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.
Ben says
I’m assuming this duck has been taken out back spray painted white and then placed somewhere lovingly in the new house? John, if not, get on that. Easy bonus points man.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- good point man. Could always use some extra credit with the lady.
-John
Bianca Langford says
The previous owners of our house left 2 small stone elephants. A tall tale sign of our meaning to live here because (duh) elephants are great. They’re probably supposed to be in a garden but I have 1 outside our front door and the other staring from the window inside to the front door. Ever the persistant guards!
Gillyannh says
I love everything about YHL. I look forward to hearing about your adventures! And I get sad if you don’t post on the weekends! (I completely understand you would need a break). I learned a trick this week in the blog world and I thought I would pass it along. Milo.com is a website that helps you search for an item you want and it tells you what stores have it in stock and their price. This way your not driving around to lowes or home depot ALL the time! Hope this helps you!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip! We’ll have to check it out!
xo,
s
Joless says
Leylandi certainly grow! We have just taken 17 trees out of our garden (at VAST expense!) which were planted by the previous owners and had got out of hand so maintenance was not manageable any more. They were about 20 feet tall. I would never plant any myself, having mostly paid to have them removed from various places so far, but we are looking for ideas to replace them. Something which grows to about 8-10 feet, maybe with flowers?
YoungHouseLove says
Maybe check out your local garden center to find something that will thrive in your area? They usually have tons of folks who know about your landscape/zone, etc. Good luck!
xo,
s
pam says
We didn’t have curtains for the first 15 years we lived in our house. It took over 5 years before my mother-in-law mentioned that our open windows scared her at night. Now our daughter-in-law has started closing our curtains when she’s here visiting. If we lived in a development or more densely populated neighborhood, I might be tempted to close them at night – but seriously, there’s only so much time in an evening at home, right? Why waste it closing curtains?
Leslie says
We planted a living fence back at the end of 2009 to give our patio some privacy from our neighbor’s looming deck. I didn’t want something as tall as the leyland because our lots are so small (and I read they are prone to disease? – I am NO gardener:)
We chose the Thuja green giants for their hardy, drought-tolerant properties and planted in rows they only grow to 20-30′ (and can be pruned to desired height). They are supposed to grow 3-5′ per year once established, so we will see, but they are growing and our neighbor moved out anyway!
http://www.leslieadavis.com/2009/11/living-fence/
Brittany says
I love that you found a duck hiding in your ‘shrubbery’… My fiance and I were doing some DIY landscaping to our new home this weekend and we also came across a plastic duck statue creeping in the bushes! This post makes me smile :)
Rebecca Foxworth says
I’m CRACKING UP at the statuary you keep finding as you are out in your yard and garden. Cracking up…because I live in California on a “large” California lot (just 1/5 of an acre) in a one-story house (which takes up most of the lot). There was so much overgrowth here when we moved in that we encountered everything from sunbursts to turtles to gazing balls to an iron headboard to a FULL-SIZE IRON ARCHWAY buried among the packed-in shrubbery.
YoungHouseLove says
Woah- that is a big discovery. Haha.
xo,
s
Annie says
I am so happy to have come across this post! Our neighbors next door love to leave car parts laying around in thier yard. I am literally looking at the front end of a Chevy pick up right now through my sliding glass door! Privacy fencing is sooooooo expensive and we are spending a ton of money on a kitchen makeover. I am going to plant these along my fence.
Abigail says
has there been any noticable growth in the evergreen trees since the summer?
YoungHouseLove says
We’ll have to take pics and post an update!
xo
s
Lauracinindy says
I’ve been wondering…Did these shrubs ever grow up and give you the privacy you needed?
YoungHouseLove says
Oy, some of them have grown and a few have broken off (we had crazy wind for a hurricane last year – which dropped a giant tree on our neighbor’s house – and some of the little trees got trampled). We should do an update post!
xo
s
Christine says
Do you have an update pic of the trees? I’d love to see how big they are now!
YoungHouseLove says
We don’t live there anymore! So sorry!
xo
s