How to Create the Privacy You Desire – Exscape Designs

Imagine sitting outside and enjoying your outdoor living space when you suddenly feel your neighbor’s prying eyes. It’s not like they’re even trying to spy on you. It’s just hard not to when there’s nothing blocking their view of your yard—or vice versa, for that matter. In fact, maybe it’s not that you have an issue with your neighbor seeing into your yard so much as you don’t like looking at their unkempt property when trying to enjoy your own well-maintained landscape. Whatever the case may be, privacy is important. That’s why you might be looking for ways to create more of it for your outdoor space.
Fortunately, there are many different ways to achieve this goal. The most obvious is adding a vinyl privacy fence. But if you’re looking for some landscaping solutions—either instead of a fence or in addition to one—then we’ve got you covered there, too. Here are a few ideas to keep in mind so that you can create privacy for your backyard space.

 

Choosing the Right Plants

Plant selection is really important when it comes to creating privacy using landscaping techniques. You want to choose plants that have the ability to grow dense or tall, which will fill in empty space and in turn, block views. The exact plant that will work best for your landscape will depend on your specific situation. But just to get you thinking, here are a few that you might consider:

• Various species of arborvitae
• Boxwood
• Cherry Laurel
• Various ornamental grasses, which grow tall
• Cryptomeria or other tall evergreens

During the landscape design phase, it’s important to look at exactly where you’re trying to create privacy (or what you’re trying to screen out) and choose the best possible plants to meet that goal.

 

Paying Attention to Placement

It’s not enough to just choose great plants—where you plant them matters, too. The proper placement of your landscape material will make all the difference in successful screening. When thinking about creating a privacy screen using plant material, most homeowners opt to plant a sort-of “fence” around their property using plants around the perimeter. How many times have you just seen one long row of arborvitae? While this may create a visual barrier, it’s not terribly attractive and it may also fail to screen successfully. After all, a row of arborvitae might block your neighbor’s view while they’re in their yard, or maybe even on the first floor of their home. But it won’t do anything to block their view from a second-story window. If you’re looking to truly create a secluded area—such as around a pool—you want a landscape designer who is going to be thinking about lines of sight from all possible angles and place privacy screens accordingly.

 

Use Layering for the Perfect Effect

Along with placement, you should also be thinking about layering your plant material. As mentioned, planting a row of plants in a single line is not terribly appealing, but it’s problematic for reasons beyond just its looks. It’s also risky. A disease or pest could attack that row all at once, causing you to lose your entire screen in one shot.
Instead, stagger your plants in a way that is both visually appealing as well as highly effective. You might think about layering a few deciduous shrubs with some evergreens and even some perennials in front of all of that. The variations in size and depth is not only more attractive and natural looking, but it can also screen better as there won’t be gaps in between.

 

Enjoying Your Backyard Oasis

Once you’ve been able to achieve the privacy you desire, you’ll find that you’re able to get so much more enjoyment out of your property. That’s because privacy is an important factor when it comes to truly being able to relax and unwind in your backyard oasis. Whether you’re friendly with your neighbors or not, you deserve some time to yourself—or with your friends and family—and shouldn’t have to feel as though you can’t have any moments of peace.
By working with an experienced landscape designer, the privacy you want can be achieved with the proper landscape design. At Exscape, we can work with you on your exact needs. Every property is different, and every situation warrants a different landscape design. Because we take a customized approach to landscaping, you’ll get a solution that works best for you.

 

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