Garden screening can be installed with relative ease and offers many benefits for homeowners. It can come in different shape or size depending on how much privacy you require, and with so many different styles of garden screening available, there’s plenty of ideas worth consideration.
The Benefits of Garden Screening
Wondering why you might want to invest some time in garden screening? One of the most popular reasons for installing it into your garden is of course privacy. Whether it’s from neighbours in your back garden or passers-by at the front of your home, garden screening is a simple way to get more privacy both inside and outside of the house.
Additionally, you may feel an area of your garden is lacking in style or purpose, in which case adding some garden screening can add a new dimension to your outdoor living space, such as creating a small private area where you can sit down and unwind in peace.
Moreover, garden screening can enhance the overall aesthetics of your garden. With various styles available, you can easily create a wonderfully attractive screening area that you will never tire of looking at whenever outdoors.
Garden Screening Choices
As previously mentioned, there is no shortage of styles for garden screening. These can range from entirely natural where you use various plants to achieve the screening effect, to completely artificial screening that utilises fences or other non-natural materials to achieve a similar effect.
Better still, you can even use a combination of both! Natural screening plants combined with stylish fencing (such as trellis) work to great effect and provide even more choices when it comes to garden screening.
Be sure to consider a few things when looking for ideas, such as your budget, the amount of maintenance you desire, and the overall size of screening you require. These will impact some of the options available, but more importantly give you a better idea of the most suitable type of garden screening for you.
Cheap Garden Screening Ideas – Natural Screening
Natural screening refers to any form of screening that consists of plants. These offer a very natural style to the garden, but will need a bit of maintenance depending on the types of plants used. Some will take longer to grow than others, so they may not be the best if you are looking for instant privacy.
The most common form of natural screening used is probably hedges, namely evergreens such as Laurels, Leylandii, Forsythia, and Photinia ‘Red Robin’.
Of course, there’s so many different options out there that you do not need to stick with shrubs and trees. For example, grasses such as miscanthus or ‘overdam’ are relatively low maintenance garden ideas and offer a stylish screen.
Another hugely popular type of garden screening is bamboo. This screening is very fast growing, so will be able to easily reach the desired height with little effort, and once pruned they offer an attractive natural screen.
Many retailers sell bamboo screening that is ready for use, having already been grown to specific heights, allowing for instant installation that will have the screen functioning immediately. It’s very affordable too, making a popular option for many.
If you are looking for natural screening that offers the upmost privacy, then faster growing trees and shrubs are probably the best plants for the job. Bamboo is great as its low-maintenance and can be installed instantly, while shrubs with vibrant foliage are the best for adding more distinct style to your outdoor area.
There’s dozens of options to choose from in any case, meaning it shouldn’t be difficult to find that perfect natural screening for your garden.
Garden Screening From Neighbours – Artificial Screening
This form of screening is traditionally a form of fencing, and can be used to add privacy along the border of your garden, or installed in a specific area to create an eye-catching centrepiece.
For example, if you were to install an area of decking (or already have some installed) you can easily add a new dimension to it by installed trellis fencing to screen the area off. This creates a smaller area for sitting while offering ample privacy.
In fact, trellis screening is a very popular form of garden screening as it offers the benefit of privacy while also offering an attractive fixture to the area. They come in many materials, colours, shapes and sizes, making it simple to find a design that suits your tastes.
Should you prefer artificial screening that is cheap and easy to install, there are various artificial materials that provide a natural look, including artificial bamboo, willow/hollow canes, and reed screening widely available.
Similarly, artificial hedges offer a quick solution, working much the same as the cheap artificial screening options. With artificial conifer hedges to ivy leave climbers, these inexpensive options can be attached in a matter of minutes and offer a natural style with the need for maintenance
These are typically sold in easy-to-install rolls, allowing you to purchase as much or as little is needed. Simply attach them to the garden fence or stake in your garden quick and easy privacy. Each of these comes in various colours so can easily match the style of your garden.
Combining Both
A great look for any garden screening is to combine plants with artificial fencing. For example, you could use sections of trellis fencing or standard garden fence panels and plant climbing plants beneath them to add some much-needed vibrancy.
Plants combined with fences create a wonderful aesthetic, offering colour and diversity to any section of the garden. Be sure to research climbing plants however, as some require more maintenance than others!
Self-clinging climbing plants will require little maintenance, being able to naturally climb up a fence or trellis without any input from a gardener. Others will need to be attached to the fence as they grow, which is easily done when using a trellis – you may need to use wire to attach them to a normal fence panel however.
There’s an abundance of climbing plants available for screening ideas such as these, allowing you to pick some truly beautiful plants. Some will prefer shading while others require more daylight, which is something worth considering when looking for potential plants.
