quick tall privacy screen

Discussion in 'Garden Design and Plant Suggestions' started by kotybc40, Feb 11, 2008.

  1. kotybc40

    kotybc40 Member

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    Location:
    Courtenay, B.C.
    Hi folks, this is my fist time on. I need to put up a privacy sceen to offer privacy from my neighbor's two story deck that looks over my yard and into my front room. My lot is only 50' wide and our houses are VERY close together. My home is a rancher. Your help is most appreciated. Thanks. Koty
     
  2. Debby

    Debby Active Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    Koty, I'm thinking of bamboo myself. Our neighbour extended his house and deck close to our sundeck, and also we like to dine on the deck just before the summer sun goes down past the neighbour's house. In our case, we'll put containers on our deck; should provide both aural and visual protection. Fingers crossed.
     
  3. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Location:
    WA USA (Z8)
    Very little noise abatement from plants.
     
  4. Debby

    Debby Active Member 10 Years

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    I figure wind rustling bamboo leaves will help somewhat.
     
  5. 1950Greg

    1950Greg Active Member

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    Location:
    Langley, B.C. Stones throw from old HBC farm.
    Bamboo can be invasive and hard to get rid of if you change your mind later and most fast growing trees or tall shrubs tend to be high maitenace. If practical matbe you could build a trellis and plant a vine, evergreen clematis or a rambler type of rose some will grow to 20 ft. or more. Anything you plant will take at least two year to establish unless you plant mature plants.
     
  6. LabTea

    LabTea Active Member

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    Location:
    Labrador City Canada
    How about certain Willows or Poplars. It might not give you overnight results but some of them can grown up to 6ft/year. I like Greg's idea of a trellis though and a couple of other great plant options would be Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris (Climbing Hydrangea) or Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (Porcelain Berry).
     
  7. lhuget

    lhuget Active Member

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    Location:
    Calgary, Alberta, Canada Zone 3a
    columnar aspens are the choice here for fast growing privacy screen.

    Les
     
  8. Debby

    Debby Active Member 10 Years

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    We plan to keep the bamboo in containers and to keep an eye on them. Have made no selections yet. Prefer clump formers.
     
  9. Elizabeth2010

    Elizabeth2010 Member

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    Location:
    Seattle
    Be careful of Willows that will find pipes and crush them, also of Liquid Amber, all fast growing and destructive to your plumbing and foundation. There are others out there. And yes, if they grow fast they will be messy and you will do a lot of raking and sweeping. Nothing is free, there are drawbacks to every choice and we will be seeing a lot more of these problems now that they are building so close to each other. (greed in the name of land management...how nice)
    There is a non plant solution, and it looks kind of artsy, Get 10 feet of nylon fabric (the kind wind socks and flags are made of) white is nice, but you can choose any color (the blue that is the same color as plastic tarps may be confused as such and is the only bad choice) get the inexpensive metal fence stakes (used for barbed wire) and 3 PVC pipes (2 ID) for ever 10 foot length (no cutting required as they come in 10 foot lengths, you need also buy 2 of the matching PVC elbows and white duct take and 10 eyelets for every 10 foot sheet, and some cording. Use the white duct tape (you can use other colors to match your fabric) fold back all the edges and tape down, add the eyelets through the double layers of fabric on the edges, feed the cords around the eyelets and the PVC, hammer the metal fence posts deep into the ground, stand the PVC frame with fabric up in front and wrap the PVC legs and fence posts (fence post behind legs and it gives a nearly invisible installation.) You can grow grasses and other tidy low maint. plants below because you will not have fabric all the way to the ground. and it looks nice if you put cover the part of the fence that is showing below with reed screens. Holds up for many years in heavy wind and rain. You can also attach several PVC frames together with the duct tape. I have a wall 40 feet long to keep the lookie-loos from sitting in their upstairs bedroom and watching us in our pool.
    Looks very clean and resort-ish and not very expensive (about $50 per 10 foot section)
    Make sure you do not install directly against the fence, but install about 5 to 8 inches in front, and fabric should be slightly taunt.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 23, 2010
  10. LilyISay

    LilyISay Active Member

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    Location:
    Abbotsford, Canada
    It's not a longterm solution, but peas and beans, the pole varieties, grow extremely fast and make a nice dense screen. And you can eat them! You never mentioned what kind of sun exposure the area will get, that's pretty important. Yews, laurels and cedars are good screening evergreens for shade. I'd avoid willow, it's a pain in a small space.
     
  11. LGgreen

    LGgreen Member

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    Location:
    N. California USA
    We live in a two-story home and also need privacy since we are also on a corner lot. We have 11 of Newport Plum trees surrounding our home and our home feels very private. The Newport Plum grows very tall and allows for most privacy during the seasons when you most need it. Flowers bloom during spring (very beautiful), red purple dense leaves during summer and no leaves during winter months. Cons: The little cherry plum fruits attract black crows and can make a mess on your grounds (can you get fruitless or spray?); can also provide too much shade so space them appropriately as the branches need room to spread. Pros: very hearty and easy to care for.
     

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