Best Backyard Privacy Trees: Landscaping Ideas for Outdoor Space

Many homeowners seek to develop a personal and secluded backyard. Although fences can offer structure, nothing holds the natural beauty and long-range value in the backyard like privacy trees. The right plantings can both obscure unpleasant vistas and add greenery, shade, and color to your outdoor setting. 

We understand that privacy can be both attractive and functional, and at Opportunity Landscapes and Nursery, we incorporate trees, such as privacy fences, flowering bushes, shrubs and shade trees, into our landscape designs. No matter where you live and what climate conditions prevail, selecting the most suitable trees as bush screens can transform the landscape into a private oasis. 

Why Choose Backyard Privacy Trees?

Unlike conventional fences, backyard privacy trees provide a natural, living barrier that improves over time. They are attractive, quieter, and add value to a property. Separately, privacy trees have ecological advantages; they provide shade, shelter birds, and improve air quality.. 

Privacy trees are a necessary investment when considering landscape design. They provide natural fences, allow your yard to have structure, and give durable and long-lasting cover that other ways, like fences or walls, cannot offer. 

Fast-Growing Privacy Trees

When secrecy is of prime importance, growth and speed are everything. Privacy trees grow fast, making them reliable for covering property lines in just a few years, adding a cover to the patio, or creating natural green walls. Such trees can enhance your privacy, create a beautiful outdoor setting, and provide shade and added value. Prominent and very effective are some such as: 

Thuja Green Giant

This is very popular because it grows up to 3-5 feet yearly, which makes it a great addition to an instant living wall. It is disease-resistant, low-care, and ideal for long privacy screenings. 

 

Leyland Cypress

A staple of homeowner choice, the Leyland Cypress grows fast and makes an attractive, tall wall of green with soft and feathery crowns. It is very effective on big yards or along more lengthy fence lines. 

 

Hybrid Poplar

This tree is considered among the fastest-growing in North America, as the Hybrid Poplar can grow up to 8 feet in one year, depending on its ideal growing conditions. Its massive size makes it suitable for covering vast areas quickly. 

With these privacy trees that grow fast in your backyard planning, you can appreciate the view and privacy in a shorter period in comparison with other slower-growing types. 

The trees are also effective in fencing lines, where they can transform an open yard into a hidden paradise over several seasons. 

 

Tall Plants for Privacy

Not all yards are as large as they need to have gargantuan trees. Privacy sometimes works best with tall plants, because it is less space-intensive. Screening is accomplished using options such as taller ornamental grass and layered evergreen shrubbery components that do not dominate the yard. 

Tall and narrow spaces are the most suitable for the elegant Italian Cypress trees. Using evergreen trees in combination with flowering shrubs of smaller height provides a stylish multi-level privacy. 

Flowering Shrubs for Seasonal Interest

Although evergreens are considered the foundation of privacy as these shrubs create year-round screening, flowering shrubs should be included in landscape design to add color and fragrance to your landscape. They cushion the appearance of high trees and generate tiers of beauty. Consider the following:  

• Lilac bushes for fragrant spring blossoms.
• Hydrangeas for bold summer color.
• Rhododendrons for vibrant blooms paired with evergreen leaves.
• Cherry blossom trees offer unmatched beauty for privacy screening in spring.

Adding privacy plants that also flower provides both privacy and some life to the yard throughout the year during the growing seasons.

 

Shade Trees for Comfort and Privacy

Big trees provide shade and make your outdoors cooler on hot summer days. Oak, maple, and sycamore are investments that take years to grow, but they also provide valuable privacy and shade during the summer. 

Shade trees can work well when planted strategically around patios, decks, or seating areas. They not only provide natural overhead cover but also enhance landscaping ideas in a backyard by shaping the scene into attractive regions. 

Designing with Privacy Trees

When choosing the most suitable trees to use in your outdoor space, think of how they will integrate into the rest of the landscape design. A few tips are:

• Mix dwarf privacy trees or compact shrubs with small yards.
• Plant certain types of privacy trees in long lines to encourage rapid growth and provide instant coverage.
• Combine your evergreen trees with flowering shrubs due to their complementary beauty and purpose.
• Prune and plant rows on slopes in staggered evergreen patterns to control erosion and create layered screening.
• Use best landscaping plants to add depth and contrast between different privacy trees.
• Such layering offers present and future privacy as well as a smooth design.

Backyard Landscaping Ideas with Privacy Trees

Using privacy trees in your backyard landscaping design helps you create outdoor rooms, space-defining features, and views where you want or need them. Creative garden plans are:

• Planting a row of evergreens behind a fire pit or patio to create some snug privacy.
• Planting flowering shrubs around seating areas to give a seasonal aroma.
• Using tree privacy borders to design shaded garden pathways to create a wood effect.
• Mixing an assortment of trees and using stone backyard retaining walls or fences is also a way to get a layered appearance.

The intention is to create a functional backyard that combines beauty, making every corner purposeful.

Best Trees for Privacy Fence Lines

Planting trees to create a privacy fence is a brilliant idea when upgrading an existing wall. Evergreens, such as Arborvitae, Eastern Red Cedar, or Thuja, are notable for not needing to cut branches and let the trees grow back, as their foliage retains its color throughout the year. 

To add more interest to it, add flowering shrubs or ornamental trees such as dogwoods and cherry trees. This tempers the appearance of hard privacy walls and generates a seasonal accent.

 

Choosing Low-Maintenance Options

Privacy trees do not have to imply additional work. Decidedly more low-maintenance privacy trees and shrubs do well with little maintenance. Evergreens, such as junipers, hollies, and cedars, require minimal maintenance after planting, needing only occasional trimming. 

Low-maintained plants relieve you of the stress of constantly perfecting your backyard privacy solution with high levels of maintenance.

Conclusion

Choosing the best trees to use as privacy means selecting trees that have the right balance of functionality, aesthetics, and practicality. Privacy trees, ornamental flower shrubs, and large evergreen plants; all can make the difference between your yard and a secluded retreat. Considering the fence line, patio, and seating areas will help achieve maximum coverage and a cohesive design. 

As specialists in backyard privacy tree selection and planting, Opportunity Landscapes and Nursery assists homeowners in finding and planting the best trees to fit their vision. Selecting a variety of trees, plants, and landscaping can provide an outdoor space that offers you both privacy and the most beautiful landscape to enjoy over many years. 

FAQs

What are the best privacy trees for a backyard?

Thuja Green Giant, Leyland Cypress, Italian Cypress, and Eastern Red Cedar are some of the best trees to use as backyard privacy trees. They have year-round coverage, gain height, and are ideal for landscaping. 

What is the best plant to block neighbors?

For blocking neighbors, options include Arborvitae evergreens or tall flowering shrubs like lilacs or hydrangeas. Plant them to provide dense covering and the beauty and seasonal effects of your garden ideas.

Which privacy tree grows the fastest?

The best privacy trees with high growth are the Hybrid Poplar, Thuja Green Giant, and Leyland Cypress. These trees grow several feet each year, making them ideal for providing fast backyard privacy. 

What is the best tree to plant against a fence?

Trees like the Italian Cypress or Emerald Green Arborvitae are the trees of choice when it comes to privacy fences, narrow and upright in shape. They take up area, remain clean, and provide a neat, attractive background upon which backyard landscape ideas may be designed.