A sense of enclosure is fundamental to allowing us to enjoy spending time in a garden, whether it’s an urban courtyard or roof terrace, or a large rural estate, but achieving this requires balance. We want privacy without heaviness, and intimacy without isolation – like a really good hug, it should feel comforting, not suffocating.
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How to create privacy in the garden
Gardens work best when they create a sense of refuge without becoming disconnected fortresses. The aim isn’t to cocoon ourselves away or erase the outside world, but rather to filter it – framing views, softening edges and shaping a privacy that feels generous rather than defensive.
And privacy isn’t always just about shielding yourself from being overlooked; sometimes, it’s about managing what you do and don’t want to see. That could mean screening an air-source heat pump in your own garden, or softening the impact of your neighbour’s latest questionable ‘sculpture’.
Staggering trees, rather than planting in a straight line, makes the garden feel more natural and relaxed, while also improving screening
In wider landscapes, it might involve filtering distant views to disguise a pylon, a busy road or a new development. The key is to shape sightlines, combining strategic zoning, planting, structures and materials to create a garden that feels both protected and expansive.
When starting a new project, it’s always helpful to think about it in terms of a cone of vision. Imagine standing in a garden and looking outward: the cone of vision represents the area you see, widening as
it extends into the distance. Pinpoint the views you want to celebrate and the ones you’d rather amplify, soften or screen. We do this with different colours of triangles as a layer on our drawings, so that we can constantly check and review throughout the design process.
Mapping sightlines early helps to define strategic decisions about planting, structures and levels.
Thoughtfully framing views, rather than simply blocking unwanted ones, creates a garden that feels open yet comfortably enclosed. Add these to a rough zonal plan, mapping out key areas – places to gather, relax or move through – while considering natural influences like how the sun moves across the garden.
Responding to the specific location, topography, climate, conditions and existing features, both within the garden and in the borrowed view, is key.
For a project we are working on on the Isle of Skye, the house sits on an elevated slope with sweeping views to Knoydart. To screen arriving cars without interrupting this outlook, we have used the levels to position a sinuous driveway that dips into the landscape, using a ha-ha technique.
At a project in Dorset, we planted field trees and hedgerows to break up views of solar panels in neighbouring fields – one of the great advantages of a rural setting is the ability to use native hedgerows or traditional stone walls to create privacy in a way that feels connected to the landscape. And in a recently completed east London garden, a necessary level change became an asset, with a sunken dining area that naturally lowers the line of sight, creating a sheltered area without the need for tall screening.
Planting is always the first thing we reach for: the most natural, generous and adaptable way to create privacy. We often find ourselves in early moments of the design process with clients requesting a perimeter of evergreen trees. Our gentle response is that privacy isn’t about shutting out the world entirely. Evergreens certainly have their place, but relying on them alone can make a space feel blobby, dense and dark, and harder for the layered understorey to thrive. A mix with deciduous trees allows for seasonal variation, and a soft, open structure in winter that still diffuses views in and out.
In a south London garden, we used a grove of multi-stemmed birches for a natural play area to muffle views of surrounding buildings. Staggering trees, rather than planting them in a straight line, makes the garden feel more natural and relaxed, while also improving screening by layering the canopies. At home in London, my own small back garden is overlooked on all sides, so we have strategically placed an riobotrya japonica, bought as a small shrub, and gradually lifted its canopy as it has grown into a fine little tree. It provides us privacy and shade over our table and chairs. Our other trees are deciduous but provide all we need to blur views in.
The aim isn’t to erase the outside world, but rather to filter it – framing views, softening edges and shaping a privacy that feels generous
The classic trick of lifting the canopy raises the lower branches to perhaps a 1-1.5m clearance, offering privacy while allowing glimpses through to the garden beyond. Remember to anticipate future spread and proximity to a boundary; a clear-stemmed or feathered specimen might be a better option in tight spots, so the canopy can expand above the top of the wall with the clearance of the single trunk. It’s for the same reason that pleached and box-headed trees can be effective. Their crisp, architectural form suits structured gardens, but can look rigid in more informal settings, so consider carefully to avoid these feeling out of place. They also require regular specialist pruning to maintain their shape.
Trellises can also be a simple yet effective way to up privacy without adding too much bulk or weight to a space, and at the same time provide lots more options to grow vertically. When added to a wall to increase its height, the proportional balance is key. Too small, and it looks lost; too large, and it feels top-heavy. A good rule of thumb is that the trellis should be no more than one-third of the total wall height. Traditionally, when installing a trellis or fence along a shared boundary, the ‘fair’ or finished side is typically placed facing outward for good neighbourliness. In some places, it may even be a legal or planning requirement.
