How to Make Your Garden More Private
If you want to turn your garden into a hideaway, you’ll need to make sure that it’s private enough to be able to relax and wind away summer days and evenings without feeling self-conscious or overlooked. Since gardens and homes are typically built in rows, it can be difficult to really feel the benefit of private outdoor space. Here are a few tips to help you make your garden more private.
1.Make Your Fence Taller
It’s likely that you already have a garden fence, but the height might mean that sound and BBQ smells travel a little too easily. You may even be able to see over it into your neighbours’ gardens, which destroys the illusion of privacy when you’re outside. The simplest and most attractive way to make your fence a little taller is by adding trellis with a climbing plant – this has the benefit of looking attractive rather than anti-social.
2.Build a Pergola
If you have specific areas of the garden you like to relax in, building your own pergola can achieve two aims – you can create comfortable seating and a shelter so that your neighbours can’t see you easily from their windows. This is a great way to separate areas of your garden for socialising and to extend the use of your garden into the cooler months (or just create a shelter to avoid sun burn in the summer). We have a great article on how to build your own pergola here.
3.Screen off Private Areas
If you spend any time looking at landscaping and gardening magazines, you’ll notice that many of them focus on creating distinct areas within a garden, rather than just a lawn and a border. You can plant hedges, add hurdle fence panels, or just add decking to areas of the garden with balustrades. This disrupts the line of sight and means that each little section of the garden is a little more private. It also means that you have more usable, separate spaces rather than a single lawn which can make your garden seem considerably bigger.
4.Use Berms and Different Levels
If you don’t want to add hedges or fences to your garden, you can define different areas by creating berms so that each section of your garden is at a different level. Depending on your water tables and drainage, you may even be able to create sunken seating areas that keep sound contained and create small hideaways from the rest of the garden and any prying eyes.
