Those famous musical lyrics: “Don’t fence me in,” are an expression well suited to your property. It can be a really delicate affair to create just the right amount of privacy from neighbors, the street, and bad views, and the mistake of going overboard with too much or too high of screening and then feeling trapped, is easy to make. This is particularly true with small residential properties and but not so much of a problem when your home is located on vast acreage. How you go about striking the right balance between feeling trapped and feeling exposed is an important point.
Determine your Screening Needs
First, determine the type of screening to use by assessing your entire property from different vantage points. Go to your favorite outdoor seating area or patio and sit down. Look around you. Are there areas you don’t want to see? Alternatively, are there areas that you do want to see! Keep notes of your observations. Take these observations into your house and note: good view: keep, bad view: screen. It helps to work with another person, too. Have this person stand outside in the various locations for potential screening while you eye these areas from inside your home, both standing and seated. This will help you determine how high and wide the screening needs to be. You may want to arm the person outdoors with a visual aid such as a 6 or 8 foot wooden stake.
After assessing your screening from different vantages, such as upstairs decks, you can begin thinking about good screening choices. Favorite choices include: fences, hedges, trees and low walls.
Fences and Hedges
When it comes to building a fence, there are a number of different options available. For ease and affordability, use premade fence panels that come if a variety lengths. This can also be a good do-it-yourself option, as you will just need to dig in fence posts, the matching length apart to the panel you choose, and then attach the premade panel. A more unique, custom built fence will cost you a little more as it will require more labor to assemble. Materials for complete and semi-privacy fences typically include wood or vinyl. Another choice for semi-privacy fences can be attractive aluminum and wrought iron finishes. Keep in mind that for small properties fences usually don’t need to be higher than 6 feet. 8 feet might be necessary in some areas, but remember you don’t want to feel “fenced in.” Also, check on your city ordinances to confirm maximum allowable fence height. To keep things from feeling overly enclosed mixed things up. Include compact hedges as part of your screening.
Hedges are a nice choice but for a small property choose a compact evergreen. I like ones that reach 8 to 10 feet because they will require far less clipping and maintenance. Stay away from quicker growing evergreens because these will require a lot of sheering and tend to outgrow their spaces (for the small property) quickly. The drawback to growing a compact hedge though, is the years that it will take to reach its’ mature height. If you can be patient, and the area doesn’t urgently need privacy today, compact evergreens are a good choice.
Trees and Low Walls
The same can also be said of using a row of trees for screening. Choose a tree thatworks for the space, for example, columnar in form for narrow or row plantings and evergreen versus deciduous. Make sure you don’t choose a tree that is going to grow too large, take over your entire lot, interfere with power lines and that you will eventually have to end up paying someone to remove. Again, if you need instant screening for an area, a tree may not be your best choice unless you purchase a mature sized plant. You should also assess the conditions in the location you want to plant: is there enough light? Is there a lot of wind? Are you going to irrigate or hand water? If you are unable to properly care for the trees, maybe a fence is a better choice for you.
Last, a three to four foot high wall may be work well in between some of the higher sections of your fence or hedge to reduce the fenced in feeling. It can also be used as a seating area.
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