Increase Privacy in Your Yard With Natural Fences Made From Plants and Shrubs

Grow your own private oasis with our favorite trees, grasses and shrubs.

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By: Maria Conti

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Create Privacy With Natural Fences and LIving Walls

Those who do have patience will be rewarded with a one-of-a-kind custom barrier that should serve their purposes better — and last longer — than any wood or vinyl fence ever could. From hedges to climbing roses to evergreen trees, Mother Nature's options are far more varied than the selection of fence panels at your local home improvement store. Consider what you want to achieve with your natural fence to help you decide what plant material will best serve your purpose. Click ahead to discover our favorite shrubs, trees and vines for creating natural fences and living garden walls that bring privacy and polish to your outdoor space.

First up? Towering emerald arborvitae and voluminous hydrangea hedges. The line of evergreen arborvitae offers year-round privacy and grandeur to this poolside fireplace. As the temps rise, the hydrangea blooms debut, bringing a layer of softness and whimsy to the natural fence just in time for swimming season.

Learn More: Evergreens for Privacy

From: Lloyd Fleischer Landscape Design

Opt for Arborvitae

Use this stately patio as your guide and guard your fence with a series of gorgeous arborvitae shrubs. This fast-growing evergreen shrub can reach astounding heights of up to 40 or 60 feet. The spray branches provide dense coverage for ample privacy and block wind to maximize your comfort while entertaining or eating al fresco.

Learn More: The Eastern Arborvitae

From: Zaremba & Company

Mix Things Up

Don’t be afraid to play with tree specie when creating your natural fence. Not only will incorporating two or more species of trees add visual interest to your landscape, but it encourages nutrient-rich soil. Take notes from this dapper Charleston courtyard. A line of young, leafy trees takes root in front of evergreen hedges creating an extra layer of privacy for pool goers during the spring and summer. Evergreen olive trees stand tall against the adjoining wall. Their silvery sage leaves add visual contrast against the vivid green tones found against the other wall and offer year-round privacy from next-door neighbors.

Get the How-To: Grow an Olive Tree

From: Carolina Landscape

Blanket Your Stone Partitions

While stone privacy walls are fantastic for creating distinct zones within your outdoor space, they can appear bulky against an otherwise lush, grassy landscape. Soften your existing partitions by blanketing them in climbing vines like creeping fig, star jasmine or Boston ivy. This Mediterranean-inspired oasis features an ivy-clad privacy wall that serves as the backdrop to lounge chairs and eventually connects with a series of manicured hedges for an effortless appeal.

Get the How-To: Jasmine: How to Grow and Care for Jasmine Varieties

From: Paul Hendershot

Potted Porch Privacy Wall

Fact: Sitting on your front porch with a morning cup of coffee is exponentially more relaxing when you have a built-in barrier between you and your well-meaning but chronically chatty next-door neighbor. Take notes from this contemporary covered porch and train potted vines to create a lush barrier between you and the rest of the world. Thin inky slats installed side-by-side add modern flair and serve as the anchor to vibrant greenery and captivating, climbing clematis blooms.

Learn More: 17 Different Types of Clematis

From: Brian Patrick Flynn

Upgrade Your Fence With Espalier Trees

Make this swanky courtyard garden your muse and give your existing fence an extra boost of privacy with the help of a couple of potted espalier trees. Here, the landscape architect trains acer campestre, or field maple, trees against a wooden trellis to create a manicured barrier between the home and neighboring property with time.

Get the How-To: How to Espalier

Gravitate Toward Grasses

While towering trees are ideal for shielding your outdoor space from passersby on the street or nosy next-door neighbors, they are not the best option for creating distinct zones within your backyard. Ornamental grasses like maiden, fountain, purple moor and dwarf Pampas will provide privacy between your al fresco entertaining, swimming and dining spaces without visually overtaking the yard. Unlike trees and shrubs that can reach exponential heights, ornamental grasses stay between 1-5 feet, leaving your yard appearing open and large.

Learn More: Ornamental Grasses for Every Situation

From: LaGuardia Design Group

Construct a Living Wall

Black iron fences are popular because they disappear from the surroundings and allow owners to enjoy the neighboring views. The one drawback? They provide little-to-no privacy for your outdoor space. But, not to fret! You can have your cake (in this case, inky iron fence) and eat it (privacy from passersby), too, by constructing a living garden wall. This dreamy display features a mix of hazy purple succulents and greenery in a wave pattern. The living wall stands guard behind the diving board, serving as a lush backdrop to family days by the pool.

