need privacy landscaping help please!

9 years ago

i need privacy landscaping help for my backyard/pool area and side garden please. my neighbors can see clear into my backyard from the street and the common area adjacent to my house. my HOA just put in a bench there so any stranger can sit and just stare into my yard where i have children running around. also, i would like to be able to sit in my side garden with some privacy and now it is wide open. i have a 25 foot lake easement which is basically where my fence is so unfortunately i have to observe that. i need some sort of lollipop tree hedge or a small tree like ligustrum on the outside perimeter of the fence. not a full hedge to the ground because that will kill our lake view from inside. looking for a peekaboo effect if you will. no idea what to do for the side garden. i have taken a million pics and researched to death but i cannot for the life of me come up with a plan.

Featured Answer

Kaillean (zone 8, Vancouver)

9 years ago

Wow, if that were my property and I had access to the water, I'd definitely be marking it as my own. Does your neighborhood association allow you to plant right down near the water? I'd be tempted to take that bed with the two palms surrounded by hedges right down the side of your house to the water with an interesting mixed planting, native grasses, local waterfront plants, etc. Would be a big project but you could tackle it over a few years.

Even just getting a bed laid out and mulched might signal a boundary line that warns people off. I'd also plant some stuff directly outside your pool fence on the side that faces front on with the water. Even some bougainvillea or something on the fence would give you a bit of privacy. And then another bed or planting that runs down the side of your house on the neighbor side to keep folks from coming in from the waterfront on that side.

Given the long swathes of grass that seem to be between all the houses and the water, though, I suspect there may be some restrictions about what you're allowed to do.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

Kaillean (zone 8, Vancouver)
9 years ago
Can you post a picture from inside the pool area? Sometimes, screening doesn't need to be as big as you think to block a view, but it's hard to tell from your distance shots.
arodinmiami
Original Author
9 years ago
thank you for your response. the second picture is from the pool area. the corner of it.
Related Professionals
Fort Myers Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Tallahassee Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Fredericksburg Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Chico Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · San Diego Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Glenwood Springs Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Westminster Landscape Contractors · College Station Landscape Contractors · Madison Landscape Contractors · Grand Junction Landscape Contractors · Montgomery Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Port Saint Lucie Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Spartanburg Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Oxnard Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Montréal Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures
arodinmiami
Original Author
9 years ago

here is another
Kaillean (zone 8, Vancouver)
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Sorry, I missed that one. Which area do you find the peering eyes most bothersome? Do people walk close to the fence? Are there any HOA restrictions about what you can do outside the fenced area?
arodinmiami
Original Author
9 years ago
Peering eyes look straight onto my deck so we are out in pj's in the morning having coffee and the ppl on the bench can see us and hear our conversations. Or we go out to toss the ball w kids and they can track all our movements. In that second pic from the top, i think i need privacy landscaping all the way to the first palm tree.
arodinmiami
Original Author
9 years ago
Ppl are not supposed to walk near my fence (my lake easement) as my property line goes all the way to the water BUT some ppl mistake it for common area and i have had men out there fishing a few ft from us while we are in the pool! Drives me batty. My last resort will be "private property" yard signs but first i'd like to convey the same message w landscaping.
arodinmiami
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Yes, i absolutely wish i could do what you are suggesting. To take the landscaping all the way to the water to stake my property. But i cant. The city and homeowners association have restrictions and you cannot plant anything 25 feet from the water. Supposedly it's an easement for utility companies but i think they just like the aesthetics of it. Ppl do occasionally break the rules and plant stuff there anyway. Not long ago i had two coconuts from my coconut tree that sprouted some palm fronds right at waters edge. It was perfect for marking the property but someone got rid of them. Perhaps i can put something temporary ... like stepping stones with some chairs.
arodinmiami
Original Author
9 years ago
But i do need that corner of the fence covered .. i hadn't thought of bougies. They are woody so the bottom can be bare and if it flops over the fence it can give some privacy..allowing us to see the water thru the bottom lega but obscuring the top view where u can look into our yard.
arodinmiami
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I really do like your idea of creating a mixed planting bed.. with grasses and waterfront plants. Maybe i can angle it towards that restricted area somehow. Very frustrated with my limitations here!