Nick Bailey uses evergreens to disguise eyesores
They’re the best way to block out unattractive views and objects
With the garden laid bare by winter, some of its less desirable elements are revealed. The wheelie bin, the shed, the compost bins, storage areas and unattractive elements such as buildings and pylons beyond your garden. Evergreen trees and shrubs are, of course, the answer to blocking out, hiding and secreting elements previously hidden by deciduous foliage. Here are some useful shape-appropriate evergreens I’ve used to hide any number of unattractive objects and vistas.
I like to feel secluded in the garden so I’ve always used evergreens to block out the second-floor windows of neighbouring properties (without compromising their light!). More often than not this has called for tall evergreen trees and shrubs. The likes of Magnolia grandiflora, Quercus ilex, Olea europaea
Photinia fraseri and ‘Red Robin’ suit this role, especially if they’re worked into pleached trees. Pleaching simply means pruning and training trees to become narrow, evergreen hedges on top of a trunk some 2m (6ft 8in) from the ground. They’re brilliantly effective and instantly block a view.
However, pre-pleached trees are often prohibitively pricey, so here’s an alternative. All of the trees/shrubs I’ve mentioned can be bought as ‘standards’ and home-pleached over a few years. This is simply done by attaching a wired-together, rectangular bamboo frame (80cm x 1.2m/2ft 8in x 4ft) into the canopy of the tree or shrub and tying its branches flat to the frame to make the elevated hedge shape. Once established, simply treat it as an aerial hedge and trim in season as needed.
Other than hedging the whole garden, it can be challenging to block distant ‘uglies’ from every view. Choose the spots you most often relax in and plant tall evergreens so they block the view from there and perhaps your primary view from the house, too.
Tall and skinny evergreens suited to this task include Juniperus scopulorum ‘Skyrocket’ and other columnar conifers, such as chamaecyparis along with Phyllostachys nigra and the compact Eucalyptus pauciflora niphophila. Beech or hornbeam clipped columns can work well, too. True, they’re not really evergreens but they do hold their leaves in tones of copper and buff respectively through winter.
For an average garden shed, the old faithful climber Trachelospermum jasminoides fits the bill. It’s evergreen, floriferous and takes on autumn tones. Pyracantha and evergreen honeysuckle work well, too. And for larger sheds try Clematis armandii, with its broad leaves and clusters of white flowers in late winter.
Compost heaps call for a different sort of plant to disguise them. Fine-leaved, medium-sized or clippable shrubs work well. Choose escallonia, Lonicera nitida, Osmanthus delavayi or Olearia macrodonta. Most reach little more than 2m (6ft 8in), have fine, dense foliage and can be clipped into hedge forms.