement from the outset of a local, experienced landscape designer is going to generate far more realistic solutions than what may turn up here. And that's 30 years of practical, hands-on landscape design speaking!!

Absolutely garden gal- I will definitely be reaching out to a landscaping designer!