6 Top Landscape Privacy Mistakes (& How to Fix Them)

👉️70+ Landscape Design Mistakes: www.prettypurpledoor.com/land...
👉️3 Garden Design Secrets Masterclass: go.prettypurpledoor.com/secre...
👉️Winter Interest in the Landscape: • ❄️ 4-Season Gardens ST...
👉️Garden Rooms: www.prettypurpledoor.com/gard...
👉️Landscaping Mistakes Playlist: • Landscaping Mistakes
👉️Privacy & Trees Playlist: • 12 Narrow Trees for Sm...
Landscape Privacy Mistakes
Privacy is an essential element in any outdoor space. Yet, overlooking key aspects when designing for privacy can prevent you from getting that peaceful sanctuary you’ve been dreaming of.
In this video, I’ll share some of the most common privacy mistakes I see… along with effective solutions to creating a private landscape that functions and looks beautiful.
Mistake 6: Not Planning for Privacy
Mistake 5: Incorrect Tree Placement
Mistake 4: Not Considering Winter Privacy
Mistake 3: Not Addressing Noise
Mistake 2: Poor Placement of Entertainment Areas
Mistake 1: Waiting Too Long to Address Privacy
-----
🌷Helping you create a vibrant, manageable 4-season landscape that is uniquely you.🌷
I’m Amy and I help home gardeners design landscapes that are uniquely you.
3 Gardening Secrets Revealed (Free Training): go.prettypurpledoor.com/secre...
Free Plant Pairing Guide: prettypurpledoor.com/guides

[@donnamiller1273]

Very timely video for me! My neighbor has 6 cameras with 4 overlooking my deck and backyard. I need privacy ASAP!

[@LucyPoland]

That’s terrible. Isn’t that considered invasion of privacy?

[@donnamiller1273]

apparently he can have cameras to protect his property, crazy!

[@lookforward2life]

People have gone several steps over the top with cameras. Mental. Best wishes sorting it out.

[@user-kt4br6bs7n]

Invest in flood lights on your property

[@breik8183]

I would just buy a giant Walmart mirror and aim it at the camera as a passive aggressive message to say mind your own business

[@christinahand973]

When considering ‘noise’ privacy you should not only consider blocking out noise but also containing noise. Will neighbours be able to overhear private conversations taking place on your deck or patio?

[@katie7748]

Holy sht THIS!!

[@conniemurphyover70stillgla47]

YES I grew a WAX LEAF BUSH.pruned the bottom over time and now it's a beautiful 10 ft. TREE

[@maggieb5326]

I grew up in a climate that was quite hot in the summer and very very cold in the winter with a couple of weeks of -40 C which is also -40 F. So you wanted sun in the winter but shade in the summer and placement of tree types was important. You wanted to shelter your house from the northerly winds in the winter months and allow southerly breezes in the summer. East/West orientation for sun was also important. Deciduous trees and evergreens are both useful for shade and wind shelter and considering your position of your house on the land and wind direction is important.

[@fabricdragon]

when i moved i was just so delighted to HAVE a yard that i wasnt thinking about privacy during my first planning. i have found that one thing i drastically mis planned was how much the distance from the sidewalk/other windwo, and my window affected placement especially if the property slopes. the 5 to 6 foot tall shrub placed correctly blocks the view from my neighbors without blocking my window..

[@Peridotlight]

Found this! Impressed! Great topic! I create private gardens for myself and family and friends who ask, but I don’t care to go beyond that … at all. I appreciate true professionals who do it, and from what I see with this first video from you, you’re the real deal. Thank you!

[@ashleylitebrite6971]

This is a perfect topic for my household right now. Thank you thank you!

[@ianwilsongardendesign2236]

Great info -Thanks - For small gardens, it is always a bit of a challenge and also with sloping sites that overlook your garden. The new aluminium pergolas can be helpful 4m x 4m and they have side curtains - great for instant privacy while the taller shrubs /trees fill in the natural look the borders over the following years.

[@PrettyPurpleDoor]

Great idea :)

[@NatureHerbsandTea.]

Very nice ❤️

[@jhouriet]

plants will not stop construction, leaf blower, or road noise. truly need a solid fence, or better yet, a stone wall! we really can't avoid all visual and audio noise, especially in cities and suburbs.

[@fabricdragon]

most of those noises (in MOST areas) are temporary. but seriously heavy shrubs and water features can block most day to day noise

[@gwenwade6059]

Communication via whatsapp neighbourhood groups could facilitate same day leaf blowing once a week to quell general erratic, shrill noises.

[@claudiagonzalez8686]

Thanks really need help with my area. Will definitely book a consultation. Lots of front yard. Narrow driveway neighbors with 2 story house direct view into backyard.

[@donnamiller1273]

I feel for you!

[@PrettyPurpleDoor]

I do offer courses but don't have the capacity to do consults at this time. But thank you.

