Practical
Privacy Screens and Hedges: Block the View, Beautifully
Screen a fence line, a patio, or a neighbor's window. The best plants for privacy, fast and beautiful.
Privacy is the most common reason people start planting, and for good reason: nothing transforms how a garden feels like screening out a fence, a road, or an overlooking window. The trick is choosing the right plant for the job, because a screen is a long-term commitment, and the fastest grower is not always the right answer.
Below are the best plants for privacy, from fast evergreen screens to formal hedges, flowering informal screens, and tall grasses for a quick summer wall, with how to avoid the mistakes that make people regret their choice. For year-round structure, start with evergreen plants.
Fast evergreen screens
For year-round privacy in a hurry, these upright evergreens grow quickly into a solid green wall.
Thuja plicata 'Green Giant'
The fastest reliable screen there is, growing several feet a year into a dense, tall evergreen wall.
Thuja occidentalis 'Smaragd'
A narrow, tidy column that needs no clipping, perfect for a neat evergreen screen in a tight spot.
Cupressus sempervirens
Pencil-thin and dramatic, a row of these makes a striking, space-saving Mediterranean screen.
Juniperus scopulorum 'Skyrocket'
A slim spire of silver-blue that screens narrow gaps and adds cool color without spreading wide.
Classic clipped hedges
For a formal boundary or a lower divider, these take clipping into crisp, dense, traditional hedges.
Buxus 'Green Velvet'
The classic for a low to mid-height formal hedge, clipping into a dense, evergreen wall.
Buxus microphylla 'Winter Gem'
A tough, fast boxwood that holds rich green through winter and shears into a tidy hedge.
Tsuga canadensis
A graceful native evergreen, one of the few that makes a tall hedge in shade, taking shearing well.
Flowering and informal screens
A screen does not have to be a solid green wall. These larger shrubs give privacy in summer with flowers as a bonus.
Syringa vulgaris
A big, fragrant shrub that makes a wonderful informal screen, drenched in scented bloom each spring.
Viburnum
A large, dense shrub for an informal boundary, with spring flowers, berries, and good leaf cover.
Hibiscus syriacus
An upright shrub that screens through summer and flowers for weeks when little else is blooming.
Hydrangea paniculata
Grows tall and full fast, screening a boundary while carrying huge cones of summer flowers.
Tall grasses for a fast summer screen
For a soft, quick, inexpensive screen from late spring to winter, nothing beats a row of tall ornamental grass.
Miscanthus sinensis
Arching to head height in a season, a row makes a soft, swishing screen topped with silver plumes.
Calamagrostis × acutiflora
Strictly upright and early to rise, forming a narrow vertical screen with feathery golden spikes.
Panicum virgatum
A tall, airy native grass that screens lightly through summer and stands right through winter.
Avoid the classic screening mistakes
Three rules save regret. Do not plant a single-species row, since one disease can wipe out the whole screen, so mix two or three. Check the mature width and space accordingly, rather than planting too close for an instant effect you will pay for later. And be clear on the trade-off: evergreens screen year-round, while deciduous shrubs and grasses give privacy only from spring to fall.
What is the fastest growing privacy tree?
Green Giant arborvitae is the fastest reliable evergreen screen, growing several feet a year. Tall ornamental grasses and panicle hydrangeas give a fast screen from spring to fall.
What is the best evergreen for a privacy hedge?
Arborvitae (Green Giant for tall, Emerald Green for narrow) and boxwood for formal clipped hedges are the standards, with hemlock as a good choice for shade.
How far apart should I plant a privacy screen?
Space by the plant's mature width, usually a little closer for a solid screen. Crowding them for a fast effect leads to bare bottoms and disease later, and mixing species makes a healthier screen.
Design a garden with these plants
Open BloomsEye Studio with this guide's plants ready to drop onto a plan, then watch the whole bed bloom across the year.