Question
Hello, we have moved to a patio home facing a golf course. I need suggestions on how to add a little privacy from side neighbors without offending them plus creating an entertainment area off the concrete patio.  I can send several photos of our current view and backyard.  We have an upper deck that we do not want to obstruct our view of the course.  Is this something you can help with? Thank you!

Answer
Sorry for the delay, Pam. Offending neighbors is a gift of mine ?Seriously, you bought the house, not your neighbors.  If your CC&Rs don抰 preclude you from putting up barriers or landscaping to give you some privacy, go for it.  The best way to not offend is invite them over to the new entertaining area, when it抯 complete.

Here is a good site for the basics of landscape screening in a tight patio area:
http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4579867_outdoor-privacy-screen-work.html

I have remodeled many home in exclusive, gated communities, and I have found that those who are usually the most difficult to placate are the homeowner抯 board, not the neighbor.   As to ideas that you may be able to use, there are several, depending on how much space you have to work with.  

You said it is a small-ish back yard, with an upper deck, that you wish to remain unobstructed.  Beyond this simple protection solid structures may offer when living on a golf course, thick shrubs delineating your parcel boundary is not out of the ordinary.  I would walk the links and see how some of the other neighbors have developed their back yards and rear patios as they but up against the fairways.  Why reinvent the wheel?  As most folks do their entertaining outdoors, and in the evenings, a stray golf ball is not as common as the stray neighbor.  An entertaining area is created by the objects placed within it ?a table & chairs, bar, pool, hot-tub, etc.  The space they occupy is a result of your deciding what it is you want to do in this space, and create a place for it out of pavers, concrete, walls, structures, or planters.

I like using rocks or thick shrub beds to adequately define a backyard抯 boundary from the commons of the links rough.  Since yours is a patio home, it probably also has a bit of concrete of paver area attached to the house.  Planter beds along this hardscape item affords an opportunity to develop a screen of plants, whether it be a hedge, row of tall ornamental grasses, or loose border of perennials.  Adding a structural element like a small trellis or arbor that doesn抰 get much larger than the upper deck抯 floor line (or lower) can create a 揼reen wall?that may offer you the screening you desire.  This is more of an architectural solution, but can work, if applied correctly.

If it truly is a patio home, and you and your neighbor share a common wall, you抣l want to share your ideas with them before they are surprised by them some morning while sipping their coffee.  Plus, if you are really that close to the neighbor, a community covenant (sometimes referred to as CC&Rs or by-laws) may dictate want you can and cannot do in this confined space.  

I tried finding some images on the web, but could not find exactly what I was trying to convey ?Here are a few that come close:
http://hostedmedia.reimanpub.com/TFH/Projects/FH04SEP_PRISCR_01.JPG

http://www.diyillustrated.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/IMG_0323-1024x768.jpg

http://www.lifestyle-landscapes.com/

And of course you抣l want to match and blend your home抯 architectural style with whatever improvements you decide on doing ?A cape cod, clapboard sided-home with Japanese bamboo screening will look odd, just as a contemporary home would with traditional brick seating walls.  Choose your materials carefully.

Hope it helps ~Marc