Have we mentioned that our house has something lacking in the privacy department in certain areas? If not, consider this the first of several mentions. It’s nothing crazy, but coming from a home where we could practically strut around naked in the backyard (not that we did) to one where we can hardly go birthday suiting inside (not that we do) – let’s just say that we feel a bit exposed sometimes.
Case in point – our lovely “alley” (first mentioned here) which is a straight shot to our neighbor’s back deck (see their umbrella in the distance?).
The pic above is a bit old (from this post) and as you can see from the new pic below, nature has already helped us out in the filling-in department.
Though I still can’t help but feel slightly self-conscious at moments – like one recent night when the smoke detector next to the “alley” went off minutes after bedtime. Suddenly I found my boxer-clad self changing a faulty battery… while standing on a chair… in front of our floor-to-ceiling glass sliding doors at night with the light on. Yeah, um, howdy neighbors.
So not being vertical blind or curtain closing people when it comes to all of the common areas in our house (we’re weird, but we like our sliding doors and big picture windows unobscured to let in light and it feels like too much maintenance to walk around covering them all every evening – at least to lazy bums like ourselves) we figured that a better way to functional and long term low-maintenance privacy would be to block that shared sight-line between our houses with some fast-growing easy-care evergreens. We do like white faux wood blinds for privacy in bedrooms btw, but I guess since we were both raised in curtains-always-open-in-the-living-area houses that relied on nice wooded neighborhoods for privacy, it’s no wonder that we’re attracted to open curtains and wooded neighborhoods full o’ privacy.
So that’s the goal. Adding in more of that “wooded” adjective. Sure it’ll take some time for these little trees to grow in, but it’ll hopefully be worth it in the long run (and we’ll remember to toss on clothes if we’ll be standing on chairs in front of the slider at midnight before that point).
When it comes to the specifics, we got three Leyland Cypress trees on sale from Home Depot for $9.99 each (interestingly, they were $19.99 at Lowe’s, so we saved thirty bucks total by shopping around). They’ve been recommended to us countless times by local gardeners because they’re 1) fast-growing, 2) evergreen, (so the won’t drop leaves and ruin our privacy in the winter), 3) can become quite large, and 4) are pretty easy-care and hardy. Basically, the privacy screen trifecta fourfecta. And by quite large I mean 30′ tall by 10-15′ wide. Pretty amazing, right?
We arranged them in a triangle of sorts, so that we could plant them at least ten to fifteen feet apart (as recommended by the tag) while making sure they each would layer behind and in front of one another (instead of growing into each other) to help densely block the view.
And after cutting out some dead boxwoods…
… and making friends with a frog (or is he a toad?)…
… I was ready to dig in our new Cypresses. With no help from my frog/toad friend, I might add. Make that former friend (he didn’t die or anything, he just doesn’t deserve friend status for not helping).
Through the magic of television the internet, here they are all dug in. Not much to look at yet, I’ll admit.
But hopefully with a bit of watering, more of these sunny days that we’ve been getting lately, and a bit of time, this trio will go from this…
…to this. Though in real life they hopefully won’t have the weird blue-tinted discoloration (I added that to make my photoshopping visible).
Oh, and that frog wasn’t the only woodland creature that I came upon during my tree planting adventure. Notice anything else?
Yep, that’s a plastic duck just chilling on a log in a bush. Another fun discovery left by the previous owners (like Norman the Mailbox Squirrel).
The funny thing is that finding a random duck on our property is almost like a sign that the house was meant for us. See, when we moved into our first house, the previous owner had left a fake duck head (yup, just the head) on one of our fence posts. Needless to say, it didn’t last long after this photo was snapped, but it did make us smile.
Guess there’s something to be said for a faux duck (or part of a faux duck) to make you feel at home. I just left the full-bodied duck right where I found him in that shrubbery. After all, if things go as planned with those Leyland Cypresses he won’t be able to spy on us for long. And Clara will probably love discovering him for herself in a year or two.
Have you guys ever planted any Leyland Cypresses – or another fast growing tree or bush – in the hopes of gaining some privacy? Do you just use vertical blinds and curtains like normal people? Have you ever found the head of a duck (or an entire faux duck) somewhere on your property? Are you friends with a frog (or do you someday hope to be)? So many questions, so little time.
