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In this age of smartphones, cameras, and surveillance, the term “privacy” is losing its meaning fast, but that doesn’t yet mean a family cannot enjoy the privacy of their garden anymore.
To make sure that your home and your family isn’t being spied on by the neighbourhood Peeping Tom, here are eight ways to protect your privacy, without sacrificing on the aesthetics.
Getting Back the Privacy in Your Yard: 8 Ways to Do It Aesthetically
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Potted Plants: Effective to a Degree
Big potted plants and trees along the fence provide privacy by giving you a natural wall of vegetation that extends the height of the fence beautifully. However, in order for this to work, all the plants will need to be sufficiently tall, pre-grown, and bushy enough to prevent anyone from looking through the gaps in between the leaves and the branches.
In spite of its obvious shortcomings, the potted green screens can be shifted according to your convenience, which is definitely a bonus. Some of the popular choices for potted privacy screens are cedars, dwarf Monterey cypress, and bamboo trees.
Faux Hedge: Effective, Fast, and Expensive
If you want an instant solution, faux hedges are one of the better options and they do not have the possibility of leaving peeping gaps, unlike potted plants. Good quality faux hedges also look good and natural, so you would be adding an all-green feel to the yard as well as augmenting your privacy.
However, quality faux hedge panels are quite expensive, and they don’t always complement the rest of the décor. Alternately, you can grow real bushes like boxwood, privet, or laurel, but they will take a long time to grow, not to mention the additional time which will be necessary to maintain and water them.
Wooden Fence Panels: The Best Option
There’s just nothing that balances privacy and aesthetics better than the classic 6×6 fence panels. Every garden and yard needs fencing anyway, so why waste money and effort by putting in fancy fencing that doesn’t really do anything for privacy?
Instead, opt for 6ft x 6ft fence panels made out of wood for providing maximum privacy to your yard. 6ft fence panels are recommended because they are just tall enough to provide privacy, without looking like fortress walls, but if there is the need for a higher wall panel, feel free to go for that. Don’t forget to use strong fence post supports if you wish to build higher fences.
One point to keep in mind while buying wooden fence panels is that they should be pressure treated and should come with an anti-rot warranty of preferably 10 – 15 years.
This is something that Buy Fencing Direct has with all of their fence panels and can be seen on the following page:
https://www.buyfencingdirect.co.uk/fencing/6ft-panels.
Drapes: The Complementary Solution
These are not as comprehensive solutions as the others on this list but in case you would just like to shield a portion of the yard, such as the pool area, or the patio from onlookers, white drapes, coupled with black and white furniture can look very stylish indeed.
Consider long outdoor drapes to be an added level of aesthetic privacy than a complete or primary solution. You will need to install a framework for the drapes though, which would increase the expenses.
You can instead, go with outdoor screens, preferably with wheels underneath for easy portability. You won’t have to install any framework and you will easily be able to shift them to any particular space where you need privacy at that moment.
Just make sure that the screens are not green or blue because that will probably remind people of hospitals!
Trees for Shade and Privacy
Similar to potted plants and trees, these are the bigger versions of the same and therefore, will offer better privacy as well, but at the cost of mobility. Strategically planted willows, cypresses, junipers, and flowering dogwoods all work well and grow pretty fast.
The main problem with these trees is the fact that in spite of providing shade and privacy, they are still trees and it will be a while before they grow sufficiently large to provide you with either.
Build a Pergola, if You REALLY Want to
A pergola is an aesthetic extension, rather than being a privacy measure for the yard and unless you are willing to completely close off the slats, the privacy it provides is limited at best.
On top of all that, pergolas are expensive affairs, so only build one if your objective is to extend the house a bit and have a (somewhat) private space to hold small garden parties with family and friends. There is no doubting a pergola’s appealing nature when done right though.
Stone Wall: As Tough as they Come!
It’s hard to beat a stone wall when it comes to privacy or security as it doesn’t get much tougher than that, but that security and privacy comes at the cost of looking like an ancient fortress, not to mention it’s going to be very expensive if you plan on installing stone walls high enough to provide the yard with any real privacy.
Having said that, if you do have the budget and a house that complements the stone theme, it can look very elegant and posh when done right. Make sure that the rest of the exterior is also supported by some stone-based landscaping designs.
The Metal Fence: Privacy at the Cost of Beauty
Corrugated metal fences are popular these days and they do provide a complete and cheap solution for privacy, but they don’t look particularly good.
There’s just something about metal fencing which makes it feel out of place in a family garden or yard, but they can be quite durable nonetheless. In accordance with the theme of balancing aesthetics with privacy, it is better to just go for wooden 6×6 fence panels instead.
The back garden is supposed to be an open-air space so covering it up completely is never an option here, but the key lies in finding a midway in between looking like a prison and feeling like you are on display; a task which you should now be able to do with ease.
