Six easy ways to add privacy to your garden with clever planting and the shrubs that'll even stay full in winter

The Sun

21 hours ago

SUMMER is great for being out in the garden, but it's not ideal when you don't have any privacy in your outdoor space.
To prevent neighbours peeking into your garden or to just create your own private sanctuary of peace, an expert has shared six plants which can help.
3
Paul Parker, CEO of plants and perennials specialists J. Parker's, said privacy can be achieved using plants.
From plant variety recommendations to practical seasonal considerations, his advice will help transform overlooked gardens into peaceful green retreats…
Block sight lines
An arbour, pergola or gazebo are all easy ways of increasing privacy if you're overlooked by upper windows.
Cover any of these structures with beautiful climbing perennials or trailing plants to truly create your own natural private space.
Varieties such as clematis, climbing hydrangea, and wisteria, are great for adding privacy to your garden, also these climbing perennials are flowering vines that will come back year after year.
Cover up fences with evergreen climbers
If you want to disguise fences, balcony railings or rooftop spaces, evergreen climbers are a fantastic solution.
Star Jasmine would be my top choice, it's a hardy, vigorous grower with glossy evergreen foliage, so it's the perfect all-year-round cover.
In summer, it bursts into fragrant, star-shaped flowers that fill your garden with an enticing scent.
If you don't have a surface to grow against, create a living fence by planting shrubs or small trees close together to make a natural wall of privacy.
Varieties like golden privet hedging or, for a shorter screen, Salix (like Flamingo Willow) are trendy options that work well to cordon off designated areas in your garden.
Fill in gaps with bright annuals
If you are looking for a quick fix and want help filling the gaps in while your perennials and shrubs take their time to establish, planting colourful annuals will provide you with the privacy you need this summer.
You can use taller annual varieties such as sunflowers, foxgloves or sweet peas to create temporary screens or brighten up existing screens.
Simply plant them into a row and consider adding a trellis or fence to give them extra support as they grow.
Add bushy potted plants
Growing bushy potted plants helps give you the cover you need, and they're mobile so you can move them around whenever you like.
It's an easy way to improve privacy that also adds a good dose of foliage to your outdoor space.
Choose plants that have a good width spread to grow a privacy wall of foliage.
Create bamboo screens
3
Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants out there, making it perfect for creating a natural privacy screen.
Just be careful because some varieties can spread fast and take over your garden if left unchecked.
To keep things under control, grow bamboo in large, heavy pots to stop it from spreading and also to keep it stable in windy spots.
You'll still get those tall, dense canes that are ideal for blocking out a peaceful corner in your garden.
Include fast-growing ornamental grasses
3
Grasses can be used easily to create internal screens or hedges that flower beautifully, move in the slightest breeze, and need little care during the summer months.
I recommend silvergrass or pampas grass to not only conceal your garden, but to introduce interesting textures.
Their fast growth rate makes ornamental grasses ideal for privacy hedges because new plants can rapidly fill in any gaps.
Top gardening trends of 2025
Gardening experts at Barnsdale Gardens has shared the top gardening trends of 2025.
Matrix planting
It seems that a top planting trend for this year is going to be Matrix Planting.
In essence, planting in groups or blocks to give an effect of being wild whilst actually being carefully managed.
Selection of the plants is essential, to give year-round interest either with flowers, seed heads or frosted/snowy spent flower heads. Some recommend using plants that seed around, but this could make managing your matrix planting harder to keep under control.
Chrysanthemum comeback
I hope that the humble Chrysanthemum makes as much of a comeback this year as Dahlias have over recent years, because the simple single flowered types, such as 'Innocence' and 'Cottage Apricot' would be spectacular within a matrix scheme.
The hardy varieties are so easy to grow in a sunny spot and give such a valuable burst of late summer and autumn colour that would lift any dull- looking border.
Blended borders
For some time now we have been promoting the growing of veg within ornamental borders and I think this could really take off this year.
The choice of ornamental-looking varieties available in seed catalogues is phenomenal and, if managed correctly, visitors to your garden will not even realise that you have veg growing!
Must-have tool
My secret is out. I discovered the Hori Hori a couple of years ago and now it seems so is everyone else.
It is such a well-made, adaptable tool that can be used as a trowel or weeding tool in the garden that and everyone I speak to who have used it absolutely would not now be without it. Enough said!