Screening: Fences, Gates & Walls for Garden Privacy & Structure

Screening for Garden Privacy

Englishman's castle notion dies hard — picture windows get curtains instantly. Same in gardens: most want seclusion, but total visual protection = odd/anti-social. Others accept token foot-high board. Does it help? Or just petty maintenance?

Ask: Why fence? Why wall? Why gate? Years in "Green Gates" — no gates, no need. Cows gone, louts no worse. Little to keep out, nothing to keep in. Relief for owner and postman — nothing to open/shut. No law says every garden needs a gate.

Historical walled gardens: protection from weather/stock, contrast wild countryside vs. contrived civilization inside. Today: busy world vs. garden oasis. Financially, walling large areas rarely possible. Back to the questions.

Walls

Clear roles: wind/weather/visual protection; enclosure (divide "within" from "rest"); framework for plants. Protect where privacy most demanded — likely terrace/sitting area from house (aspect permitting). Wing walls at right angles enclose optimal space. Right-angle extensions (even 1 m) add fourth side to outdoor room. Beyond this, material less critical.

Match house material for living-area enclosure. Brick = obvious (save with concrete-block/wood panels in brick framework). Rendered walls → concrete blocks, colour-washed same. Small dark walled gardens (towns) often colour-washed for light — usually successful, not socially inevitable. Well-made walls (old/new) have quiet beauty; added colour often irrevocable.

Plants on walls? Insert galvanised vine eyes at 30 cm (1 ft) intervals, rows every 3 m (10 ft) for wires. Pity to drill new walls.

Walls' great virtue: permanence. Weather/age with house; plants mature on them. Tragedy: fine specimens ruined by collapsing support.

Fences

Wooden interwoven/lapped panels = most common, apparently easy. Permanence/effectiveness/economy vastly improved with solid piers/posts + baseboard.

Vital: Protect wooden fences from rot every way. Ground posts: hot creosote or proprietary preservative. Bottom rails clear of soil. Top cappings shed water. Painting = preservative but primer + 2 undercoats + topcoat + frequent renewal = economically doubtful. Bad painting = tatty peeling estate fences. If painting, white = best (plants stand out). Green "blending with countryside" = wrong, doesn't work. Green chain-link = compounds trouble.

Non-permanent materials okay in some situations. Wattle hurdles (woven hazel/osiers) = ideal for protection while plant screen develops. 2 m (6 ft) lengths, 1–2 m (3–6 ft) heights. Last longer if supported/off-ground. Dual use: initial privacy + young plant shelter. Windy/coastal? Only such help establishes first shelter belt for desirable plants in lee.

Gates

To gate or not = personal. Height = wall/fence height. Gate twice wall height = pointless (dogs/paperboys won't open). High wall + wrought iron/solid wood door + lintel = lovely new-world feeling. Arch/lintel above wall line = usually artificial. Good design = logical + inevitable (appears inevitable once done).