We have been planting arborvitae around our yard for privacy as well. They grow fast, aren’t horribly expensive and they don’t take up a lot of room. Our neighbors don’t seem to care much for privacy either, so I guess that leaves us to do all the work!
Those trees grow CRAZY fast. Good for you for actually following the directions on planting – I’ve seen so many people cram them together and then wonder what happened by the next season!
You have no idea how exciting it is to hear that! We’ll have to post updated pics as they shoot up towards the sky (fingers crossed).
xo,
s
The evergreens are such a clever idea! I probably would’ve just used one of those glass diffusing things.
And so weird about finding the duck. The house was meant for you!
No better privacy screen than the natural kind. I hope your trees grow swiftly!
Hey John,
We are shopping around for privacy trees for our yard too. Any idea how fast these babies will grow?
Thanks!
Tammy
We’ve heard they can grow up to 6′ per year. We’ll have to share photos as they grow to see if they’re holding up the whole fast-growing end of the bargain!
xo,
s
I don’t know where you live, (I’m in California) but my neighbors gifted us with a Paradise Tree last summer and the thing grows like a weed! http://www.plantcreations.com/Simarouba%20glauca.htm It’s gone from 3 feet tall, to about 12 feet in less than a year. I’m on a small lot and we didn’t have any trees in the yard (well…except for the really nice tree the previous owners planted 5 feet off the patio. Unfortunately, it was tearing up the patio and soon the garage floor, we had to take it out.)
I remember when I lived in England for many years having the nightime and morning ritual of somoneone opening and closing all the heavy drapery that came with our house. They were heavy duty thick curtains with fancy pulley systems. In fact most houses in Europe have working shutters which they open and close each night!
That looks like a toad to me. :)
I just planted a slew of evergreens this spring. It’s tough to be patient while they grow, but it’s nice to know that we’re getting there.
Ah yes, I should have known it was a toad. He was a bit cranky.
xo,
s
Love the photoshopping of the grown up trees. I’ve done this with my landscaping too. So funny!
http://beatbeatheartbeat.com
Can’t wait to see what they will look like in a year or so! And I am loving all the real and not so real animal friends your are making during your projects.
do your neighbors know you blog? if so, i bet they will be on the lookout for a boxer-clad john every evening! ha!
i love the idea of natural privacy screens. once we get our new backyard cleaned up, we plan on planting some large trees/bushes/etc. for privacy as well as to define our property line.
on a side note: i received a coupon code for mpix this morning that i figured i’d share:
their metallic prints are 25% off now through June 29 – enter promo code “summercolor” and save on all Metallic prints
Thanks for the tip! As for the neighbors, they do know we blog but I’m not sure they read (if so, hi guys!!!). Our house’s old owners definitely read though- which is really fun. They say they check in with us before they even check their own email. They love that we’re doing all the work and they get to see the result without breaking a sweat. Haha.
xo,
s
Great choice, they do grow super-quick.
Unfortunately I now have a (sorry Sherry) not-so-nice image of John standing on a chair in boxers though. Please make it go away?
Oh it’s a nice image. I’ve seen it. Haha. But you could try picturing your favorite movie character instead if you’d like (Robert Whatshisface? Brad Pitt?). I bet they change their own smoke alarm batteries, right?
xo,
s
Right in the face of being awkward, I’d like to counter that this image is super nice in MY head… come on, Sherry and John are Hawt with a capital H. And without the abnormal LA Hawt that breeds orange skin and processed hair…Okay. ya. bringin the awkward. Backing away now…
“Backing away now” had me snorting. Oh man you guys are all hilarious. Yay Friday.
xo,
s
LOVE Leyland Cypresses! We get one for our Christmas tree every year. They’re beautiful trees.
My in-laws have a full-bodied faux mallard duck hanging upside down from the ceiling in their bathroom. It was there when they moved in, and we are all too afraid to remove it to see what it is covering. Very weird when using the restroom because it’s staring at you as it hangs upside down.
