Border Rescue
Shrubs take time to get established, says Ian Hodgson. Here are some shortcuts to improve privacy
Q How can I screen my garden from the neighbours?
TALL PLANTS are a cost-effective way to hide fences and the houses beyond this sunny garden. However, buying mature specimen trees and shrubs can swallow the entire planting budget before you get started, so it pays to invest wisely. The neat little juniper here is an excellent choice for adding year-round privacy. Next I’d focus the budget on three handsome pleached specimens on either side of the juniper. These ‘hedges on stilts’ must be trimmed annually to restrict the height and breadth of their canopy, for maximum screening but minimum shade. Go for deciduous hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) or beech (Fagus sylvatica), or evergreen cherry laurel Prunus laurocerasus, which all grow around 30-60cm (12-24in) per year. Readypleached specimens will set you back about £200-£300 each, but the main work of creating privacy will have been achieved at a stroke. For a cheaper, easier-to-manage alternative, create a living screen by planting a row of small trees or large shrubs, such as Pittosporum tenuifolium (H10m/33ft). Once established, their leafy canopies can be ‘raised’ by pruning off lower branches to reveal the multi-stem trunks below, creating more light and space for underplanting. You’ll need to make the border much deeper too; I’d remove a good metre or so from the lawn, then create a lush understorey of shade-tolerant shrubs and shrubby perennials. For cohesion I’d plant more hydrangeas and hebes; and replace the gold foliage shrubs with lush green hostas and ferns for contrasting habits, shapes and textures. To brighten up the bare fences on the right, I’d paint them and fix trellis to the panels, then train climbing plants such as roses and Clematis viticella (see page 28). Both flower June-July; the viticella can be pruned in early spring. For perennial interest, I’ve added some pink astrantia ‘Roma’, which is tolerant of shade and heavier soils, to help tie in the colour scheme. Do your borders need Ian’s help? Email us at garden.answers@bauermedia.co.uk