Find More Ideas: Design Trend: Living Walls

From: Mom's Design Build

Put Posies to Work

Who says you need simple boxwoods and laurels to create a living privacy wall for your outdoor space? Skip the emerald hedges and instead drape your garden fence, arbor or pergola with vibrant flowering vines and trailing blooms. This whimsical garden fence provides ample inspiration with climbing ivy filling in the lattice panels and trailing Supertunia petunias overhead.

But remember, although flowering plants offer a beautiful barrier during the spring and summer months, they may not be the best option if you want to avoid eye contact with your next-door neighbor year-round. If the main goal of your natural fencing is a greater sense of privacy, remember what may be a robust barrier in May can end up as little more than a wooden skeleton in January.

Find More Ideas: 14 Cascading Plants for the Garden

Turn Up the Texture

Tall-growing trees and fast-growing vines are go-to choices for creating a natural privacy wall, but we say, think outside the box. Take notes from this contemporary backyard, where an elevated stone bed overflows with dense, free-flowing shrubs and flowers that provide privacy to the pool below. Although all the plants are modest in height, the raised flowerbed and mix of compact, textural foliage creates an impenetrable barrier for the outdoor space.

Find More Ideas: Landscaping Shrubs

From: Katharine Webster

Grow Privacy Overhead

City living means your neighbors may have a bird’s-eye view of your outdoor space. Attack your outdoor privacy from all angles by installing a pergola across a portion of your balcony or patio. Capture the contemporary charm of this al fresco lounge by weaving bistro lights along your pergola and training climbing vines to create a blanket of leaves overhead.

Shop Our Favorites: The Best Pergolas and Gazebos for Every Backyard

From: Outside Space NYC

Work in Layers

Sometimes using a single hedge variety leaves a space feeling a bit boxed in. One way to soften your living fence is to incorporate a second hedge with a different texture and color. This approach brings dimension to the perimeter and appears more natural than an opaque green wall. See more inspired privacy plants from this yard in the next slide.

Learn More: Planting Hedges as Screens

From: Jeff Troyer Associates

Install a Boxwood Backsplash

Share a fence with your neighbor? Avoid awkward eye contact as you flip burgers for the fam by growing a lush barrier behind your outdoor cooking station. Here boxwood hedges and cascading ivy create a tranquil, private backdrop for backyard cookouts and outdoor entertaining.

Get the How-To: Growing Boxwoods

From: Jeff Troyer Associates

Balancing Act

A tree-lined garden fence has more benefits than just privacy. Planting trees and shrubs along your partition is a designer trick to create a sense of cohesion within the outdoor space. This contemporary yard features a caramel-stained privacy fence lined with leafy young trees spaced equidistance apart for a streamlined look. Their glossy foliage speaks to the other green elements in the yard, including the turf, fluffy shrubs and handsome olive tree. Better still, putting down roots along the parameter of your landscape draws the eye to the limits of the space, lending a finished and thoughtful result.

Find More Ideas: Plants for Privacy

From: Landwell Design + Build Co.

Hedge Your Bets

It doesn’t get more classic than the manicured hedges playing backdrop to this pool. Evergreen boxwood shrubs are fast-growing and can reach heights of up to 15 feet, making them an ideal substitute for a wooden privacy fence. The boxwood’s emerald foliage is easily trimmed to the shape or silhouette of your choosing, and, better still, boxwood shrubs are deer resistant.

Learn More: Growing Boxwoods

From: @properties and Luxury Portfolio International®

Hide Your Chain Link

Tired of looking at your old chain link fence? A few well-trained trees or vines are all you need to disguise the unsightly metal and create a lush outdoor escape. Winding woody trunks cling to the chain fence behind this resort-style lounge area, and their branches lend a canopy of vibrant green foliage overhead. Achieve a similar result by training woody grape vines or fruit trees against your existing fence or trellis.

Find More Ideas: The Best Vines to Grow on Arches and Pergolas

From: Marie Flanigan Interiors

Ode to Italia

Italian cypresses are another evergreen tree to consider for adding height and privacy to your outdoor space. The striking tree grows rapidly and, in the right environment, can reach between 50 and 150 feet tall. In other words: Even the nosiest neighbors will have a difficult (read: impossible) time snooping over your fence with these beauties in place. Plant a line of Italian cypresses in lieu of a fence or put down roots in front of an existing partition for added security as you wait for them to fill out.

