Landscapes Make a Privacy Statement
There are gardens with full-frontal vulnerability, and then there are gardens which look like fortresses. And neither extreme is gratifying for people who live, work and play .
Inside her book Landscaping for Privacy (Timber Press, 2011), Seattle design and horticulture author Marty Wingate hits the great sweet spot, offering property owners a range of usable and gorgeous design solutions and endless plant suggestions to attain sanctuary in the front yard or yard. This is the perfect resource which will make certain you have peace — and peace of mind in your domestic landscape.
Inspired by the suggestions and answers in her book, I looked for some of the creative ways designers on use plants and architecture to enclose, divide and obscure the landscape from the outside world. Below are some of the best.
Banyon Tree Design Studio
Within this entry garden, vertical lattice paneling is aligned on center using the axis of the pathway and frames a tall, elegant, implanted dermis. Collectively, the screening along with the container help protect the inside seating area from view, although you can catch just enough of a hint of what is inside to research further.
Susan Cohan, APLD
Vertical panels at a square lattice pattern protect a side yard from view. I adore the beefy articles and lathing as well as the dark teal blot, which makes this option people and plant friendly. For those within this space, it is wonderful to glimpse neighborhood activity on the sidewalk or road without feeling vulnerable.
Mark English Architects, AIA
Who wants a good fence near an entrance door or a bedroom window? This gentle, elegant alternative is much preferable. A trio of Ali Baba–scale pots, each planted with a stunning decorative grass, creates a kinder, gentler barrier with design.
Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture
We’ve seen opaque panels inserted between fence posts before; it is a normal architectural option, especially for modern spaces. But here is an inspiring and far more intriguing way to amp up the play with the same materials. Square and rectangular panels are offset to make an intriguing, rhythmic fence layout — let us call it Mondrianesque. Colored uplighting (or perhaps it is backlighting) makes this space moody and modern, especially at dusk.
breaux design group
Here’s another smart way to use fence panels for privacy (or not): Create individual segments movable. This one pivots at the center to permit mild or breezes to flow in an inside courtyard.
Tim Cuppett Architects
Opaque panels look like glass, but I guess they’re some kind of unbreakable material. By marginally spacing each horizontal panel, the designer created an intriguing see-through effect. This detail pairs beautifully with all the dark-stained wood posts and more conventional fencing at the left.
Carson Poetzl, Inc..
The outdoor shower is semiprivate thanks to some freestanding L-shaped display that doubles as a trellis for climbing vines. The wire mesh panels have been manufactured using industrial screening, available in a broad array of gauges. Steel posts maintain the panels, and that which has been allowed to weather naturally. If water splashes from the showerhead, it is no big deal; the iron proceeds to weather into this gorgeous rust patina, along with the blossoms get the moisture they need to flourish.
A breezeway passes across the sunken patio, but for solitude, the seating area is only partially revealed. Just like louvred shutters, the horizontal slatted wall produces a feeling of enclosure while allowing light to decorate the distance. Additionally, this is a great windbreak solution to protect people seated from gusts and breezes.
BAAN layout
This really is a storage shed, but you can see why I decided to feature the streamlined use of horizontal slats of timber. Spaced since they are, both the light and air can circulate through the construction. But like the former project, the general effect is slick and modern. I’d love a fence such as this across my property. It would allow me to look out on the world but retain anyone inside feeling less vulnerable.
WA Design Architects
Like a fluid steel wall, this ubermodern display is part sculpture and part solitude. I totally love how it’s incorporated with the exact slick planting scheme at its base. The linear ground cover and floral bands echo the stiff vertical lines created by the metal rods. But nothing feels geometric, thanks to its wavy installment and also the break in the flow to permit a person to pass . Wow!
Stephanie Ann Davis Landscape Design
Horsetail, or Equisetum hyemale, is just one badly behaved plant, also known to take over entire landscapes. That is, unless you plant it into a location where its origins are contained. That is what you see here, and it is a nifty way to screen out the entire world and bring green into perspective. The elevated concrete planters are precisely what is required to corral the densely planted stands of horsetail.
Debra Prinzing
Seattle horticulture author Marty Wingate’s Landscaping for Privacy is a superb resource for anyone who needs to add screening, obstacles or buffers for their personal world. The cover of the book includes a weapon made from sustainably harvested ipe, a timber from South America, designed by Scot Eckley of Seattle-based Scot Eckley Landscape Design.
More:
Pavers for the Fantastic Patio and Path
Measure Into a Refreshing Outdoor Shower
The Yard: Are You Prepared to Lose the Lawn?