How to hide from the neighbours on a budget?

Plant plants

Climbing plants, trees, and hedge shrubs are perfect for creating a natural and aesthetic separation between you and your neighbours. Your choice should lean towards fast-growing plants, vigorous, preferably hardy, and requiring minimal maintenance. Also, opt for plants with a beautiful density and evergreen foliage to create effective and durable privacy screens. Consider your geographical situation (climate severity, drought) and the growing conditions (sun, shade, strong winds, soil type). Using a plant-based screen has many advantages: it blocks the wind while allowing air to pass through, adds colour with leaves and flowers, and provides delightful fragrances if you choose scented varieties (jasmine, honeysuckle, Mexican orange tree…). Don’t hesitate to diversify the species to make your plant screen denser and enjoy its evolution through the seasons and flowering periods.

Preferred Plants

Evergreen Shrubs

A hedge of shrubs is an effective, natural, and cost-effective solution for providing privacy. Evergreen shrubs that grow quickly are the most interesting, as they maintain their green appearance and preserve your privacy all year round. For example, you can choose:

• Ceanothus for a flowering hedge in a seaside garden, for instance.
• Bamboo: with its dense, evergreen foliage, it makes always green privacy screens, perfect for hiding an unsightly view. Prefer non-invasive bamboos like Fargesia that do not require rhizome barriers and will avoid neighbourly disputes. They grow quickly, require no pruning, and offer a graphic, light, and exotic appearance.
• Eleagnus, or oleaster: this is a versatile shrub. It is among the most drought-resistant shrubs, tolerant of strong winds and salt spray. It is valuable for its bright, uniform or variegated foliage. Hardy, highly adaptable, fast-growing, and pollution-resistant, it is perfect for creating a privacy hedge in all gardens, whether coastal or urban. Choose a variety that retains its foliage in winter, such as Elaeagnus x ebbingei or Ebbing’s oleaster.
• Oleander: it forms a beautiful flowering bush that can reach 1 to 4 m in height depending on the variety. It is a fast-growing shrub, very easy to care for in mild climates.
• Aucuba (Japanese laurel): a classic! This shrub is perfect for creating dense, evergreen screens. It tolerates pruning well, is low-maintenance, very hardy, resistant to diseases, and urban pollution, and suits most climates.

The list of privacy shrubs is not exhaustive, as there are many other good candidates for this use: Mexican oranges, viburnums (perfect in cold climates), photinias, Japanese spindle trees, escallonias…

Bamboo, oleander, aucuba, options with very different styles

Climbing Plants

You can also create a curtain of greenery by opting for climbing plants. To protect yourself from an overlooking view throughout the year, choose evergreen varieties. They will need a vertical support (fence, trellis, mesh) to create a true protective screen. In a small space, on a terrace or balcony, they can be grown in pots or planters placed side by side or directly on the ground.

The ivy: this evergreen climbing plant, hardy, fast-growing, and low-maintenance, clings to any support. Cold, shade, and drought do not deter it. Common ivy, Hedera helix, is a European species that adapts to all our climates. It comes in many varieties distinguished by the colour and shape of their foliage as well as their height at maturity.

The honeysuckle: very popular, it is a highly fragrant climbing shrub. With its well-provided foliage that remains elegant all year round and is covered in summer with clusters of fragrant flowers, it will delight you with its scent while quickly hiding you from unwanted gazes. It is suitable for small spaces and will simply require a support like mesh or trellis.

Honeysuckle and ivy

Deciduous Plants

Deciduous plants have the disadvantage of losing their leaves in winter, but if you use your garden little in this season, or if you only need a privacy screen during the summer months, consider jasmine and trumpet vine (two effective climbing plants to reserve for mild climates), clematis, hops, Virginia creeper, or even morning glory.

→ Learn more in our advice sheet: Which jasmine to plant according to your region?

Trees

If you have enough space and wish to isolate yourself with a natural screen at height, here are some examples of trees suitable for hiding views:

• The cypress: this fast-growing tree with a conical shape is ideal for blocking high views. It is also resilient and adapts to many climates. The pines and other conifers with evergreen foliage will also be well suited.
• The eucalyptus: a fast-growing and vigorous tree, with grey-blue evergreen foliage perfect for adding a touch of exoticism to the garden. Planted in a large curtain, it will isolate you from prying eyes while allowing light to filter through.

Don’t hesitate to check the current legislation or our article “Planting trees and shrubs: what does the law say?”.

Install natural, artificial, or recycled privacy screens.

If you lack the patience to wait for your plants to grow, there are easy solutions available at DIY stores that are more robust and instant for eliminating unwanted views. To shield yourself from prying eyes, you can:

• Create a natural screen that harmoniously integrates into the garden by opting for large bamboo, reed, or heather screens. These plant-based dividers can be set up in no time on a fence or balcony railing and withstand the elements quite well.
• Install outdoor screens, trellises, or partitions made from more durable but pricier materials (wood, composite, PVC, aluminium, etc.) to achieve an effective anti-neighbour screen.
• Repurpose pallets, fabrics, and create partitions or protective screens that are both economical and eco-friendly. In a recycling spirit, you can paint or decorate them to personalise and adapt them to your outdoor space.

Screens, trellises, or simply plant-based screening

Choose modular solutions

• To create private areas in your garden, consider the arrangement of your furniture, flower pots, and decorative items. By placing them wisely, you can create hidden spaces where you can relax away from prying eyes. They may be enough to obscure an annoying overlook.
• Stretch a shade sail (square, triangular, or rectangular) above your head when it comes to preserving your privacy due to a direct overlook. Inexpensive, easy to install, and very aesthetic, it will also protect you from the sun while providing filtered light. You can attach the fabric to posts or an existing fence to create a screening effect.
• A pergola can also help to hide a high overlook. Additionally, you can let plants climb it for a screening effect that is both aesthetic and natural.
• Hang simple curtains on a pergola to elegantly shield yourself from prying eyes, but only when you wish.

Screening pergola, curtains or stretched fabrics, plenty of pots for a secret garden effect…