Oh my gosh- hilarious! I wonder what’s under it.
xo,
s
I love the HD. $9.99 – what a great price! I need to plant some of those because I don’t have a green thumb. Perhaps they’d survive. One of the best things about evergreens is that they won’t make your raking job more difficult. Say hi to the frog for me :)
Your little friend looks like an American toad. You can tell if he’s a boy by picking him up with one finger under each “armpit” — males will give a cute little chirpy “release call.” I’m sure he would have helped out if only he had some opposable thumbs. ;-)
Hugs, your loyal reader/amphibian biologist :-)
Haha- good to know. Maybe he wasn’t as unfriendly as he came off.
-John
When we lived in Wakulla, we had a trailer in a “hole in the woods.” It was literally a cleared space in the middle of the woods. We loved it. Family circumstances necessitated a move to the city and we found a house with a very private back yard. (Front yards are not private here). Unfortunately, the neighbor’s vines killed all our lovely azalea bushes along one side of teh property, so we’re very exposed now. I’m thinking large shrub (ligustrum) to plant for privacy, as the tree cover is already pretty dense. And I discover we need a new fence too, which should be taken care of first…
Way to shop around! I don’t usually have the patience to check around – I’m more like “ooh I like it, let’s get it” type of girl. :) Unless I can price compare online and then head out to get the best deal. Facebook usually helps too if you throw out there that you’re looking for something specific! :)
Way to be green! (Punny, right??) :)
Yikes, I’m extra smiley today. Must be because I’m not at work – and we’re having birthday parties today! Yay!! :)
Wahoooo! It’s Friday!!! Smiley is par for the course.
xo,
s
Those evergreens are going to be awesome! :)
We haven’t found any faux animals at our house (yet?) but we did briefly make friends with a toad (that sounds better than scaring the pants off him, right?) when we were busting up concrete and tile in our backyard.
In a previous home, the neighbors had several Leyland Cypress along the property line….it literally had become a 30’wall…and I liked it
Your tree-o will do just fine to give you the coverage you are looking for.
We planted Thuja Green Giants (Thuja plicata) in the hopes that they will one day block our neighbor’s two-story-high garage. The garage really takes away from our otherwise lovely mountain view. We planted about 12 of them last year and added 6 more this year. The ones we planted last year have sprung up really fast – they’ve grown at least three feet since last year! They’re planted in dense clay and we’ve done only minimal upkeep on them (added some manure around them when planted and this summer too). Despite all of that, they’re thriving! They’re deer-, drought-, and pest-resistant. They grow in a cone shape, instead of a triangle, so they’re great for covering something tall – where you want to cover the whole thing and not just the bottom half of it, with the top half still visible as the trees get more sparse up top. They’re evergreens too. Needless to say, we’re big fans!
I could not spot the frog for a like five minutes! ok maybe four and a half :)
We recently had a new tree planted by the city in front of our house. We wait for it for about 8-10 months, so there is no way we are letting it die.
To help with the watering, we picked up a few tree gators off of ebay (well, bought 1 but they sent 2). Check it out on our post, near the bottom. It allows for slow watering of new trees.
http://www.oldtownhome.com/2011/5/30/Tree-at-Last-Tree-at-Last/index.aspx
I know there is a version for smaller shrubs that works well. Might be worth trying while your trees are still babies.
In my parent’s yard, they planted a few when they build their house back in the 1980s. They are about 30-40 feet tall now and give some great privacy from their neighbor’s house.
Sorry, meant Amazon, not ebay. I must have auctions on the brain :-)
Love it- so smart!
xo,
s
We have one in our backyard, planted by the previous owner. In the last two and a half years it has doubled in size.
Ours is leaning to one side due to some snow/ice damage, but otherwise its pretty hardy. It requires zero attention, which is good in our book.
You guys may want to check out fast-growing-trees.com, too. Lots of information and the site is broken down by flowering trees, shrubs, shade trees, hedges, etc.
Thanks for the tip!
xo,
s
OOOH, this looks like a good site. Have you ordered from them before? We have a serious need for some tall evergreens that don’t take up a lot of space and offer a nice amount of privacy, and I’m seeing a couple of options….
