Privacy Screening and Garden Planting
A practical garden planting project that gave a young family greater privacy, with clear-stem Photinia trees screening neighbouring properties and fresh planting bringing colour and interest to the driveway.
This project in 20 seconds
The owners wanted to make their garden feel more private without losing valuable lawn space or installing additional high fencing.
With neighbouring properties overlooking the garden, we recommended clear-stem Photinia trees that would provide evergreen screening above the existing fence line.
We supplied and planted the trees along the rear boundary, creating a softer, greener appearance while helping to reduce overlooking.
The project also included refreshing a narrow planting border beside the driveway with a selection of shrubs to improve the appearance of the entrance to the property.
Choosing the right trees for privacy
Privacy doesn’t always require taller fences or major changes to the garden.
For this property, the challenge was to provide screening above the existing boundary fence, where neighbouring houses could overlook the lawn.
We recommended clear-stem Photinia trees, which have a defined trunk supporting a leafy crown.
Unlike a conventional hedge, the trees concentrate much of their foliage higher up, where the screening is most needed.
Photinia is also evergreen, retaining its foliage throughout the year, while its red-tinted new growth adds seasonal colour.
Planting along the rear garden boundary
We positioned the Photinia trees along the existing rear boundary, taking account of the fence line and the areas where additional privacy would be most useful.
The clear-stem form allowed the trees to provide height without creating a continuous wall of foliage at ground level.
This was particularly useful in a family garden where retaining an open lawn was important.
The planting also introduced greenery to what had previously been a relatively plain timber boundary.
A greener, more private garden
The newly planted Photinias immediately gave the garden a more established appearance, with their leafy crowns extending above the existing fence.
The trees help soften the view of neighbouring properties while preserving the open space below.
As the trees establish and develop, their evergreen foliage can provide increasingly effective screening, with periodic pruning helping to maintain the desired shape and size.
For the family, the result is a garden that feels greener and more enclosed without requiring extensive landscaping work.
Refreshing driveway planting
We also worked on a narrow planting area beside the driveway.
Although this was a smaller part of the project, the border offered an opportunity to improve the appearance of the property as visitors approached.
The existing area was relatively bare and needed fresh planting to make better use of the space.
We prepared the border for a new arrangement of shrubs that would soften the appearance of the fence and introduce more colour and texture.
Selecting plants for the new border
We selected a mixture of shrubs with contrasting foliage, shapes and seasonal interest to create a more attractive border.
Rather than relying on a single type of plant, the combination introduces variation along the narrow strip while maintaining a coordinated appearance.
Careful spacing was important to allow the individual plants room to develop as they become established.
A welcoming property entrance
With the shrubs planted and the soil refreshed, the driveway border now provides a more attractive approach to the property.
The mix of green foliage, darker-leaved shrubs and flowering plants creates a more interesting view along the existing fence.
Although the work was relatively modest in scale, it made a noticeable difference to an area that had previously offered little visual interest.
Together with the privacy planting in the rear garden, the improvements demonstrate how carefully chosen plants can make outdoor spaces feel more welcoming, established and comfortable to use.
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Got Questions? We've got answers
Clear-stem Photinias are evergreen trees trained with a visible trunk and a leafy crown above. They can be particularly useful for garden privacy where screening is needed above an existing fence rather than at ground level.
Yes. Appropriately selected and positioned trees can help screen neighbouring windows and reduce overlooking. The suitability of individual trees depends on the garden’s size, available space, growing conditions and the position of neighbouring properties.
Yes. Photinias retain their foliage throughout the year and are particularly valued for the reddish colour of their new growth. They may need periodic pruning to keep their shape and manage their size.
Yes. Clear-stem trees can be useful where lawn space needs to be retained, because the main foliage is positioned above the trunk rather than forming a dense hedge at ground level.
Yes. In this project, we refreshed the existing planting area beside the driveway rather than undertaking major hard landscaping. New shrubs and improved soil preparation helped give the entrance a more attractive finish.