The secret garden
Create a private area in your garden where you can relax away from prying eyes
O NSUMMER days and nights, it’s a joy to head into the garden and enjoy our plants, the wildlife and pleasing greenery. Many of us live in suburbs or cities with near neighbours – the very people who’ve helped keep us sane during lockdown. But sometimes we need privacy to enjoy the serenity that outdoor life can offer.
Here are some ideas to enhance your sense of privacy. If your garden is big enough and has an open aspect, choose your place of recreation in the area least overlooked – this could be your patio directly outside your house or it may be that your secret quiet spot is down the end of your plot.
An overlooking window from next door? In this case some judicious choices of fast-growing plants can work wonders.
My favourite choices for spot privacy are clumps of evergreen bamboo and that wonderful tree the Acacia dealbata. It’s a fast-growing, compact and evergreen tree with delightful ferny leaves. Early in the new year it produces masses of fragrant yellow flowers.
You can also use a retractable canopy or fabric sail to create a temporary shield to spying eyes – a garden sail will improve any plot by adding excitement, provide some shade or even shelter from rain showers.
It may be that you site it solely over an outdoor dining space, but if you plan it carefully and pull it taut, it could also add a wonderful architectural or sculptural shape to your plot.
You can be adventurous with your colour choices... a navy colour may be reminiscent of enjoying times on the high seas!
Pergolas are a useful multi-purpose garden feature. They’re the perfect host for a ton of plants such as climbing roses, honeysuckle, wisteria and clematis which need something to clamber over. They can create a place of shade for a sunny day. And when combined with appropriate planting, they create the perfect private spot in an otherwise overlooked garden.
The most obvious way to create privacy in a garden is by erecting a fence.
This will help define your garden space, create a backdrop for development, provide shelter from the elements and shield you from curious neighbours and passers-by.
Fences also help with security and keep your animals inside and other people’s pets out – and they reduce the noises from nearby roads or talkative neighbours.
One of the advantages to using a fence as your first means of privacy, is that they can be purchased relatively cheaply, they are adaptable and can be set at different heights. You can paint them or use wood stain to ensure they fit with your garden decor and they are soft in appearance.
They’re also the ideal surface to grow climbing or rambling plants on, and erecting a fence made up of a series of panels is the perfect satisfying DIY project. If it were my choice I’d always go for wooden fences over concrete or steel as they’re much more appealing in garden settings.
Pleached or espalier trees are often used in formal town gardens to create extra height around the boundaries of the plot without running into local planning authority issues.
My favourite choices for spot privacy are clumps of evergreen bamboo and that wonderful tree the Acacia dealbata...