Hey, Amy!
We have ordered from them before (to landscape our previous homes in PA and VA) and have been thrilled every time. We found them through a Martha Stewart magazine article (not an ad). We’re going to be ordering from them again at some point. We have a ginormous backyard that is crying out for a weeping willow.
Thanks, Naomi! If it’s good enough for Martha…!
Your trees should fill in nicely and look great. We don’t have the yard to plant large, fast-growing trees, but we love fruit trees. In fact, we just planted four more for a total of 18 on our 1/4 acre lot. They’re not fast growing or for privacy, though when they’re mature they may be. We love to get fresh fruit out our back door. We use curtains like normal people for privacy.
How lucky you are. Must be incredible to live in such a greenery.
Enjoy your weekend….
My husband and I are natural light people, too- the only problem we’ve had with that was when we lived on the first floor of an apt complex and he’d forget I was in the shower. I’d walk out in a towel, and instantly be exposed to the whole world- open windows, blinds up, patio door open, the whole shebang. I’m not exactly what I would call modest, but peep shows to a whole neighborhood after a shower? Not so much. I would have given anything for those Leyland Cypresses!
We have a slew of children running through our yard at all times (we live in a cul-de-sac)–I wish a few of these trees would create a privacy barrier AND a don’t-tramp-on-the-flowers barrier. But I might miss seeing all the princess dresses and huge high heels.
Chris Loves Julia
Oh my gosh – cuuuute! Your neighborhood sounds really sweet to me.
xo,
s
We have a couple cypress trees in our yard that are huge. They were there prior to our move in but they are great!
I am actually ordering a fast growing tree today – we dont want it for privacy as much as to block the tower across the street that lights up at night that I affectionately named “blinky”. The front of our house is grey, with grey foundation, and a grey roof – so we wanted to add some color with a tree as well so we are ordering a Royal Empress Tree – which will flower purple in the spring and grown UP TO 18 FEET A YEAR!! Sorry for the shouting I still find that amazing. Oh and its supposedly next to impossible to kill. Sign me up.
Cant wait to see your trees all grown up!
Empress Paulonia trees are weeds! DON’T DO IT! They are also quite invasive. I can’t believe that nurseries are actually selling them as landscape material. They do have gorgeous flowers, but they reseed incredibly prolifically, and frankly, once they are done flowering, they are kinda ugly.
I’m hoping it wont be ugly, some of the local ones are pretty! But we did get a cloned one instead of one from wild seed – which means the seeds will not germinate after spreading so it shouldnt “invade”. Fingers crossed!
We’ve been talking about doing something like this for a while now. I don’t like the idea of just throwing up a privacy fence all the way around the house. I want some help from nature too.
I think we’ll have to try this out. Thanks for sharing!
The back of our house faces the side of our neighbor’s house, and they are MUCH closer to us than you are to your neighbors. My husband spaced out 5 leyland cyprus trees about 5 years ago, and with no watering/fertilizer, they have grown like crazy! They’re now at least 20 feet tall, far taller than our privacy fence, and almost completely block the view to our neigbor’s house.
Amazing! It’s so great to hear that the rumors are true (they grow fast and tall and they’re easy care and pretty hardy). Fingers crossed that ours follow suit!
xo,
s
That’s so great to hear. We have absolutely no privacy in our backyard with houses on each side of us. In addition our backyard is a fairly steep hill so a privacy fence wouldn’t help the view from our neighbor’s decks. I think the trees might just be the solution!
We planted some when we moved into our brick ranch like yours 8 years ago, they are now about 25 ft. Not sure if the growing time is different here in Oregon!
Fun fact about Leyland Cypress trees: they are completely sterile and every tree comes from cuttings. If you ever want a natural Christmas tree, a Leyland Cypress would be the way to go if you have allergies. They don’t smell as nice as a traditional Christmas tree…but that’s because there’s no pollen to contend with. Allergy friendly!
