Exposed garden

[RedRobin100]

We have a very exposed corner of our front garden. At the moment there are just some young red acers there. I’m sure they will be lovely when they’re older - in the summer, however with no leaves they leave the garden and living room windows very exposed and overlooked.

Looking for ideas to fill the corner in with some height and ideally something evergreeen.

Don’t want to eat into the garden too much however depth-wise.

Would pleached trees be best along the wall? It’s a very windy spot so whatever is there would need to be hardy..

Why not try an evergreen honeysuckle

Hmmm would it get enough height? I want to block out those bloody windows (and they neighbours annoying AF security light) across the street.

I do want some nice climbers / honeysuckle against the wall in general, but think need something more strategic in that corner?

The obvious answer for evergreen height without width is bamboo. You'd want to keep it confined in troughs so it doesn't break away.

Another idea is ceanothus arboreus, ours only cost around £35 a year or two ago and was about 5 foot, now more like 8 foot. Evergreen, blue flowers in spring. We plan to remove lower branches as it grows higher.

@MrsBertBibby

The obvious answer for evergreen height without width is bamboo. You'd want to keep it confined in troughs so it doesn't break away.

Another idea is ceanothus arboreus, ours only cost around £35 a year or two ago and was about 5 foot, now more like 8 foot. Evergreen, blue flowers in spring. We plan to remove lower branches as it grows higher.

Thanks. Will look into these. Might be a bit windy for bamboo - or I might have use for it elsewhere

We have a very exposed garden and the ceanothus I tried was very unhappy and died. But our winds are crazy strong and cold.

Buddleia seems to do well in our exposed garden, and they can grow fast and tall.

How about top grafted lollipop trees? Instant height of your choice and the trunks wouldn't get any taller. You could choose your namesake Photinia x Fraseri Red Robin, or something like Variegated Ligustrum Japonicum.

@brambleberries

How about top grafted lollipop trees? Instant height of your choice and the trunks wouldn't get any taller. You could choose your namesake Photinia x Fraseri Red Robin, or something like Variegated Ligustrum Japonicum.

These are pleached trees? grown in the frame? That’s what I was thinking..

Pleached trees would be absolutely perfect, expensive but great.

Lollipops are a ball on a stick, rather than the ones on frames.

Prunus Lusitanica
'This useful evergreen tree will tolerate most soil types that are well-drained, including chalky soils when planted in full sun or partial shade. Exposure and heavier shade can be tolerated. Expect 5 x 6 meters in 20 years when Prunus lusitanica is grown as a single specimen'

It's quite a nice dark green. - used oftten for hedging.
For screening of walls and a backdrop for more exciting shrubs it is ideal.

I have budleia globosa which has grown like a weed 5 ft tall in its second year. Has round orange flower heads.

Holly is tough but slow growing. Amelanchier is quite a nice airy tree which doesn't get too big.

Pleached trees would work really well there for privacy and would be an instant solution, but are really really expensive!

Preached trees definitely. Not cheap but they will be worth it. Bite the bullet and go for it.

But hedging plants are really cheap and not particularly difficult to pleach them yourself. If you bought a pack of hornbeam or beech from a hedging company, you can get bundles online for around £1 a bareroot plant. You've still got time to plant them now before spring. Although not evergreen they will both form a dense attractive boundary with pretty Autumn colour too.

@RedRobin100 'These are pleached trees? grown in the frame?'

No, not pleached trees. Lollipops are cheaper. It's personal preference but I think they have a more attractive outline and are easier to keep in shape.

That wall is pretty. If the site is too exposed for pleached trees, could you plant a hedge on the other side of it? Then you still have the whole garden and space for some beds.

I'm confused whether you want something to break up the view from other houses or something that would withstand wind? Normally when people say an area is exposed they mean the latter? Acer trees do very poorly in an exposed, windy site as the leaves lose moisture from wind. Walls are great at retaining heat if they get any sun so I'd try and make the most of it and put in some fruit trees as you'll get some lovely fruit from it?

Oh yes I think the OP means exposed visually, not wind.

Well both a bit I guess! But more so the visual aspect. That part of garden is very overlooked because no greenery.
Wall is almost 6ft but I need greenery and evergreen.

It is also quite windy at times as we’re on top of a hill - so whatever goes there would need to be able to withstand that as well.

I just don’t want anything too bulky that would take up too much depth space - which is why I was thinking pleached..

Yes apologies I should have said overlooked rather than exposed probably..

Portuguese Laurel or bamboo