Create decorative screens

SCREENS are useful for privacy around sitting areas and providing shelter. They can also be used to frame the best views or focal points in the garden.

Use lighting for effect

A good way to prevent seating areas being overlooked from neighbours’ windows is to mask the views with decorative screens. Timber framed sheets of coloured Perspex will, if backlit, will create dramatic silhouettes and shadows. You don’t need to enclose the entire garden but position them to give a feeling of privacy and act as a foil for your star plants.

Peep through panels

To hold the eye within an area construct simple Venetian blind style screens using smooth preservativetreated timber lathes fixed to posts. These peep-through screens will provide shelter in windy areas and

SURPRISE honeymoon couples by writing a message iron on their lawn with fertiliser – the grass darkens within three weeks and it can be mown out. also protect plants growing on the leeward side – a good idea if you’re growing largeleaved exotics, which easily tear.

Frame a view

To create an entertaining secluded area with a tropical holiday feel, screen with temporary bamboo blinds. Hang them from overhead beams and position them so that when the blinds are rolled up or taken indoors they create windows to frame features or special plants within the garden.

Protect plants

In a rural garden, use tree prunings to create a rustic screen. Large poles can be arranged so that they frame a view or even act as plant supports. Shielding the garden with natural screens will protect plants from the constant scourge of wind, which dries out the plants, causing them to wilt and even die.