After long days spent in social settings, it’s comforting to come home and enjoy some well-earned privacy. However, perhaps your neighbors try to get chummy over your shared fence, or their balcony offers a bird’s eye view into your backyard, rendering your home less private than you would prefer.
Fortunately, you can add a few simple landscaping additions to your property that will help deter nosy neighbors and allow you the privacy you crave. Whether planting tall bushes, dense hedges, or towering trees, creating privacy becomes an attractive feature that is easy to achieve while adding immeasurable value to your property. These are our favorite tall bushes, trees, and shrubs for adding privacy to your home.
Privet (Ligustrum spp.)
Privet bushes make perfect privacy plants for their tall, dense growth patterns. Privet provides a beautiful natural border to your property line, cleanly separating your space from your neighbors, and are extremely fast growers. These hedges feature small fragrant flowers in the summer that bees love. Careful pruning and training of your Privet bush is required during the first year to establish a sturdy hedge.
Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis)
Arborvitae plants are stunning evergreen trees that can grow as tall as 20 feet. Our personal favorite varieties are the Emerald Green Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Emera) and Techny Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Techny). The Techny Arborvitae is more robust than the Emerald Green, with a pyramidal growth habit which makes them a great windscreen. In comparison, the Emerald Green grows in a columnar shape and is often used singly or in rows along a fence line creating a bushy barrier against prying eyes.
Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)
The Rose of Sharon is a deciduous bush-variety hibiscus that provides a showy addition to any landscape. These beautiful flowering bushes can grow quite tall, reaching heights of 12 feet with a spread between 6 and 10 feet upon maturity—making them an ideal choice for added privacy. Rose of Sharon can be planted as a shrub border or used as a singular showy specimen.
Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens)
Boxwood bushes are prized for adding privacy to a home and for their compact growth habit. Prune the light-green leaves of this shrub into a shape that suits your taste, such as round, carefully spaced groupings or into a solid square-shaped hedge. Boxwoods can reach anywhere between 6 and 12 feet tall, depending on the variety; they are ideal for adding optimal privacy.
Barberry (Berberis vulgaris)
There are many different varieties of Barberry shrubs, each one offering a unique addition to your landscape. For privacy, we recommend choosing one of the tallest bushes, the Wintergreen barberry, which grows up to 10 feet. Barberry shrubs are popular due to their low-maintenance nature and hardiness; however, many varieties have sharp thorns, which is something to consider if you have small children or pets. Barberry shrubs provide beautiful year-long interest as they don attractive fall hues that remain throughout the winter.
Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus)
The brilliant crimson foliage of this deciduous shrub immediately draws the eye, which may sound counter-productive as a privacy plant. However, its growth habit allows onlookers to admire without sneaking a peek at your property. Older varieties grew between 15-20 feet tall and 8-12 feet wide, but a smaller dwarf variety has become very popular, growing 4-8 feet tall and wide. Regardless, these bushes provide you with exceptional privacy and beautiful color contrast.
There are many combinations you can make with any of these plants. For example, you can easily add texture and depth to your landscape by planting clusters of tall trees with short bushes, and flowering shrubs add visual interest with a stunning pop of color—all while providing privacy in the process.
Our Meyer landscaping team consists of experts in the field and can walk you through some truly striking designs with privacy in mind. To get started, stop into our garden center in Moline, Illinois and browse our premium selection of bushes, shrubs, and trees for privacy today.
