Adding an element of privacy to your backyard

There was a time you could kick back in glorious solitude right in your own backyard. Then the family next door cleared some trees on their lot. And on the other side, the neighbours’ new master suite includes a secondstory deck with nice views—into your yard.

Suddenly, you feel like you’re living in a fishbowl.

As larger houses occupy eversmaller lots and the demand for outdoor living areas grows, privacy is at a premium. And it’s not just about prying eyes invading your space—you may want to shield your own view of your sunbathing neighbours and block out their chatter.

Here are some ideas of ways to create privacy in your backyard.

Privacy plantings: Propertyline plantings can provide yearround screening and are typically not restricted by council rules limiting their height. Where space is tight, as in a side yard, fast-growing evergreens like Italian cypress or a sheared privet hedge can provide a simple solution for separating adjoining yards or blocking sight lines out a kitchen window.

Layered privacy plantings: In larger yards, planting a mix of deciduous or evergreen trees, shrubs, and perennials creates a more naturalistic look, especially if you layer plants, grouping them in odd numbers. Planting deciduous shade trees—which generally grow from 25 to 60 feet high, depending on the species—is a good way to obscure a neighbour’s view from a second-story window or terrace. Positioned over a deck or patio, the canopy provides privacy and shade in the summer. In the winter, the trees’ bare branches allow the sun to shine into the house.

Container gardens for deck privacy: Potted plants such as arborvitae or clumping bamboo can be positioned to create a green screen around a raised deck seating area. Ideally, pots should be raised up on casters or made of lightweight materials so you can easily move them for parties or deck repairs.

Fences and walls: Newly installed pools, patios, and playgrounds may require a visual buffer in a hurry. A 6-foot solid board fence is the quickest way to create privacy in your backyard year-round—just be sure to check local building codes regarding fence heights (and any other restrictions). It may also be the best solution in a side yard, where space is tight, since fences have a smaller footprint than plantings.

Stone wall topped with fencing: Another option is to mount a shorter, 3- or 4-foot lattice or picket fence on top of a 2- or 3-foot stone wall. The wall, from a distance, is high enough to disrupt enjoying beautiful weather.

Enclosures may take the shape of a slatted-top wooden pergola covered with climbing vines on a patio or a pair of fixed lattice panels along two sides of a raised deck. Prefab iron gazebos can be set right on the ground and surrounded with potted vines and hanging baskets to fill some of the gaps.

Lattice, Wood Panels, and Ornamental Ironwork: Screens made from lattice, shutterlike louvered wood panels, or sections of ornamental iron with anchoring posts can be set into the ground to enclose a cozy corner or make a U-shaped structure that preserves desirable views. Semitransparent structures may not provide complete privacy, but they add a lot of visual interest to a landscape and allow natural light and breezes in. sight lines, while the openwork Using Fountains to Mask fence screens without feeling Noise: Even if you’re not literally claustrophobic. seeing eye to eye with the neighbors,

Masonry walls with ornamental you might still be close ironwork: Similarly, a enough to hear their conversation. masonry wall of stone or stucco Or you may be bothered that rises 5- or 6-feet-high feels by intrusive traffic noise. less oppressive when windows In such cases, adding a fountain are cut into it; often, ornamental to your privacy plan can ironwork can decorate such mask unwanted sounds with openings. pleasant white noise. These range

Panels and Pergolas: Defined from off-the-shelf, plug-in units areas like small patios, outdoor that sit on a table or hang on the kitchens, and decks are generally wall to custom designs that become easier to screen than a whole a major focal point. yard. By building an enclosure Keep in mind that flowing around them, you can re-create water becomes louder the farther the intimate feeling of eating or it falls and the more tiers it entertaining indoors, while still travels over.