Love that! Thanks for the fun fact!
xo,
s
Great idea … I am strapped with trashy neighbors sadly. They leave a lot of junk around their house and in their back yard, a few of these trees scattered in between our houses might do the trick! Off to Home Depot this weekend, I am typically a Lowe’s girl, but HD might get some business from me if they are still running that sale :)
I can totally relate! I need to surround their house with cypresses but why should I pay for it? :(
Oh I hear ya there Jackie … mine made a make-shift chicken coop once out of old rusted chain link, a couple old box springs, some tarps and some other junk. No joke, I had to call code enforcement on them because they wouldn’t clean it up.
My husband actually purchased a faux duck, and it currently floats in our pool year round. We call him Mr. Quackers!All of the kids’ friends think it’s real!
Mr Quackers = amazing.
xo,
s
I’ve done arbovitae (narrower than Leylands but attractive) but I do curtains/shades/blinds too because a: I am on a smaller lot so the street is closer to my windows and b: it is pretty easy for someone on foot to walk around a dark yard at night and peer in unseen. Think it doesn’t happen? Oh, it happens! Believe me, it happens. :(
On a different note: Did you ever say in your blog why you sold the other house and moved? (I joined your community after you moved, as a result of the WaPo article).
Oh man, that feels like yesterday. Here’s that post for ya: https://www.younghouselove.com/blogiversary-iii-on-the-move/
xo,
s
We have faux wood blinds in ever room of the house except the bathrooms. Living room and dining room blinds are open during the day to let in alot of light and so are is our bedroom. At night the blinds are closed (since we live in a neighborhood where privacy fenced backyards are right up against each other. Oh and our drapes in the bedroom are closed at night because we like it DARK!
We have tons of toads on our property. When I find one, I move it over to the vegetable garden so he can nosh on cutworms, bad bugs and the like. They’re terrific for keeping pests at bay! (Note: he may deserve “friend” status after all!)
Now John is hanging his head. He shouldn’t have been so quick to judge. Haha.
xo,
s
Previous owners planted those at our house and they are GREAT privacy barriers. Ours are starting to die, though. I think they only have a 10-15 year lifespan.
We always leave our main room curtains open (and we don’t have any woods for privacy either, such rebels).
By chance, we have a friend, Mr. Toad, who hangs out by our roses. I’m always careful when mowing to make sure he’s not in the grass. We also have to make sure our dog doesn’t take an interest in him, she’s very territorial about our yard and what’s in it. The squirrels love to torment her when she’s inside.
We didn’t find duck heads at our house when we moved in but we have found random toys all over the yard, under our deck, buried in the dirt, stuck in heating vents…the list goes on. I’m convinced the previous owners kids are going to grow up to be hoarders.
Leyland Cypresses (or Leylandii, the fancy-schmancy name that seems to be used more here in the UK) are really great for quick-growing coverage, but they can sometimes grow a little too much. Over here, where plots of land are a million times smaller [slight exaggeration] they can become a major headache. http://www.andrewbibby.com/misc/neighbours.html
Of course that is very UK-specific and being the thoughtful, handy people that you are you shouldn’t have a problem keeping the suckers controlled a few years down the line; plus you look like you’ve left plenty of space. I only mention it because my grandma had ten massive leylandii trees on the border of her property (which blocked all the light to her garden and rear windows) and some very uncaring neighbours, which led to a ten-year battle to get them to chop them down/trim them. They do turn into ginormous beasts pretty quickly.
I saw in one of the legal journals I read that there are more than 15,000 ongoing property disputes involving leylandii, mainly about their height – because they grow so fast it can get really expensive to maintain them, and they block so much light that it often breaches people’s right to light. It’s so bad that it reduces house prices that have issues with overshadowing from leylandii, and the last government specifically introduced a law governing leylandii and anti-social behaviour which means the local council can force to trim or cut them down altogether.
Oh my goodness- did you read to the end of the Wikipedia article? I hope that no one murders you over your trees! That is just insane.
Tyelperion – Yup, I read similar. I studied some Property Law modules at university and wrote a paper on Right to Light using my grandma as a case study – and there is SO much surrounding material. I think it was the high-profile murder case mentioned below (crazy, eh?)that really spurred councils into doing a bit more about it, hence the anti-social tree laws. It’s strange to think that trees can cause so much hassle but on small, crowded plots of land it can really affect how you live in your home.
