9 Inspiring Gardens Gain Privacy and Screening With Plants
Boost your privacy outdoors and screen adjacent buildings with planting ideas from these diverse gardens
Whether you’re living with neighbors close by, have less-than-ideal views or are looking for more privacy anywhere in your yard, hedges and screening plants can be major problem solvers. When it comes to choosing the right hedge plant for the job, you’ll need to consider climate, sun exposure and water needs — just as you would with any other plant — as well as how dense a screen you’d like and whether you need year-round coverage.
To help with the decision process, we’ve rounded up examples of gardens that all feature hardworking hedges (all of which keep their leaves year-round) in a variety of settings. Could you see any of them working for your garden?
To help with the decision process, we’ve rounded up examples of gardens that all feature hardworking hedges (all of which keep their leaves year-round) in a variety of settings. Could you see any of them working for your garden?
2. Tidy Driveway
This driveway in Salt Lake City formerly featured concrete right up to the fence, which did not make for a welcoming arrival or provide any vertical screening from neighbors. As part of the new driveway design, Landform Design Group cut planting beds into the concrete and planted a row of columnar ‘Frans Fontaine’ hornbeam to provide a lush border.
This driveway in Salt Lake City formerly featured concrete right up to the fence, which did not make for a welcoming arrival or provide any vertical screening from neighbors. As part of the new driveway design, Landform Design Group cut planting beds into the concrete and planted a row of columnar ‘Frans Fontaine’ hornbeam to provide a lush border.
Perfect for a tight planting strip, ‘Frans Fontaine’ is one of the most narrow hornbeams, and its leaves turn golden in fall.
Plants include:
Light requirement: Full sun
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Plants include:
- ‘Frans Fontaine’ hornbeam (Carpinus betulus ‘Frans Fontaine’, USDA zones 4 to 8; find your zone)
- ‘Voodoo’ stonecrop (Sedum spurium ‘Voodoo’, zones 3 to 8)
Light requirement: Full sun
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3. Dreamy Italian Balcony
This shaded terrace in Milan feels perfectly secluded, despite nearby buildings, thanks to being cloaked on almost all sides by lush foliage. Bamboo grown in containers is the hardworking hedge plant here. One of the fastest-growing plants out there, bamboo is an excellent choice for quick privacy screening. It’s also a great option for urban container gardens.
Grow bamboo in containers, use a root barrier or choose a clumping, non-invasive variety to prevent spreading. Learn more about growing bamboo responsibly.
Plants include:
Light requirement: Full to partial sun, depending on species
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This shaded terrace in Milan feels perfectly secluded, despite nearby buildings, thanks to being cloaked on almost all sides by lush foliage. Bamboo grown in containers is the hardworking hedge plant here. One of the fastest-growing plants out there, bamboo is an excellent choice for quick privacy screening. It’s also a great option for urban container gardens.
Grow bamboo in containers, use a root barrier or choose a clumping, non-invasive variety to prevent spreading. Learn more about growing bamboo responsibly.
Plants include:
- Bamboo (Bambusa sp.)
Light requirement: Full to partial sun, depending on species
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4. Secluded Seating Lounge
Set on a deep lot in the hills of the San Francisco Bay Area, this property is already secluded but benefits from hedge plants that soften borders, hide walls and make seating areas feel more intimate. For this lounge, located in the front yard of the home, landscape architect David Thorne selected ‘Bright ’n Tight’ Carolina laurelcherry to fill in along the perimeter retaining wall, where its glossy leaves form a lush, low-water border.
Plants include:
Light requirement: Full sun to light shade
Note: Carolina laurelcherry can be toxic to pets if ingested.
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Set on a deep lot in the hills of the San Francisco Bay Area, this property is already secluded but benefits from hedge plants that soften borders, hide walls and make seating areas feel more intimate. For this lounge, located in the front yard of the home, landscape architect David Thorne selected ‘Bright ’n Tight’ Carolina laurelcherry to fill in along the perimeter retaining wall, where its glossy leaves form a lush, low-water border.
Plants include:
- Carolina laurelcherry (Prunus caroliniana ‘Bright ’n Tight’, zones 7 to 10)
Light requirement: Full sun to light shade
Note: Carolina laurelcherry can be toxic to pets if ingested.
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5. Tapestry of Foliage
A combination of red-tipped photinia and green-bronze hopbush fill in to create a leafy tapestry of foliage types behind a patio seating area in Mill Valley, California. To create this effect, Jason Urrutia of Urrutia Design says they planted the shrubs about 30 inches apart around the patio, alternating between the two species. The plants are sheared to create a multicolored, mixed hedge that offers interest and complete privacy.
Plants include:
Light requirement: Full sun to light shade
A combination of red-tipped photinia and green-bronze hopbush fill in to create a leafy tapestry of foliage types behind a patio seating area in Mill Valley, California. To create this effect, Jason Urrutia of Urrutia Design says they planted the shrubs about 30 inches apart around the patio, alternating between the two species. The plants are sheared to create a multicolored, mixed hedge that offers interest and complete privacy.
