The document provides 10 ways to create privacy in a backyard, including fences, hedges, trellises, pergolas, gazebos, vertical gardening, multi-level gardens, outdoor curtains, potted gardens around patios, and shade trees. Fences, hedges, and trees are long-term options that provide full coverage, while trellises, pergolas, and curtains allow for more sunlight and views while still providing some visual barrier from neighbors. Potted plants and movable screens offer flexibility for smaller spaces. Overall, the suggestions enhance outdoor spaces while maintaining a level of privacy.

1. 10 Wonderful Ways To
Create Some Backyard
Privacy & Enhance the Space

2. Living in modern Mississauga subdivision can
feel a bit like living in a fishbowl. This is doubly
true if you’re in a new home with neighbours
sharing a yard on every side. And while it’s nice
to wave to John while you’re outside at the BBQ,
sometimes it’d also be nice for John not to know
the details of your dinner every night!
Urban sprawl continues unabated, and many of
us live

3. in very close quarters with our neighbours.
What’s that old quote? “Good fences make
good neighbours”? So said Robert Frost in
his poem Mending Wall. Well, it’s true.
Creating spaces in your backyard to
maintain a level of privacy is a great way to
enhance the space and make it feel more
friendly and inviting. Here are 10 ways to
create some backyard privacy:

4. 1. The Obvious Choice: A Fence
A standard wood fence is a good option,
particularly if the point of the fence isn’t just
privacy. If you need to keep your pets and kids
safe from traffic, a solid wood fence is just the
ticket.
A fence need not be aesthetically unpleasing
either! If your neighbours will agree you can

5. you can trim it with lattice across the top, or
at end points, where you can add some
creeping vine or other greenery that will
travel along and fill in the gaps a little.
If you’re not using fencing to keep people in
the yard, you don’t have to cover the full
length and breadth of your yard.

6. Instead, use panels of fencing judiciously and
in places where it will provide the maximum
privacy. Surround it by bushes and grasses to
break it up and make it look more natural.
This is a great option if you’ve sitting on a
larger track of land (lucky you!)

7. 2. A Natural Fence Made Of Hedges
Privet and other evergreens like cedar are a
great option to have year round coverage in
your backyard. Running them along property
lines makes a clear divider without being
harsh on the eye, from a landscaping point of
view.

8. The advantage to well planted privet is that it
provides excellent coverage with a minimum of
fuss and bother. You have to watch that you
don’t end up with too much weed and other
plants popping up under or through the hedges,
but on the whole, they are hardy and useful. The
downside is that unless you plant it full grown, it
will take a few years before your new hedge is
doing its job.

9. 3. Trellises And Pergolas
Placing a pergola over your patio area, or a
trellis in the right spot, doesn’t destroy the
sightlines of your garden but can shield you
from the prying eyes of the two-story house
right next door. You can enjoy the breeze and
sunlight while still maintaining privacy.

10. Adding climbing flowers or vines give a more
natural feel, blending the addition into the
garden more subtly.
You can also do like the Europeans and grow
grape vines over the pergola. When the grapes
begin to grow they hang down and the look is
enchanting. Ditto for wisteria, although grapes
last longer. Just be aware that, if you plant
purple grapes, they will stain the deck below.

11. 4. Put Up A Gazebo
A gazebo has a lot of advantages. It provides
shade and some privacy and if you get one that
actually has window netting and a door, it will
be a perfect reprieve from mosquitoes in the
summer!
Eating outside isn’t always pleasant, thanks to
bees, mosquitoes and other flying creatures,

12. but a gazebo can create a space that will allow
you to enjoy your picnics in peace.
Why not trim one side of the gazebo with lattice
to provide more privacy? Or line the entire
gazebo with bug mesh, so that when Rolf comes
to visit your eldest daughter in a rainstorm, they
can dance and sing around the gazebo without
bug bites.

13. 5. Vertical Gardening
This is a popular idea, particularly in smaller
gardens where raised vegetable beds and other
planting areas are more difficult to add, and it’s
a useful solution for those who love to garden,
but find themselves with an urban backyard the
size

14. of a postage stamp.Build hanging planters on
a wall of rods, which you then fill with
vegetables
herbs and flowers. You’ve got an instant
privacy wall and more space in the garden for
a patio. Win-win!

15. 6. Multi Level Gardens
By using raised beds at different levels, you
can plant taller bushes, grasses and trees at the
highest levels and use retaining walls to make a
natural divider. By placing these strategically
behind a terrace or seating area, your privacy is
ensured.

16. Just make sure that you consult an experience
hard-scaper before doing this yourself, so that
you don’t upset the elevation and disrupt run-
off patterns.

17. 7. Outdoor Curtains
Who doesn’t love this trend? Each year we see
more and more front-yard patios curtained off
on the sides, and it’s beautiful.
We suggest that you take the trend into the
backyard too.
Whether you have a pergola or a back deck,
outdoor curtains are a great way to keep the
breezes flowing and prying eyes out.

18. Even better if they’re hung on moveable
frames, so you can place them where you want
them and perhaps out of the path of a strong
wind. White curtains always look best and
provided they are machine washable,
should look great throughout the warm season.

19. 8. Potted Gardens Around The Patio
Particularly for a large yard, it’s sometimes
easier to create a space within the space and
protect one small part of the garden. Place
potted plants, bushes and trees around a small
raised patio or terrace in one corner of the
yard, so as to maximize privacy

20. when you want to sit and read or chat with
friends, without having to figure out a way to
create privacy over a vast expanse.
Another great option is to add trellis panels to
planters and position them strategically to
ensure maximum coverage

21. 9. Privacy Screens For Smaller Spaces
If your “garden” is more like a tiny space out
the back of your house or even a balcony, you
can still add planters with lattice and climbing
vines to create division.
Another great option is a privacy screen. You
can buy these or make one from reclaimed

22. shutters, and it has the advantage of being
moveable. When the sun turns or your
neighbours come out on to their open patio,
you can set it up in such a way as to give a
little privacy without putting in a permanent
structure.

23. 10. Shade Trees For Larger Spaces
In larger gardens, creating privacy and shade
can be accomplished by strategically planting
deciduous trees. You get a natural screen
protection with the leaves and branches from
other multi-level homes near you. And in the
winter when the leaves have all fallen, you can
have streaming sunshine

24. for your home. Planting deciduous trees is a
longer term project, but well worth it in the end.
However you enjoy your garden and green
spaces, a little bit of privacy can go a long way
to making these places another part of our
home. Places where you can entertain or just
relax after a long day.

25. Plan your garden privacy this winter so that come the
spring, you’re ready to go!
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