Material choice also plays a role. We often use woven oak trellises to strike a balance between traditional craftsmanship and contemporary design. More traditional woven willow panels, such as the work of Somerset-based craftsman Jay Davey, offer a softer, organic look. For traditional properties, we might reach for square or diamond timber trellising. Sarah Price has used reclaimed corrugated metal very effectively at The Exchange garden in Erith in southeast London. At Horatio’s Garden Sheffield & East, we are repurposing unused rebar mesh.
It’s tempting to focus solely on the boundaries, but sometimes a well-placed tree within the garden itself is more effective at screening; I have a Cornus kousa bang in the middle of my own garden, which helps to enclose where we eat and diffuse the overlooking views from the rear.
Lateral views – those spanning side to side – are often better softened by a central tree that interrupts long sightlines. Diagonal and oblique views shift as you move through a space, so layering planting within the garden creates a more natural, immersive feel.
A strategically placed tree filters views from multiple angles, introducing depth and offering privacy without the heaviness of an enclosed border. You can’t screen or direct views for everything, so be intentional and judicious: focus on what matters most such as seating areas, play spaces and key sightlines. A defined seating area can be screened naturally with a tree canopy, or more formally with table-top trained trees, where branches are trained horizontally to create a flat, square canopy on a clear stem. This technique provides high-level screening while maintaining an open, airy feel beneath. Often used in multiples, these trees are available in species that respond well to pleaching and pruning such as lime, white mulberry, crab apple and hornbeam.
A well-placed pergola should feel like an extension of the garden
Confession time: I do tend to clench when a pergola is suggested – the carport look looming large in my mind. But done well, in thoughtful materials and proportions, a pergola can be a brilliant addition, providing just enough definition of a space without feeling like a box plonked in the garden. A well-placed pergola should feel like an extension of the garden: in scale with the space, coherent in material decisions, and softened with climbers. Arbours and tunnels are related approaches and for those seeking enclosure without solid structures, shade sails can offer a flexible and dismountable alternative.
Seating pockets can also be screened naturally. A bench placed right up against a wall or fence benefits from sightlines, since most overlooking happens at a slight downward angle. Sitting against the boundary often places you below a direct line of sight, naturally creating a sense of privacy without additional screening.
But a well-designed garden doesn’t just block views – it redirects attention elsewhere. Instead
of fixating on screening an eyesore, consider how to shift focus to something more compelling. Sometimes, the trick isn’t hiding the problem, but giving the eye something better to settle on. A carefully placed tree, sculpture, water feature, planting vignette or even a simple bench angled toward a more pleasing sightline can gently guide the eye. Layered planting with varying heights and textures creates depth, making the unwanted feature recede.
But it is worth saying that no amount of dense planting or high fencing will create total disconnection or seclusion; nor should it. A garden, like a society, works best when it allows for exchange via engaged privacy – refuge without severance – where we shape our own spaces, while remaining welcoming, open and connected to the lives around us.
Garden privacy ideas
Design notes: an urban garden design
Garden boundaries may be subject to planning requirements, depending on location, proximity to a highway, height and other factors. Always check the relevant planning regulations for your area before making changes.
The dining area is slightly sunken to lower the line of sight, and this combined with tactically positioned trees diffuses overlooking. Wall-top trellises increase privacy without adding bulk or weight to a space – a rough rule of thumb for good proportions is one-third of the height of the wall.
Diagonal and oblique views change as you move through a space, so positioning trees away from the boundary and closer to the centre can help break up sightlines further.
The clipped hedging defines spaces and offers a sense of seclusion while providing year-round structure and valuable habitat. It’s also low enough to allow glimpses of the space beyond, ensuring the garden feels protected yet open.
Staggering the trees along the boundary, rather than planting them in a straight line like soldiers, creates a more natural, relaxed feel.
Screening of air-source heat pumps is increasingly on our client brief requirements. Plan these in from the start so that you can tuck them away, allowing suitable servicing access and ventilation.
Case study: An overlooked courtyard in the city
This intimate courtyard garden in north London is surrounded by a six-floor apartment block, and built over a car park, requiring careful consideration of weight-loading. Access was also a challenge, and the client wanted privacy without reducing natural light into the apartment.
While sunlight does reach the space, it is mostly dappled. The conditions made it well-suited to tree ferns, and their broad, arching fronds create a natural canopy, filtering views from the apartments above while maintaining a sense of airiness as the texture of them is so filigree. The dappled light they cast enhances intimacy without blocking light to the garden or apartment.
To make the boundaries recede, we painted the mid-1990s yellow- brick perimeter walls a deep black-green, and added three large mirrors of black glass to the walls, which subtly reflect the planting and create the illusion of a larger space.
Read more from Charlotte Harris on designing great gardens