Protection of privacy is very important in the front garden. Walls, metal and wooden fences do not always suit your personal taste or are beyond your budget. Instead of exposing yourself to prying eyes in a front garden without a fence, we recommend a living privacy screen made of plants. We present the most beautiful species and varieties to you here.
Which plants are suitable as privacy screens in the front garden?
Flowering shrubs such as buddleia, panicle hydrangea and firethorn or evergreen plants such as yew, cherry laurel and arborvitae are suitable for natural privacy in the front garden. Slender plants such as blue rocket juniper or columnar cypress are ideal for small front gardens.
Flowering bulwark against prying eyes - the best privacy shrubs
Is your rural, romantic front garden still waiting for a suitable privacy screen? Then you are well advised to have a hedge made of fast-growing flowering bushes. The following species and varieties are characterized by rapid growth, easy pruning care and lavish flowers:
- Buddleia (Buddleja davidii) impresses with its rapid growth rate of up to 150 cm per year
- Pranicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) grows up to 300 cm high with annual growth of 30 to 100 cm
- Firethorn 'Red Column' (Pyracantha coccinea) keeps uninvited guests away with sharp thorns
Evergreen and opaque – plants for year-round privacy protection
The privacy effect of deciduous flowering shrubs is limited to the summer time. If you aim to ward off prying eyes all year round, focus on the following evergreen plants:
- Yew (Taxus baccata), whose Hillii variety does not produce flowers and therefore no poisonous fruits
- Cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) for sunny to partially shaded locations
- Tree of life (Thuja occidentalis), the classic among evergreen hedge shrubs
Slender plants are recommended for small front gardens, such as the blue rocket juniper 'Blue Arrow' (Juniperus scopulorum), which reaches a height of 400 to 500 cm and a width of 80 to 100 cm. The columnar cypress 'Columnaris Glauca' (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana) with a height of 500 cm and a width of 100 cm is also popular as an evergreen privacy screen for limited garden areas.
You can give an evergreen hedge an extra dose of attractiveness with imaginative topiaries. Curved lines are very beautiful and are particularly effective on boxwood and yew trees. Tensioned ropes or templates serve as a guide for skillful cutting.
Tip
Wooden fence and flowering vines are the dream team for an attractive privacy screen in the front garden. Specialist retailers offer a wide range of finished wooden fence elements (€243.00 on Amazon) with a privacy screen height. With a planting of clematis (Clematis), climbing hydrangeas (Hydrangea) or annual morning glories (Ipomoea tricolor), you can give your enclosure a natural and flowery touch.
