A compost heap for recycling cuttings and organic waste is the pride of many gardeners. If the compost cannot be stored in a hidden corner of the garden, a suitable privacy screen can be the solution, as with unsightly garbage cans.
What privacy options are there for compost piles?
Narrow hedge plants such as yews or Thuja Smaragd, annual flowers such as sunflowers or gladioli as well as flexible, printed plastic films or potted plants are suitable as privacy screens for a compost heap. These offer protection and at the same time provide sufficient freedom of movement for working on the compost.
You shouldn't narrow down a compost heap
In principle, many original ideas can be implemented for a decorative privacy screen in the garden. However, you shouldn't necessarily build a stone wall as a privacy screen right next to a composter. Ultimately, there comes a time in every compost heap when it needs to be dug up or at least a larger amount of mature compost soil needs to be removed. Once the time comes, you will be very happy for the freedom of movement around the compost. Consequently, the following types of privacy screens can be used as “hiding places” for the compost:
- annual plants
- flexible privacy protection variants
- narrow hedge plants
Narrow plants as a privacy screen next to the compost
Due to the visual axes in a garden, it is often enough to plant a natural privacy screen on one side of the composter. This is even more true since a compost heap is usually located in a corner of the garden. However, in order to maintain freedom of movement for processing the compost, a distance of at least half a meter should be maintained with the privacy screen. This can also be achieved in a small garden if very narrow-growing plants are used for the privacy hedge. For example, columnar yew trees or the columnar cypress Thuja Smaragd are suitable for this. You can also cover a trellis with an evergreen climbing plant such as ivy.
Annual flowers and flexible privacy options
In order to maintain the necessary freedom of movement when working on the compost, annual flowers can be used as privacy screens and can simply be replanted every year. Gladiolus, sunflowers and climbing plants such as the black-eyed Susan, for example, reach the necessary height within a short time. Especially for the visual improvement of a composter, there are also privacy protection options made from printed, weather-resistant plastic film available in specialist stores (€13.00 at Amazon). With a decorative print that looks like a stone wall, the weathered boards of a compost heap disappear behind the deceptively real illusion of the wall stones.
Tip
An unattractive composter can also be easily hidden by lining up potted plants in the appropriate places. If necessary, these can be flexibly moved at any time so that the compost heap is easily accessible even with a wheelbarrow.