Plants include:
- Photinia (Photinia sp.)
- Hopbush (Dodonaea sp.)
Light requirement: Full sun to light shade
6. Green-Walled Garden Room
A multitrunked crape myrtle tree and an inviting pair of chairs anchor one of multiple garden rooms in this backyard in Arlington, Virginia. Landscape architect Scott Brinitzer selected a variety of hedge plants to create the various garden rooms in the landscape. For this particular room, he used California privet to create a tall screening hedge for privacy and Hicks yew to act as a room divider.
Plants include:
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Note: Privet can be invasive in parts of the Midwest and western U.S.; check with your local nursery before planting. Privet stems and leaves can be toxic to pets if ingested.
A multitrunked crape myrtle tree and an inviting pair of chairs anchor one of multiple garden rooms in this backyard in Arlington, Virginia. Landscape architect Scott Brinitzer selected a variety of hedge plants to create the various garden rooms in the landscape. For this particular room, he used California privet to create a tall screening hedge for privacy and Hicks yew to act as a room divider.
Plants include:
- ‘Natchez’ crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia ‘Natchez’, zones 6 to 9)
- California privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium, zones 5 to 8)
- Hicks yew (Taxus x media ‘Hicksii’, zones 4 to 7)
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Note: Privet can be invasive in parts of the Midwest and western U.S.; check with your local nursery before planting. Privet stems and leaves can be toxic to pets if ingested.
7. Narrow Yard Solution
This entryway garden and staircase bridge the level change from the street to the front door of a home in Sausalito, California. Landscape architect Scott Lewis chose low-water fern pine for the hedge plant running along the property line, with an underplanting of low water Mediterranean perennials. The feathery foliage of the fern pine adds welcome softness to the entry space and, pruned tightly to an upright hedge, forms a dense screen from the neighboring house.
Plants include:
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Note: Fern pine can be mildly toxic to pets if ingested (causing vomiting in dogs and cats).
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This entryway garden and staircase bridge the level change from the street to the front door of a home in Sausalito, California. Landscape architect Scott Lewis chose low-water fern pine for the hedge plant running along the property line, with an underplanting of low water Mediterranean perennials. The feathery foliage of the fern pine adds welcome softness to the entry space and, pruned tightly to an upright hedge, forms a dense screen from the neighboring house.
Plants include:
- Fern pine (Podocarpus gracilior, zones 9 to 11)
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Note: Fern pine can be mildly toxic to pets if ingested (causing vomiting in dogs and cats).
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8. Private Pool Screen
For this backyard in Madison, New Jersey, a row of arborvitae form a handsome privacy screen and lush green backdrop for the pool. The dense growth habit of arborvitae makes it a great choice for spots where you’d like complete privacy.
For a full, dense screen, plant the columnar shrubs close together — these were planted 3 to 4 feet on center — to prevent any unwanted gaps between plants.
Plants include:
Light requirement: Full sun
For this backyard in Madison, New Jersey, a row of arborvitae form a handsome privacy screen and lush green backdrop for the pool. The dense growth habit of arborvitae makes it a great choice for spots where you’d like complete privacy.
For a full, dense screen, plant the columnar shrubs close together — these were planted 3 to 4 feet on center — to prevent any unwanted gaps between plants.
Plants include:
- Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’, zones 2 to 8)
- Boxwood containers (Buxus sp.)
Light requirement: Full sun
9. Leafy Curbside Appeal
Balancing beauty with privacy needs is a common landscape design problem for anyone who lives on a busy street. This inviting front yard in Vancouver, designed by landscape architect Paul Sangha, offers a creative solution through smart use of hedge plants and fencing.
Plants include:
Light requirement: Full sun
Balancing beauty with privacy needs is a common landscape design problem for anyone who lives on a busy street. This inviting front yard in Vancouver, designed by landscape architect Paul Sangha, offers a creative solution through smart use of hedge plants and fencing.
Plants include:
- Paperbark maple (Acer griseum, zones 4 to 8)
- ‘H.M. Eddie’ yew (Taxus x media ‘H.M. Eddie’, zones 4 to 7)
- Common boxwood (Buxus sempervirens, zones 5 to 9)
- ‘Aztec Pearl’ choisya (Choisya x dewitteana ‘Aztec Pearl’, Zone 8)
Light requirement: Full sun
Your turn: Do you have a favorite hardworking hedge plant? Tell us in the Comments.
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This leafy garden by Randle Siddeley in London feels worlds away from the rush of the city, thanks to layered hedges, wood lattice screens and the soothing sound of water. Plants for screening include pleached hornbeam trees to form a top layer and evergreen conifer hedges at midlevel, plus low boxwood borders to define planting beds. The layered strategy is particularly effective at creating maximum screening in a compact space.
Plants include:
- Pleached hornbeams (Carpinus sp.)
- Boxwood (Buxus sp.)
Water requirement: Low to moderateLight requirement: Full sun