In turbulent times, what could be more soothing than to carve out a secluded spot in your garden in which to relax alone or with a loved one, or to entertain friends? These clever screening ideas ensure that it won’t feel as if the neighbors are joining you.
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1. Shelter with climbers. The spot where we entertain outside is often where we want to feel most secluded. Here, an arbor curves over the top of the garden’s dining area. Once climbing plants grow along the structure, dinner guests will not only feel out of sight, but — if the plants grow vigorously — they’ll also be sheltered from sun and perhaps even showers.
Boekel Tuinen
2. Raise a roof. A pergola with a solid roof, rather than plants, will give you a year-round extra room. Simply add fairy lights and outdoor heating or a fire bowl, and grow climbers up support poles.
CED Stone Group
3. Plant slim trees with bushy tops. To avoid being overlooked by houses at the far end of a garden, how about this neat idea? Without taking up much precious ground space, these lovely, lean white birch trees don’t spread out until above fence level, creating a cozy nook for the table.
Single-stem or specimen trees are pruned to grow in this shape.
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Lucy Cotes' Beautiful Gardens
4. Create secret walkways. Leafy canopies aren’t just for sheltering dining spaces, as this lovely arbor illustrates.
Depending on the size of your garden and how bushy your trained plants are, this idea has the potential to provide a sense of seclusion beyond the area directly below the arbor itself.
Though this garden is generously proportioned, even in a smaller patch, the idea of creating separate zones and secret gateways is a counterintuitive trick many designers use to boost a sense of space.
The Garden Builders
5. Dine in a corner. This banquette seating area in the walled corner of a London garden is excellently positioned for privacy.
Tall trees, in the foreground at left, further screen this secret little lunch spot. Note how the plants (though still new and small) go right up to the eating area: A more obvious choice could have been to extend the hardscape, but closely surrounding the dining nook in greenery really helps increase the sense of immersion in nature.
Green Tree Garden Design Ltd
6. Narrow your options. Maximizing a sense of openness in your garden may seem sensible, but what will you actually use the space for? To make sense of this idea, check out the following “before” photo of this lush, secluded spot.…
Before Photo
Green Tree Garden Design Ltd
What a transformation, eh? Sure, you could spread a picnic blanket in the middle of that lawn and read a book, or have a decent-size table for alfresco lunches. But you’d pretty much be inviting your neighbors to everything.
The new design of this garden ditched the lawn entirely in favor of a narrow path flanked by densely packed tropical plants. Raised beds built out of large rocks add height and privacy.
Green Tree Garden Design Ltd
A screen in front of the shed (visible in the first shot of this garden) forms a backdrop for an almost-hidden table for two.
CATO creative
7. Go high. Roof gardens tend to overlook spaces as much as they are overlooked. However, you can treat an upstairs outdoor space just as you might a ground-floor one — by surrounding it with a wall. Spend time in the space before building to get a feel for where the sun falls so that you don’t end up with an entirely shaded area.
Bloom Landscape Design and Fine Gardening Service
8. Get wild. Secluded spaces aren’t always simply spaces where tall trees, plants and structures block views into the garden. This little patch is bursting with low-growing shrubs, giving it a cozy vibe. Adding to the secret-garden atmosphere is a little wooden arch and that almost-buried bench at the end. The lesson here: For a sense of seclusion in a wild, cottage-style garden, pack ’em in and avoid overly structured plants.
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The Association of Professional Landscapers
9. Make fencing a feature. Rather than taking the conventional route and putting a standard-issue trellis panel above your fence or wall, create more seclusion by building it higher. And instead of hiding that extra bit of trellis with climbing plants, make it much more. Here, the painted slats look fantastic on show, with pleached trees trained to burst into leaf above its top edge.
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The Outdoor Kitchen Collective
The idea works with unpainted wood too, even in a patchwork with more traditional trellises. Here, a taller and more decorative piece of fencing screens the garden bench, so you can enjoy privacy while having an evening glass of wine or a meditative afternoon cup of tea.
De Rosee Sa
10. Prune in shape. Alternatively, unpleached trees can provide plenty of structure, as long as you’re disciplined enough to prune them into symmetrical shapes.
Abigail's Gardens
11. Let bamboo grow tall. If you like bamboo, it can be a marvelous way to create a green wall for your garden. It grows like wildfire, so even though larger plants can be pricey, they’ll soon multiply and give you good coverage, growing tall and dense.
As with mint, be careful where you position it, as it tends to overtake other plants. Stand-alone planters can be a good idea, or you can choose clumping bamboo rather than the invasive running bamboo.
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Adolfo Harrison Gardens
12. Screen off sections. Again, the idea of sectioning off a small garden might seem crazy, but as you can see here, if anything, it will seemingly boost rather than shrink the available space. It also provides opportunities for secret spots in your garden.
DDWH Architects
13. Dig down. If you’re grappling with the aftermath of a basem*nt conversion in your garden, or if you simply have a steep lot, make the most of a low area close to the house. This is the perfect spot — near one of those very tall walls for maximum privacy — to put your favorite garden loungers or an entertainment area. Fill the steps up to the higher level in your garden with foliage that will cocoon you.
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