Landscapes Make a Privacy Statement

There are gardens with full-frontal exposure, and gardens like fortresses. Neither extreme satisfies those who live, work, and play there.

In Landscaping for Privacy (Timber Press, 2011), Seattle design and horticulture writer Marty Wingate hits the sweet spot — offering property owners usable, beautiful design solutions and endless plant suggestions for sanctuary in front or back yards. The ideal resource for peace and peace of mind in your domestic landscape.

Inspired by her book, I found creative ways designers on Houzz use plants and architecture to enclose, divide, and obscure landscapes from the outside world. Here are the best.

Banyon Tree Design Studio: Entry garden vertical lattice paneling aligns on center with pathway axis, framing a tall, elegant planted urn. Screening and container protect interior seating from view while hinting at what's inside to invite exploration.

Susan Cohan, APLD: Vertical panels in square lattice pattern protect a side yard. Beefy posts, lathing, and dark teal stain make this people- and plant-friendly. Inside, glimpse neighborhood activity without feeling exposed.

Mark English Architects, AIA: Who wants a solid fence next to an entry door or bedroom window? This soft, elegant solution is preferable. Three Ali Baba–scale pots with stunning ornamental grasses create a kinder, gentler barrier with style.

Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture: Opaque panels between fence posts are typical, especially for contemporary spaces. But here's a more interesting way: square and rectangular panels offset for a rhythmic fence pattern — Mondrianesque. Colored uplighting (or backlighting) makes it moody and modern, especially at dusk.

Breaux Design Group: Another clever fence panel use for privacy (or not): make individual sections movable. This one pivots at center to allow light or breezes into an interior courtyard.

Tim Cuppett Architects: Opaque panels look like glass but are likely unbreakable material. Slightly spacing each horizontal panel creates an interesting see-through effect. Pairs beautifully with dark-stained wood posts and traditional fencing at left.

Carson Poetzl, Inc.: Outdoor shower is semiprivate thanks to freestanding L-shaped screen doubling as trellis for climbing vines. Wire mesh panels of industrial screening in wide gauge array. Metal posts hold panels, everything weathered naturally. Water splashes? No big deal — iron weathers to gorgeous rust patina, vines get moisture.

A breezeway passes along the sunken patio, but seating is only partially revealed for privacy. Like louvred shutters, horizontal slatted wall creates enclosure while allowing light. Great windbreak for seated people.

BAAN Design: This storage shed shows streamlined horizontal wood slats. Spaced for light and air circulation. Overall effect sleek and modern. Would love a fence like this — lets me look out but keeps anyone inside feeling less exposed.

WA Design Architects: Like a fluid steel wall, this ubermodern screen is part sculpture, part privacy fence. Integrated with sleek planting scheme at base. Linear ground cover and floral bands echo rigid vertical steel rods. Nothing feels geometric thanks to wavy installation and flow break for passage. Wow!

Stephanie Ann Davis Landscape Design: Horsetail (Equisetum hyemale) is poorly behaved — takes over entire landscapes unless roots are contained. That's what you see here — raised concrete planters corral densely planted horsetail stands. Nifty way to screen out the world and bring green into view.

Debra Prinzing: Seattle horticulture writer Marty Wingate's Landscaping for Privacy is an excellent resource for screening, barriers, or buffers. Book cover features a fence of sustainably harvested ipe, designed by Scot Eckley of Scot Eckley Landscape Design.