What to do with my boring rectangle?

[Runoutofideas]

Hi - I'm new to the gardening topic, and really don't know much about it.
We have a relatively small rectangular garden with a bit of patio outside the back door and then lawn with a shed at the end. Plants grow down each side and we have trellis at the far end with clematis on it. (One is growing, 2 appear to be dead.)

The fence with next door is only about 4 foot high so I've tried to grow tall stuff up there to block out having to speak to the neighbour every time we go in the garden.
We have a table and chairs on the patio area but I'd like to screen it off by taking up some of the paving slabs and planting it up (kind of horizontally across the rectangle) with something fast growing but which can stand up by itself as we already have too much visible fence and trellis? Any ideas? Thanks

Try willow or hazel as a living screen. Bamboo would be a possibility, but I would suggest planting it in pots in the ground to restrict the roots as it spreads quickly. Otherwise, what about some of the tall grasses? They're fab when the wind blows through them as you get the sound as well as the visual effects.

If you're feeling adventurous, you could put posts in, string some strong wire between them, and grow fruit such as espalier apple trees or raspberries. Yum!!

I used to have a garden very much as you have. I turned the rectangle of grass into a circle edged with bricks,with plants round the edge - a circle inside a rectangle. It was great as it wasn't too hard to weed,I just worked round in a circle.

Thanks for the ideas.....trip to the garden centre needed soon I think!