Here's how one garden designer balanced privacy with neighborliness
by Rosalind Reed

This article is excerpted from Outdoor Design & Living, a special publication from the editors of Fine Gardening. With dozens of exciting ideas, it's a must-have for garden lovers this season. Learn more...

 Freestanding trellis panels can partially screen a view, adding a modicum of privacy without complete isolation.
Garden historians believe that the very first gardens were created as places of refuge from enemies. Although my worst enemies these days are rabbits, raccoons, and deer, I still have a desire for enclosure and privacy. Perhaps this is because I live in a Chicago suburb where the houses are close together and the lots are long, narrow rectangles.

Although I like my neighbors, balancing the demands of privacy and neighborliness dominated my thinking as I faced the challenge of designing my own landscape. While I wanted privacy, I didn't want to fence myself in or keep my neighbors out entirely. To achieve privacy without erecting a fence, I identified the key areas of the garden where I wanted to minimize the living-in-a-fishbowl effect. I also considered the features in my neighbors' yards that I wanted to "borrow." I then came up with four creative ways to stop the eye or steal the view, depending on the situation. The result (see the Site plan) is a garden that does not shut me out of the neighborhood but at the same time offers places to go when I want privacy.

By using a combination of strategies to block, divert, or steal views, our yard is now a haven with no walls. Although it is possible to see our neighbors and say hello, we don't feel that it is required with each coming and going. Our yard is a private place of refuge, even though neighbors and an elementary school are only steps away.

Four design solutions to consider: Filter views with columnar trees for mutual privacy. Use elevation changes to stop the eye. Use free-standing trellis panels to both stop the eye and steal the view. Stagger a variety of plants for mutual privacy.
Rosalind Reed is a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers and is the editor of its quarterly newsletter.

Photo: Jennifer Brown; drawing: Wendy Bowes

Excerpted from Outdoor Design & Living, pp. 40-43
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