Privacy for open garden

[Taybz]

We've put in an offer for a house with a lovely huge garden but unfortunately it's quite exposed to both neighbours because the fences are very low.
What's the best way to create more privacy? Could we plant trees or buy high fences without irritating the neighbours?

Just arrange to have higher fences put in straight away. Like the week you move in before they have a chance to feel it's about them.

Tell them your godmother has a lurcher and she comes every third Wednesday and for a month in august.

check the house info for covenants. I am allowed to fence my back garden but the front has to remain open and some houses have covenants on back fences too, also on other things. I think if they are going to ha "take offence at your fence" they will do it anyway so yes bash on and get it done asap. I wouldn't be paying out big bucks for any plants right now with the lack of rain and water shortage, newly planted stuff needs mega watering and the bigger the plant the more water it needs.

Oh Ps first house we ever bought had low fences and we wanted to put in a higher one...mentioned it tentatively to NDN's who were delighted. Apparently the folk before us got VERY narky if it was mentioned and they hadn't wanted to upset them!

Plant some bamboos? They're fast growing and they're not hedges / fences which can cause arguments between neighbours! We put some in pots so can move them around. They also move with the wind so don't block light as a fence / hedge does.

Along with checking for covenants, check which fence(s) are actually yours to replace. I would, however, speak to the neighbour beforehand as an introduction, plus also to let them know as a courtesy. We replaced our fences with a 1foot concrete board at the bottom and got wooden lattice work along the top- so as high as we could get really. Don't forget to add hedgehog highways!

Withstanding higher fencers, look at pleached trees.

Speak to your neighbours they might be willing to split the bill. If they don't want them and it's their fence you can put another fence up on your side at full height

You could always add trellis to the top and grow climbers up it. That could work out a lot cheaper than replacing the entire fence.

When in here the low fence was quite ramshackle. We asked the neighbours if they mind if we replaced it with something taller and they were delighted!

I've done this to turn a 5ft fence into a 7ft fence cheaply and it worked really well. Did it with coated angle iron and wires, more robust, less noticiable when it first goes up and cheaper than trellis

Thank you! Lots of great ideas - I've seen one of the neighbours and they're an elderly couple so I hope they wouldn't kick up a fence. When do you find out who the fence belongs to? When they do the house searches? As for trees, are there any fully grown ones that you can plant straight away? Ideally I'd like these in the front fence. Our new house's garden looks somewhat like this garden (albeit much larger and a shorter fence). I'd want to create as much privacy as possible where the shed is, opposite the houses in front.

@MarmiteCoriander I really like this - is it expensive to do?

I would also love to creat something like this. I don't know what they're called though and what I'd need. Dh and I are both garden amateurs! 😄

@dodobookends I like this idea too! Would the trellis need a strong fence though as the current fence looks sort of flimsy? Do you have a reference photo of what it could look like or what I could search on Google?

Don't plant bamboo! It gets everywhere and a nightmare to dig up if you change your mind.
I agree with pp to put higher fences in asap

Op those are pleached trees.

Our last house had covenants - open front garden, four foot fences at the back. And it was checked on by neighbourhood busybody!

OP- the tree shapes I posted pics of are called pleached. Yes, some nurseries do sell larger trees for instant privacy.

Do consider if the trees will block light from a neighbours window! Apparently this can be illegal. I also would avoid bamboo. The only exception might be having it in long, thin troughs along the fence line and not directly in the ground.

Pleached trees are beautiful, but very expensive and need careful pruning. They would also need pruning on your neighbours sides, and would cast shade .
If the current fences are in good condition and strong, trellis could work. Replacing 3 sides in a large garden will be very expensive.
People tend to think that they need to enclose a whole garden for privacy, but you really don’t. Think strategically and consider a well grown tree or shrub to provide cover for a patio area. This doesn’t have to be evergreen, most people sit out much less in winter, and it doesn’t have to be more than 2-4 metres. A tree towards the middle of a large space will give more privacy than a tree at the extreme edges.
Itis definitely worth talking to your neighbours about the boundaries.

Pleached trees look great but would likely cost a few grand. Hundreds just for one tree anyway. Cheaper would be to buy a couple or more amelanchiar. Just the right height. Deciduous though but as others said, you probably need the privacy less in winter.

You can by expanding trellis, which weighs a lot less than the solid variety. Places like B&M and Wilko stock it. Just Google 'expanding trellis' for examples.

you can get pleached trees here

www.paramountplants.co.uk/pleached-trees.html

but they will be expensive and you'll probably want a professional to plant them to be sure that they settle in and grow properly. you really don't want your £300 tree to die after 8 weeks.

We've got high beech hedging all around our property, about 10-12ft high, it looks nice and isn't invasive like conifers. It takes a few years to get the height but you can buy the hedgelings at around 6ft to start. Just plant it in the autumn though, not during this hot weather. And plenty of water while it gets going.
This is ours

I think the key to natural looking privacy that doesn't box you in, is to identify

a) where you most likely want to sit
b) what windows can see you there

You then plant your taller trees/plants to interupt that specific view. That leaves you some open space where no one can see you but blocks the worst of the neighbour overlooks.

All that said, imo nice big strong fences make for good neighbours - so, like others, I'd be bloody overjoyed to have a new neighbour who put big fences in as a matter of priority.