Learn More: Cypress Trees: Types and Care

Enliven With Espaliered Fruit Trees

Dial up the drama on your garden wall with an elegant tree display. This luxurious home boasts a living wall with espaliered pear trees in a diamond pattern that demands attention from passersby. The cross-hatched leafy branches shine against the creamy-white backdrop adding a polished, manicured appeal to the home’s façade. Espalier pear trees against your home, or apply the same technique with apple, camellia or Japanese maple trees.

Get the How-To: How to Espalier

From: Allard Ward Architects

Captivate With Cascading Vines

Cascading vines are a failproof option for adding movement and romance to existing walls and fences. Some popular cascading vines worth considering for your natural privacy fence include evergreen English ivy, cascading wisteria, clematis, cascading roses and honeysuckle.

Find More Ideas: 18 Valuable Vines to Plant in Your Garden

From: Zeterre Landscape Architecture

Pair Hedges With Hydrangeas

Up your privacy detail during the summer months — and elevate your flowerbeds while you’re at it — with this striking combination: arborvitae shrubs and fluffy hydrangea hedges. The evergreen arborvitae will maintain a private perimeter throughout the year, while the hydrangea will awaken during spring, cushioning your outdoor space with a bevy of blooms by midsummer.

Learn More: Landscaping With Hydrangeas

From: Hidden Creek Landscaping

Fill in Your Fence

If you love the look of lush boxwoods lining a yard but are working with limited landscaping space, this trick is for you. Create the same look with a living fence like the one leading to this ivy-adorned home. Swap traditional fence slats for trellis or lattice panels and train evergreen English ivy to fill the grid. The results are as stately as manicured hedges, but the vines take up much square footage.

Find More Ideas: 32 Gorgeous Garden Fence + Gate Ideas

From: Odd Job Landscaping

La Vie En Rose

Up your curb appeal and enhance your privacy wall with full flowering rose bushes. Rose bushes are deciduous, meaning they drop their leaves during the fall and winter, so they are not the best choice for creating year-round privacy on their own. However, these prickly posies make for a winning addition to an existing stone wall or fence, as their woody stems blend in with the brown and gray tones. And, of course, rose hedges make a striking statement during the spring and summer as their glossy foliage emerges and buds bloom into a romantic wave of color.

Find More Ideas: Companion Plants and Roses

Mediterranean Mix

Make the most of your Mediterranean climate by planting a row of evergreen citrus or olive trees along the perimeter of your outdoor space, as seen in this contemporary courtyard. Once they reach full height, their branches will provide your yard with a blanket of privacy year-round, and come summer, fruit trees will bestow your garden with a bright pop of color. Some of our favorite varieties beyond the classic olive tree include orange, lemon and kumquat trees.

Get the How-To: Main Squeeze: Growing Citrus Trees

Join the Ivy League

Bring Boston Ivy into the mix to breathe life into your brick privacy wall a la this stately poolside partition. Glossy emerald leaves cling to this elegant columned brick wall, accentuating the structure's curved lines and lending an organic softness to the design. And, despite the beauty seen here, the best is yet to come because Boston ivy turns from a deep green to a rich, ruby-red hue during the autumn months.

Find More Ideas: 11 Easy-Growing Annual Vines

From: DabneyCollins

Take the Minimalist Approach

Sometimes less is more. Case in point: The perfectly manicured hedges lining this luxurious lawn. The dense, emerald boxwoods provide the same privacy and security as a traditional wooden fence. Better still, the tidy foliage blends into the surrounding landscape, creating an illusion of a more expansive yard and lending tranquility to the space.

Find More Ideas: 20 Ideas for Fabulous Boxwood Designs

From: Odd Job Landscaping

Palm Partition

If you live in a tropical climate, you likely spend much (if not all) of the year enjoying your backyard. Take cues from your locale and put down some native roots, like palm, elephant ears or banana trees, to create privacy for your outdoor space. Lush fronds tower above the pool, creating a private alcove for the owners of this Key West home.

Find More Ideas: 14 Classic Palm Tree Varieties

From: Craig Reynolds Landscape Architecture

Frame Your Front Lawn

Who says living fences are reserved only for backyards? Bring a bit of privacy and head-turning charm to your front lawn with a manicured boxwood fence a la this Cape Cod beauty. The tidy shrubs create a polished partition around the property, interrupted only by a white, rose-adorned garden arch that grants entry to the brick-paved front walk.