Most people live in a world that is full of rush and bustle, often noisy and crowded. It is good to have a place at home, however small, where you can be outdoors and be private at the same time. With the modern trend towards outdoor living, cooking and dining, privacy becomes more important rather than less, especially if you enjoy entertaining and want your guests to feel comfortable in your outdoor setting.
If your site is already well screened by trees or shrubs, or if you are fortunate enough to live on a large block of land, perhaps in the country somewhere, then you are one of the lucky ones. However, if this is not the case in your garden or landscaping ideas, you can still, with the help of your landscape contractor, attain privacy by careful positioning of manmade walls, screens or fences, or with judicious planting of appropriate screening shrubs or trees.
Personal preference, what you can afford, and the character of your site, all influence how you go about providing a private space for outdoor living.
Manmade walls vary from the very simple wall of concrete blocks that is easy for an amateur to erect, to custom-built structures made in molds by concrete fencing specialists or landscaping contractors to look like stone, brick or wood. Fences can be of solid timber or planks of lumber, separated by wide or narrow gaps. Non-invasive bamboo makes a great “living fence” for an attractive screen in any part of the garden. All manmade fences can be softened by suitable plantings, perhaps of climbers, or creepers like ivy.
Remember that you can achieve privacy with a screen that is open in texture, like a trellis, just as well as you can with a solid brick wall, provided the screen has sufficient body to break the pattern of movement and shapes that can be seen behind it. In fact, if the privacy wall is also to be a windbreak, it is better for it to have an open texture so that the disruptive downdrafts associated with solid structures will not be a feature.
To block a neighbour’s view of your terrace, a tall screen or hedge, planted near the terrace, may be all that is required – you may not need that head-high fence circling your lot like a mini-Alcatraz. The closer to the sitting area the screen is placed, the more privacy it will afford to those behind it. However, if the screen is built nearer your property line, you will get a better view out from the terrace itself.
It is also possible to purchase portable privacy screens for outdoors. These come in a varirty of shapes, sizes and colors and are an innovative and effective way to achieve privacy in your garden wherever and whenever it is required.
Sometimes overhead screening is necessary in landscape design ideas, especially if you live at the foot of a hill with other houses above, or if there is a multi-storied house right next door. In this case a pergola, covered in an evergreen climber such as jasmine, may provide what you want. Even a carefully placed tree, with spreading branches, can give you a place to relax in summer, where you will not be overlooked.
Privacy may also involve escaping from unwanted sound. To really control sound entering your garden, a solid structure is needed, for example, a stone wall, which will stop most airborne noise crossing into your space. If your outdoor area is subject to excessive noise – maybe you live on a main traffic route – you can gain some relief from the constant daily bombardment by introducing “white noise” – a constant, light sound like the splashing of a fountain can help mask other noise, making it less troublesome.
by careful positioning of manmade walls, screens or fences, or with judicious planting of appropriate screening shrubs or trees.
Personal preference, what you can afford, and the character of your site, all influence how you go about providing a private space for outdoor living.
Manmade walls vary from the very simple wall of concrete blocks that is easy for an amateur to erect, to custom-built structures made in molds by concrete fencing specialists or landscaping contractors to look like stone, brick or wood. Fences can be of solid timber or planks of lumber, separated by wide or narrow gaps. Non-invasive bamboo makes a great “living fence” for an attractive screen in any part of the garden. All manmade fences can be softened by suitable plantings, perhaps of climbers, or creepers like ivy.
Remember that you can achieve privacy with a screen that is open in texture, like a trellis, just as well as you can with a solid brick wall, provided the screen has sufficient body to break the pattern of movement and shapes that can be seen behind it. In fact, if the privacy wall is also to be a windbreak, it is better for it to have an open texture so that the disruptive downdrafts associated with solid structures will not be a feature.
To block a neighbour’s view of your terrace, a tall screen or hedge, planted near the terrace, may be all that is required – you may not need that head-high fence circling your lot like a mini-Alcatraz. The closer to the sitting area the screen is placed, the more privacy it will afford to those behind it. However, if the screen is built nearer your property line, you will get a better view out from the terrace itself.
It is also possible to purchase portable privacy screens for outdoors. These come in a varirty of shapes, sizes and colors and are an innovative and effective way to achieve privacy in your garden wherever and whenever it is required.
Sometimes overhead screening is necessary in landscape design ideas, especially if you live at the foot of a hill with other houses above, or if there is a multi-storied house right next door. In this case a pergola, covered in an evergreen climber such as jasmine, may provide what you want. Even a carefully placed tree, with spreading branches, can give you a place to relax in summer, where you will not be overlooked.
Privacy may also involve escaping from unwanted sound. To really control sound entering your garden, a solid structure is needed, for example, a stone wall, which will stop most airborne noise crossing into your space. If your outdoor area is subject to excessive noise – maybe you live on a main traffic route – you can gain some relief from the constant daily bombardment by introducing “white noise” – a constant, light sound like the splashing of a fountain can help mask other noise, making it less troublesome.