Hahaaa, I love the ducks!!
Though I’m curious, do you guys not close the curtains at night in the winter months to keep the heat in and energy costs down?
Thanks to the fact that we choose brick ranchers, they’re amazingly sealed and energy efficient just due to the complete tank-like quality of their craftsmanship. You can hold a candle up near windows and doors and it won’t flicker at all (a trick to see if you’re losing heat/have a drafty house). I’m sure keeping our curtains closed during the day would keep the house a little cooler, but we love letting the light in (so we just prefer to wear less clothing to stay cool, haha). And choosing other options for energy savings (like Energy Star appliances, a programmable thermostat, extra weatherstripping) along with general green activities (like collecting water in our rainbarrel and composting in the backyard) seems to keep our utility bills nice and low.
xo,
s
Hey guys,
Just wanted to say “thanks” for the tip on mixing metals in my bathroom! As for the Leyland Cypresses, I have seen them grow to your photoshop size in just a few years. They really do grow fast, you will be very happy with them.
Re: Leaving lawn ornaments behind. We didn’t find anything left behind, but our house used to have an old water fountain with a concrete cherubic little girl sitting on top of it, pouring the water out of a jug. This was my husband’s grandparents house, and he finally felt okay getting rid of the fountain since it was broken and extremely aged. But as it goes, he first had to check to make sure none of his brothers wanted it. They both said no thanks, but we borrowed a scene from Amelie, and took the cherub topper to his oldest brother’s house and buried it in the shrubs on the side of his house when he wasn’t home. My husband thinks it will be hilarious a month or so from now when Older Brother is trimming the boxwoods and discovers the strangely familiar cherub that has been hiding behind them for who knows how long!
We are looking forward to the phone call that comes after that discovery.
Have you thought about putting sheers between the decorative curtains? It’s something you don’t have to move each night, lets light come through, but also allows for some privacy.
Sadly sheers don’t really provide an ounce of privacy at night with the light on. John used to live across the street from a guy with thin curtain panels and he thought no one could see him (at least we hope he did) but you could see everything. And I mean everything! It was like our own personal Naked Guy from Friends.
xo,
s
Leland Cypress do grow incredibly fast, in fact they were used at Superfund sites by the EPA to help dissipate the pollution and provide coverage. However, they are not long-living tress, 20 years at the most.
My neighbors put in two Leyland cypresses about 10′ apart. They didn’t grow much the first year, but really took off the sencond year (about 15 feet). They have finally grown into each other (after about 10 years), which means some brown branches on the inside. They really need mucho sun. If you get the kind of snows DC had the last two winters, the trees can really droop over. The neighbors had to pull the top of one upright with a rope and tie it to a nearby tree. Rope is still in place and tree is growing strong.
It was fate that you posted this! We just bought a house in DC and are trying to figure out how to tame our wildly overgrown Leyland Cypresses. The previous owners put them right up against the house and they’re crazy tall/full. Did you all get any advice on how to prune them? We need ours to be thinner AND shorter…
Eeks- I hate to say this but if they’re right up against the house you might need to remove them to keep them from damaging the house (foundation, gutters, etc). Maybe take a photo and bring it to a local garden center and ask an expert there if you can prune them back or if you should remove them before they cause major issues. Good luck!
xo,
s
I love this idea! What an awesome way to get some privacy without having to actually do anything to your windows! Y’all never fail to amaze me with your clever ideas. :)
I have had many frog and toad friends at my house. However, I was resposible for the unfortunate demise of one particular frog one night. It was horrible…happened in slow motion…and was like something out of a wildlife documentary.
I came home and there was a small treefrog on my front door. Not wanting it to come inside with me when I actually opened the door, I was gently encouraging it to move over to the wall by the front door light. LITTLE DID I KNOW there was a HUGE TOAD sitting up on the top of the light…well you can imagine what happened. In one fell swoop I was watching the little frog move onto the wall and then the huge toad ATE IT!
I am still traumatized.
Rest in peace little treefrog.
Oh my goodness! That’s crazy! What a twist.
xo,
s
The wilds of Florida! At least I haven’t come home to a visiting alligator…yet.