SECRET GARDENS
If you’re craving some privacy outside, create your very own hideaway with natural screening and tall plants, says Alan
The last thing you want, when you fancy some quiet time in the garden or you’re entertaining friends outdoors, is to feel like you are living in a goldfish bowl. We all enjoy our privacy, but in a small garden surrounded by other houses, even the least nosy neighbour can’t help but be aware of your every move as you enjoy a glass of wine, do a spot of weeding or – when the weather allows – slide onto a sun lounger to top up your fading tan.
Simple screening
That’s why the first thing a lot of people do on moving to a new garden in a town or a modern housing estate is to put up six-foot fence panels. But that’s not always the answer. It just plunges your patch into shade and makes it gloomy. Ideally, every garden should be a secret one, but there are other ways of screening yourself off.
If it’s essential to have a solid barrier between yourself and the outside world, try hurdlestyle panels made of hazel, willow, bamboo or heather. They have an altogether friendlier feel and look so much more natural, especially when you choose material that blends with your style of garden. There’s no need to rip out any existing chain link fencing; just wire the new panels to it. It’s much quicker and gives greater stability.
Living curtains
Then, instead of planting a conventional hedge or border in front of your panels, plant informal groups of tall, airy, see-through plants. They’ll create an extra layer between you and the outside world that leaves you feeling enclosed without casting shade or filling up big chunks of space.
Go for a mixture of flowers and foliage – a winning trio is Verbena bonariensis, valerian and pendulous sedge (Carex pendula), which looks like a tall, weeping fountain of grass decorated with long, dangling green catkins. If there’s room, bulk it out with coyote willow
(salix exigua), a shrubby tree with elegant, narrow, silvery leaves that flash as the wind catches them.
High climbers
If you don’t have much room, or you fancy a more formal look, then you could put up a decorative trellis screen – the sort with the undulating top and knobs on the posts – and cover it with climbers.
Star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) is good if you live in a mildish area – it’s evergreen and the large, white summer flowers are heavily scented. Clematis is brilliant and you can plant several different kinds in the same spot to provide a succession of different flowers from spring to autumn.
Or you could go for wall shrubs – all sorts are now being trained into fans and espalier shapes especially for this sort of job, so find a nursery with a good selection. Pineapple broom is superb – the foliage is greyish and architectural, with big, pineapple-scented flowers. Although climbers and shrubs won’t make a peep-proof barrier, the airy effect lets light through and gives a cosy feeling.
That sinking feeling
Growing tall plants isn’t the only alternative when you want to create more privacy. You could, instead, dig down. Sunken gardens were a great favourite of the Edwardians. A sunken garden only works if you have well-drained soil with a high water table, otherwise it’s likely to flood each time it rains, turning itself
into a temporary pond.
Far pavilions
A gazebo or summer house obviously gives you privacy inside, but it also creates a secluded area in front, which you can make into an intimate little garden retreat which you can escape to when you’re in your get-awayfrom-it-all mood.
Or you could even go one better with a tree house up in the clouds – above eye level anyway. With some tasteful shade-plants grouped underneath, it’s a secret garden that offers seclusion all year round.
Privatise your patio
If there’s one place that you really need privacy, it’s your patio or seating area.
Roof in a very open patio behind the house with pergola poles and grow grape vines over the top. Or plant a row of evergreens in a large trough and clip them to make a potted hedge. Alternatively, plant several large, deep troughs with bamboos as a portable living screen.
If you have an existing fence or wall that’s not tall enough, put in posts on your side and use them to support a raised length of trellis to extend the height and plant clematis or other climbers along it to beef up the screening effect.
Adding a moving water feature will help to mask the noise of traffic or people passing in the street, giving the illusion of greater privacy.