The garden is supposed to be a place where we can relax, socialize, and maybe even enjoy a meal when the weather allows for it. However, it can be hard to do any of that when you’re worried about neighbors or passersby peeping in to see what you’re up to. It’s not that difficult to add a bit of privacy to the garden, however. In fact, there are plenty of ways to do it.
3 Ways to Add Privacy to Your Backyard
Here are three ways to carve out a little slice of heaven in your own backyard.
1 – The sound of water
There are plenty of benefits to adding water features to the home. While they do take quite a bit of maintenance to ensure that they’re clean and safe, they can also be a major value booster to the home. What’s more, they can attract local nature like birds and squirrels to stop by for a drink. However, running water features such as garden fountains also add a good deal of sound masking. As such, not only can it prevent people from overhearing your conversations in the garden, but it can even mask sounds from beyond your garden fence, such as nearby traffic. Just make sure you’re willing to take care of any water features you add because, when abandoned, they can get pretty gross, pretty quick.
2 – Go tall
When it comes to visual privacy, there isn’t going to be any more effective than a good tall fence around the garden. Your choice of fencing materials matters, as well. Unless you also have tall hedges to supplement them, then metal fences are rarely going to offer cover very much at all. Rather, you want to stick with wood where possible. If you have a patio or decking, you can also build a tall enclosure around it more easily. This can be as simple as erecting a frame with a horizontal beam to drape some fabrics around. If there are any local rules about fence heights, that can be an easy way to work around them.
3 – Go green
There is one addition you can make that offers a mix of both visual and audial cover. We’re talking about adding some plant life to the garden. For instance, if you put up a wooden fence, you can make sure that you enhance its ability to shield you from prying eyes by adding a lattice and creating a green fence to go with it. Otherwise, for social areas like the patio, you can simply decorate it with standing potted plants that will offer just enough cover that people can’t look in too easily. Of course, adding more plants to the garden also comes with added maintenance and care, so bear that in mind.
One Final Thought: A caution about compliance when adding privacy to your yard
If you’re looking at adding any fencing or other major garden features, be sure that they don’t violate any terms of any neighborhood associations. You don’t want to stir up any trouble, but you should have some wiggle room to add a dose of privacy to the garden, all the same.
Despite freelancing to make a living, her love is "all things home."
Deborah grew up in a family that grew a large vegetable garden and a fruit orchard, helping her parents pull weeds and can home-grown foods as part of her childhood. In fact, she had no idea that she could purchase veggies and fruits in pre-packed steel cans until she went to college and made a food run.
Today, she lives in Bertie County, North Carolina, an agricultural rural area with more chickens than people. She lives with her husband and two rescue pets a sweet toy fox terrier and a cat who showed up one day and moved into the house. Together, they enjoy DIY projects, furniture refinishing, gardening, and canning.
This blog celebrates all things home.
