It is always a great feeling to sit out in your yard and have a relaxing autumn evening away from the prying eyes of neighbours. For this reason, many people often look for the best screening plants for privacy to keep their homes as secluded as possible.
There are excellent options of shrubs, vines and trees that can immediately transform your home into a sort of secluded oasis, and they’re often cheaper than installing a traditional fence. With screening plants, you can get the privacy you need without ruining the aesthetic of your beautiful home.
If you are wondering about the best screening plants for privacy from neighbours, let’s explore some of our favourite options.
10 best screening plants for privacy
Bamboo
Bamboo is a tall plant. So, unless your neighbours are about 15ft tall, they will not be able to see you sunbathing in your yard. Bamboo grows fast, so you would get a lush and tropical resort-type privacy screen in no time.
Since Bamboo can be quite wild and invasive when growing, you can opt for varieties like fargesia bamboos with clumpy roots that spread slowly. You can also plant them in large planters to control the spread.
Bamboo adds a modern feel to any outdoor space and can transform a fence into a wall of beautiful greenery. It is one of the best screening plants for fences and is easily accessible. You can also get some planting tips for Bamboo from experts for better management.
Even if you’re living in an apartment, bamboo can act as a balcony screen to give you some privacy from your neighbours.
Boxwood
Boxwood is one of the best screening plants for privacy. It is commonly used for pruned hedges, but they look very beautiful when left to grow wildly. Some boxwood varieties can reach a height of 20ft under the right conditions. Boxwood is often considered a green plant; however, different varieties have varying colours, like white and gold.
You can let boxwood grow as a fence, or they can be placed in tall planters to get your desired level of privacy. Whichever way you choose, boxwood is one of the best plants for privacy from neighbours and will surely keep the prying eyes away.
Italian Buckthorn
The beautiful Italian Buckthorn is another wild plant that makes the perfect privacy screen. This shrub grows very quickly in an upright position in spring and will reach a height that covers your fence.
Italian Buckworth is more tall than wide. So it’s better to use them in front of structures that you don’t want completely covered. This way, you can still see the beauty of your wall while enjoying the added privacy. If you have a patio, the greenery of the Italian Buckthorn adds a tropical feel to your design and creates a private resort aesthetic in your home.
Lilacs
Lilacs are beautiful plants often grown as hedges, but they make stunning and effective privacy screens. They are quite high-maintenance. They need direct sunlight and annual pruning to thrive, so don’t grow them if your yard is fully shaded.
However, when they are well catered to, they grow quickly and give you the best looking privacy screen you could wish for. Once the dead branches are removed, lilac blooms and releases a great fragrance, and grows healthy flowers.
Privet
Lush hedges like the Privet take a while to grow into the tall privacy screens you desire. However, the wait is always worth it, as they transform the look and feel of your outdoor area while giving you adequate privacy. When you are growing such plants, you have to take some time to plan out your outdoor space.
Having fast growing hedges without ample space can ruin the look of your privacy screen. You must ensure Privet has ample room to grow and thrive for the best results. You can consult a landscaper with experience in creating privacy screens for ideas on the proper spacing for your plants.
Star Jasmine
If you want a plant that completely covers your fence and creates a lush wall of greenery, then you will hit the jackpot with star jasmine. This plant can grow up to 20cm yearly and provides continuous coverage. It is a twining climber that doesn’t run wild, perfect for your small yard.
It has pretty, white flowers that smell amazing in summer, and the leaves also turn bronze in the summer, but not to worry, they won’t fall off. If you grow your star jasmine in a container, be sure to water it often and transfer it to a larger pot as it grows, so it has ample space to thrive.
Cypress Trees
Cypress is one of the best trees for screening. It is tall, narrow and very stately. Due to its narrow nature, most people grow cypress in clusters to create a lovely privacy screen. Although very graceful and stunning when fully grown, cypress trees have a short lifespan of about 20 years compared to other trees often used for privacy screens.
When selecting a screening plant for privacy, make sure you weigh all the options regarding cost, maintenance, lifespan. These factors will help you make the right choice.
Hydrangea
If you want a colourful screening plant for privacy that doesn’t grow too tall, then you would love the Hydrangea. They are great hedge plants that grow up to 8ft tall and wide to give you great privacy. When planted in a row, hydrangeas become a beautiful focal point in your yard, adding depth to your overall aesthetic.
The downside with hydrangeas is that their leaves die in the fall, so it may not be the best option if you want coverage all year round. However, you can pair them with other plants that grow to similar heights to cover the hydrangeas in the off season.
Juniper
Junipers are very commonly used as privacy screen plants, and this is because they grow up to 10 feet tall and are quite easy to maintain. Some varieties of juniper grow to be quite big and tall, so they are more suited for bigger properties.
However, other varieties (like spartan) can be grown in clusters to create the perfect privacy screen. When grown in close clusters, junipers act as strong wind blockers too.
Vines
Vines are a great option if you have a fence with many spaces or openings. A great climbing vine, like the clematis, grows very fast, has stunning blooms and will fill up those gaps in your fence.
However, they are quite high maintenance and require constant pruning to keep them in check; otherwise, they can get wild. You can also consider other slow-growing vine varieties like the confederate jasmine.
Wrapping up
Having nosy neighbours is such a buzzkill, especially when you just want to relax in your beautiful yard and enjoy the warm autumn breeze. There’s not much you can do to stop their prying eyes, but you can surround your outdoor area with the most beautiful screening plants to give you the privacy you deserve.
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