Noise-Reducing Plants: Create a Living Sound Barrier for Your Landscape

Dense plantings offer a beautiful, natural solution for noise reduction—especially valuable in urban areas where hard surfaces amplify sound. Plants excel at absorbing high-frequency noises that people find most irritating, making them effective living sound barriers.

Designing Effective Noise-Blocking Plantings

Plant noise reducers like a hedge, spacing them to eliminate gaps at maturity. For maximum effect, create layered plantings: a row of shrubs nearest the noise source, taller shrubs or trees behind them, and showy shrubs facing your living space. Choose inner-layer plants for fragrance, fall color, and visual appeal that complement your overall design.

Planting on a berm dramatically increases effectiveness. Mound soil at least 20 feet wide with a flat top, 3–4 feet high, with 10% side slopes. A berm combined with dense planting can reduce noise by 6–15 decibels.

Best Plants for Noise Barriers

Evergreen shrubs provide year-round noise reduction. Broadleaf evergreens outperform narrow-leaf conifers. Select trees and shrubs with dense branches reaching ground level—hollies and junipers excel here. For even greater sound blocking, combine plants with a solid wall.

Supplementary Sound Masking

When plants alone aren't sufficient, add pleasant sounds to mask unwanted noise. Flowing water from a fountain or waterfall effectively covers intrusive sounds. Weatherproof outdoor speakers designed to mimic natural features (like rocks) can also play soothing nature sounds.