Creating privacy in my garden

[itsnothingoriginal]

I have a house directly behind which is fairly close at 50 ft and unfortunately they have a large window on that side which looks directly into our garden.

I have some young trees in the border but these will take a few years to get to the height I need. I already have a 6 ft fence so can't increase the height. Anyone got any good suggestions to create more instant privacy in the shorter term? Or has anyone solved a similar privacy issue successfully?

Hard to say without knowing the layout of the garden exactly, but would it be possible to put a pergola somewhere where you can sit slightly under cover?

I would be inclined to put the seating area at the end of the garden, covered by a pergola, and looking towards your house. It does depend on what that means in terms of next door neighbours overlooking you though!

I wondering could you use some kind of gazebo or canopy for now. It may not be ideal though.

Sorry, that's what we did but if you are a sun lover . . Ignore my advice :)

Yes the window is directly in front of us when we walk out of our back door so makes sense to try to create some privacy at the end of the garden. I've been having a look at gazebos and pergolas (ouch - expensive ) but I think it could be a good option. Did this work well for your garden littlegreengloworm?

Thanks for the suggestions!

What direction does your garden face or rather the back of the house as that affects how you can increase the privacy without losing sunlight.

Portuguese Laurel are fast growing, evergreen and easy to trim if they get too bushy/tall. I planted some 3 years ago which were about 80cm tall and they are now up to 3m.

www.hedgesdirect.co.uk/acatalog/Portuguese_Laurel_Hedge_Prunus_Lusitanica.html?utm_source=Bing&utm_medium=cpc%20&utm_term=prunus%20lusitanica&utm_content=4036644455&utm_campaign=4036644455

can you post a photo of their window/view from the back of the house, that would help in terms of suggesting what to do.

For a less expensive alternative, there are some 'sun sails' available which you could use if you have something you can attach them to - a triangular one could provide a fair bit of screening without necessarily shading absolutely everything.

Is there any possibility of replacing two or three of the fence posts with taller ones (just the posts, not the fence) so you can attach one of these to them? I'm thinking along the lines of one at the back of the garden and one on either side.

something like this

Huge pot filed with bamboo. Whatever you do, don't plant it in the ground though!!

Oh good - thanks some other ideas to look into.

I don't have room in the border for laurel as eventually I hope the trees will get pretty big. Would have been better to go for evergreen option in hindsight as neighbours have unfortunately now changed use of the overlooking room from a bathroom to teenagers bedroom as being so close I'm keen to reduce visibility into our garden!

The bamboo might be a good option - I guess I'd need a very big pot for tall bamboo?

A sunsail would definitely work well during the summer!

Panel trees or preached trees are your friend!

Aaagh! Pleached!