Desperately need ideas for trees/bushes screening at fence

[MoominUnderWater]

Against the fence. Needs to be evergreen and taller than the fence for privacy. I had been thinking about something like pleached bare stem laurel trees for height but they’re expensive!

there will be large sheds going in both corners but would like something to bridge the gap in between and possibly behind the sheds if I feel the sheds aren’t tall enough for privacy

Get net curtains?

If there are sheds going in I’d not plant anything in the gap. You’d need to leave four meters so a hedge can grow and not take the fence out or the new shed. It’s really hard to maintain anything behind a shed trapped against a fence.

this was my brilliant idea 10 years ago. I now have a wrecked shed roof and 20 foot trees that are taking all the light. It’s just really hard to get near them to cut them back.

Please do not put in bamboo of any description they grow big even the clumping ones. A friend has one and after 10 years it’s nearly 6’ wide and he wants it out so has got to hire a mini digger to remove it at an enormous cost, then if there are any pieces left it will regrow. If I was looking for a property this plant is a BIG no no.

The Garden Ninja has done a really good post on his blog about privacy-here is a picture before and after. It’s a really good article. I like to read him for ideas.

That’s a good point. There will probably be a gap between the 2 outbuildings so will hopefully be just inbetween those that we need to fill. Hopefully the sheds will be tall enough for the corners. We will get them in and see.

That’s a good point. There will probably be a gap between the 2 outbuildings so will hopefully be just inbetween those that we need to fill. Hopefully the sheds will be tall enough for the corners. We will get them in and see.

Why I hate leylandii trees. These planted deliberately after my gas boiler flue was installed in the disabled living extension.

If you look closely you will see a black gas boiler flue. This is a nasty neighbour, about whom I know very little, because although next door, my house is set back from theirs.

I am disabled. I was told (TVP)that as I did not exercise my right to cut the branches back it was my own fault if my gas flue got blocked. Ignored that I was refused access).

I had no hot water or central heating from Dec. 2023 to June 2024. I took out a lone for a new boiler on the other side of the house, with a new flue.

Please, I beg of everyone, do not plant these trees. Apart from the obvious, the roots damage the garden and invade roots of trees. Even soakaways can get blocked.

The cost of keeping them trunned is astronomical. Branches grow all round, so they will also push fences out.

When the fence weathers, it won't look so red, and will blend in, but you can always paint the fence another colour. It will help preserve it too.

Perhaps good old fashioned privet or box. The screen of choice for generations.

Box would take 100 years to grow to that height - if it survived at all these days, what with box blight and box moth caterpillar.

I agree with a pp - net curtains are the easiest and cheapest solution for the bedroom window, while the OP waits for something to grow into that gap.

You can’t add a trellis on top of a fence if the fence is already maximum permitted height. And climbers have to be self-supporting, so a clematis won’t do - but will be great for covering your bare fence.

Yes I saw photos of a fence with a trellis attached up against it (not making it higher) with climbing plants on the trellis. It looked nice.

I wouldn't recommend putting a trellis on a fence. The damage can be considerable and it is expensive to pull it all down and start again.

Shrubs have to be planted a distance away from the fence unless you intend to prune all the back branches back, which again is difficult and causes the plants to lean towards the house.

A row of arches planted along the fence with climbing plants - roses etc. - does allow for maintenance and can be erected closer to the fence than bushes and eventually hide the fence by training the plants to grow from one side of the arch to the other.

It looks lovely, too, if you have the occasional bench in them.

Paving is easier to maintain than a lawn. I had all my lawn dug up and the ground block paved and never for a minute regretted it. You can create a lovely Italianate garden, with bird baths, sun dial, urns etc. with very little maintenance.

I am disabled and love my garden. Money is short, so has to be low maintenance, and more easy to find a garden help if it is low maintenance.

What I cannot do anything about is the neighbour who planted those trees. The roots spread under their lawn, which has destroyed it, and have invaded my drains. I don't think people realise that trees spread their roots into someone else's garden.

That is fine if the boundary is a wall or nothing. Those hedges push out the fence eventually, and labour costs in this day and age being high, it is costly to maintain.

I thought I had a row of laurel bushes when I moved in. They stretched 3 metres. The cost of keeping them neat was astronomical. When they were dug up - expensive - there were just two bushes!