In the ecologically oriented garden planting, natural privacy is a top priority. The aim is to protect privacy without forcing nature with a bulwark of steel and concrete. With hedge shrubs you fence your property decoratively and keep prying eyes away. This guide explains in a practical way how your green privacy screen works.

Yews are among the classic hedge plants

Preliminary considerations set the direction - this is how you plan correctly

A green privacy screen costs less than a garden wall. Depending on the size of the property and the type of plant selected, an opaque fence will not pay for itself out of the household budget. By clarifying important questions in advance and creating a detailed plan, you effectively prevent expensive failures and bitter disappointments:

  • Should the privacy protection also be guaranteed in winter?
  • Can it be an expensive, slow-growing hedge or a green privacy screen in a short time?
  • Are there the same light and wind conditions at the entire site?
  • Is the soil problematic and requires special garden planting?

The more concretely you are informed about the quality of the garden soil, the more well-founded decisions you can make about the appropriate garden planting. We therefore recommend having a soil analysis done in advance. To do this, you take soil samples from various places and send them to a special laboratory. You will then receive qualified information for plant selection with tips on the pH value and correct fertilizers.

Evergreen classics - these shrubs won't let you down

If you don't feel like experimenting in garden design, you are well advised to use tried-and-tested classics. The following shrubs keep their foliage all year round, are easy to care for and long-lived:

  • Yew (Taxus baccata) for sunny, partially shaded and shady locations and any normal garden soil
  • Cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) thrives in sun and semi-shade without any special requirements
  • Privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium) for sunny and semi-shady locations; sheds its leaves in the harsh winter

If you are looking for a privacy screen for the Japanese garden design, we would like to recommend the bamboo 'Jumbo' (Fargesia murielae). Unlike its invasive cousins, this bamboo species does not form runners, grows evergreen and hardy to a majestic height of 350 cm.

Fast-growing hedge shrubs - natural privacy protection in no time

When proud landlords lay out their new garden, they usually lack the patience for a leisurely growing garden planting. The following hedge shrubs are a natural privacy screen with floral top speed:

  • Summer lilac (Buddleja davidii): 200-400 cm high, growth per year: 50-150 cm
  • Male willow (Salix caprea): 500-800 cm high, growth per year: 60-100 cm
  • Panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata): 200-300 cm high, growth per year: 30-100 cm
  • Farmer's jasmine (Philadelphus coronarius): 200-350 cm high, growth per year: 40-80 cm

Firethorn 'Red Column' (Pyracantha coccinea) is becoming popular as a green privacy screen with a defensive character. For a number of years, the decorative thorn bush has blossomed into the most popular garden planting for the enclosure of new properties. White flowers in spring, evergreen leaves and fiery red berries characterize the wood, coupled with rapid growth of up to 60 cm a year.

Green privacy screen for the small garden - slender columns

The creative garden design for the small garden places special demands on the choice of plants. A natural privacy screen should ward off onlookers and still leave room to breathe. The following shrubs fulfill this premise with flying colours:

  • Rocket Juniper 'Blue Arrow' (Juniperus scopulorum): Height 400-550 cm, width 80-100 cm
  • Column cypress 'Columnaris Glauca' (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana): height 350-500 cm, width 100-130 cm
  • Arborvitae 'Smaragd' (Thuja occidentalis): Height 200-500 cm, width 70-100 cm
  • Columnar yew 'Fastigiata Robusta' (Taxus baccata): height 400-700 cm, width 100-150 cm

A small drop of bitterness is of course connected with the slender beauties. They are all slightly toxic. Therefore, please always wear gloves when planting and tending work.

How to plant hedge shrubs correctly - a short guide

All efforts to choose the right garden planting are wasted if the valuable shrubs are not planted correctly. For your orientation, we therefore summarize the most important key points for a professional planting of hedge shrubs for green privacy:

  • The best time to plant is in autumn, for frost-sensitive species in spring
  • Meticulous soil preparation: weed, rake, incorporate compost and horn shavings (€32.93).
  • Dig a planting pit with twice the volume of the root ball
  • Rule of thumb for the planting distance in the row: half the growth height
  • Rule of thumb for the distance to the neighbor: at least 50 cm with a growth height of up to 200 cm

Ample water supply plays a key role in the care program. So that the young trees take root quickly, they are placed in water while they are still in the seed pot until no more air bubbles rise. After planting, please water regularly and generously in the first few weeks without causing waterlogging.

tips

A natural privacy screen as a mixed hedge is enthusiastically received by beneficial insects in the natural garden. Rows of fruit-bearing flowering shrubs next to evergreen and thorny trees, the varied hedge serves birds, insects and other small animals as a valuable source of food and a year-round refuge.

Category:

Garden design