Planting Privacy

September 15th, 2011

   One of the side effects of new construction is the matter of back-yard privacy. Or more specifically, lack of it.

Our typical solution to a need for privacy -- line up about 20 arborvitae in a row.

   People who move into bulldozer-prepped subdivisions quickly realize their decks and patios are more like little open stages for all to view. The knee-jerk solution is to get a fence up as fast as the budget allows. But that can be so San Quentinish — or at least not the most neighbor-friendly way to cocoon yourself.

   The second thought is usually a privacy hedge. This typically turns out to be 20 arborvitae lined up 4 feet apart straight down the property line.

   That’s fast, effective and relatively inexpensive, especially when space is tight. But the look is only one notch better on the neighborly scale than a stockade fence.

   It’s basically a living green wall instead of a white vinyl one.

   A bigger drawback is that it’s a monoculture. That means if a disease or bug finds the planting, you risk losing the whole shebang. To bagworms, those 20 arborvitae look like a green buffet.

   Other commonly used tall evergreens are options, but these all have their Achilles heels, too.

   Leyland cypresses get gangly and break-prone with age.

   Hemlocks are all but certain to attract woolly adelgids, a life-threatening bug.

   Privets can be invasive and need heavy pruning to keep from getting leggy.

   Manhattan euonymus can take a beating in windy winters, gets bulky fast and sometimes gets scale (an insect).

   And Hicks yews are a tad slow to get going and a favorite dessert of deer.

   If you go with the single-species hedge approach, at least prune your evergreens narrower at the top and wider at the bottom (better for sunlight distribution) and prune them regularly rather than merciless butcherings every 5 or 10 years.

Mixed plantings that create a natural screen.

   A better strategy is to “hedge” your bet by planting a mixed hedge. Use three or four different species, and plant them in patterns or groups.

   That way if anything happens to one species, you don’t risk losing everything.

   Before choosing, ask yourself if you need privacy all year or just during the growing season. If it’s the latter, you can work in leaf-dropping trees and tall flowering shrubs alongside evergreens.

   Also think about whether you prefer a formal look to a looser one.

   If you lean formal, a clipped hedge planted in a straight line is probably going to suit best.

   If you lean informal or want to maximize wildlife interest, mix heights, textures, forms and species. Then put away the shears.

   Hedges don’t have to be straight lines either.

   A curved bed looks more “gardeny,” and several overlapping, staggered, tall garden beds accomplish privacy while creating a network of outdoor rooms tied together by grassy paths.

   For maximum mileage out of limited yard space, push screen plantings out to the property lines. Just be sure to come in enough from the line so your maturing plants won’t hang over into the neighboring yard.

   For faster privacy, plant your screen plants nearer to the deck, patio or wherever you want privacy.

   Keep in mind, though, that the closer you get and taller you go, the more enclosed you’ll feel. At some point, you’ll cross your personal line from “intimate” to “claustrophobic.”

   Above all, match plant needs to the site.

   An intended 10-foot screen of juniper and holly will do you no good when they rot in wet shade.

   For upright evergreens, arborvitae isn’t your only choice.

A 'Dragon Lady' holly helping to lend privacy to a patio.

   ‘Dragon Lady’ and ‘Red Beauty’ hollies are two excellent upright evergreen hollies that get red berries when pollinated by a suitable male (i.e. ‘Blue Prince’ or ‘Blue Stallion’).

   Both are easy to maintain at 8 to 12 feet tall and 5 to 6 feet around.

   Lots of upright Hinoki cypress varieties make durable and deer-unattractive upright needled evergreens in similar sizes (‘Gracilis,’ ‘Filicoides,’ ‘Crippsii,’ ‘Ericoides’).

   In even tighter spaces, check out the ‘Dee Runk’ and ‘Green Tower’ boxwoods, which can grow 10 to 12 feet tall but only 3 feet around.

   If you can spare 10 feet around, consider the 30-foot-tall ‘Yoshino’ or ‘Kityama’ cryptomeria or their 12-by-6-foot dwarf cousin, ‘Black Dragon.’

   Another way to screen is to plant trees with shrubs underneath.

   The trees give quick shade and higher screening while the shrubs fill in under the canopy to give ground-level privacy.

   Blue hollies such as ‘Blue Princess,’ ‘Centennial Girl,’ ‘Castle Wall’ and ‘Castle Spire’ work great as under-tree evergreen screens. So do cherry laurel and spreading yews.

   If just summer screening is OK, consider viburnums, oakleaf hydrangeas, beautyberries and fothergillas.

   All flower and/or produce either fall fruits or colorful fall foliage.

   The most gardeny way of all is planting a wide, mixed border of all types of plants.

   Layer it down from back to front, starting with a back layer tall enough to screen out whatever you don’t want to see.

   Example: start with trees and tall evergreen or flowering shrubs in the back; then plant mid-sized shrubs, vines on trellises and tall perennials in the middle, then finish the front with a variety of bulbs, shorter perennials, groundcovers and annual flowers.

   That way the neighbors won’t think you’re an unfriendly hermit.

   They’ll assume you’re just another wacko gardener.