[@bettybelenky-ht9ur]

I know it's an old joke but, when is the best time to plant a tree? Answer 10 years ago

[@PrettyPurpleDoor]

#truth

[@petegdula4749]

Good information! thank you. I just need some sound barrier in front of our bedroom window until my wife decides she needs hearing aids. She has to blast the TV volume. Our house and the neighbor's house aren't more than 20 feet apart.

[@PrettyPurpleDoor]

The sound from a nice water feature near a bedroom sounds lovely 😊

[@MrandMrsBurns]

Can you show us some fencing style options? Our yard is downhill from the neighbor and they can stand in their yard and see right over our 6’ fence down into our entire yard. I’m getting a green fence going but it’s expensive.

[@PrettyPurpleDoor]

Here are some ideas www.prettypurpledoor.com/ingenious-ways-to-regain-privacy-from-second-story-neighbors/

[@jessicaw1839]

What if the noise that I'm trying to block is my neighbor's very loud water feature? It's not a peaceful sound for me at all. It just sounds like someone turned on the faucet and left it running. It's actually irritating to hear and I'm miserable! (Honestly, it makes me feel like I have to pee!) I just want peace and quiet and to hear the birds and the wind in the trees, not an artificial water fountain.

[@PrettyPurpleDoor]

Ask your neighbor to turn it off?

[@jessicaw1839]

@@PrettyPurpleDoor I tried that. I asked them to just turn down the flow a little. They just installed it and it's their pride and joy. There's no way.😓

[@PrettyPurpleDoor]

Sorry, maybe a water feature of your own will drown it out. Or outdoor speakers.

[@JS-jh4cy]

Phone city hall and say that your neighbor has an faulty water meter and they are using excessive amounts of water

[@lanialost1320]

@@JS-jh4cy It's probably recirculating.

[@brightphoebus]

I planted one 5' cedar to see if it survives, then planned to buy ten more the next year. The cedar died, so I bought a different type of cedar, and now it's the third spring, cedar is still 5' and browning, and I still have no privacy barrier between my and my neighbour's front yards. I was recommended to put up more privacy fencing because my neighbour's front yard is only getting more unsightly as time goes on. Can't wait another three years for a hedge! Thinking of juniper instead of cedar, but what if I buy 15 of those and they die too! More 8' fencing might offend the neighbour, but at least I can put it up this summer. Hmmm... Wish there was a landscaper to hire around here.

[@PrettyPurpleDoor]

I'm sure if you type into Google "landscape designer near me" you will find one. Or try the association for professional landscape designers website at APLD.org

[@brightphoebus]

@@PrettyPurpleDoor I live in a remote area, I tried to find one using Google, no luck. I tried the website you provided, no one anywhere near here. It's hard to get any kind of contractor where I live. People tend to do things themselves here. It's a bummer. That's the cost of cheap real estate.

[@fabricdragon]

oh, if you are planning on a firepit/BBQ etc? a "roof" over it also deflects the heat. a neighbor found out the hard way that even if the fire didnt reach their tree overhang, the heat was causing issues. (leaves and branches dying and scorching) so be aware that if you use a tree for shade OVER a fire pit or cooking area, you need to either prune it for a lot of height, or be really aware of hos much heat you are putting out

[@fabricdragon]

a suggestion for people like me... i dont use my yard as much in winter. the privacy on my windows from layers of bare branches is plenty- even if it doesnt allow for privacy out i the yard. so i really dont NEED evergreens. if i did need winter privacy it would really only be for my windows, not the yard, so i could plan for strategic evergreens only. but once warmer weather comes in? between all the people out and about on the sidewalks (more eyeballs) and me wanting to use my yard? thats when i need the most privacy, and so my currant bushes, roses, and vines are dandy.

[@SMElder-iy6fl]

I too have a neighbor who is hard of hearing. Even with the windows closed and the fan on, i can hear her television.

[@PrettyPurpleDoor]

Maybe a nice water feature will drown out the noise

[@KidCity1985]

How do I find a landscaper designer in my area.

[@PrettyPurpleDoor]

You can try the association for professional landscape designers website at www.apld.org, ask in a local Facebook or other social media group for recommendations, or do a Google search to find one near you.

[@KidCity1985]

@@PrettyPurpleDoor thank you

[@pirjokujansuu6800]

Your points about considering how fast a trees grows and how close together trees should be planted are important ones to consider. Before we bought our house, someone planted four pine trees much too close together in the common area directly behind our back fence. In the 20 years we lived in the house, these pine trees grew from about 7 feet tall to taller than our three story house. The trees are so tall and thick, they block our view of the sky even from our top story. To top it off, the limbs cover over half of and the roots extend across our postage stamp size back yard. Because the trees had to be limbed up to allow garbage trucks through, we have no privacy. We can see directly into our neighbor's front porch and house, and she into our house. Over the years we've tried repeatedly to get the other property owners in our five-unit planned unit development to agree with removing the trees and replacing them with trees that suit the area. We've offered to cover the whole cost, still to no avail…. Moving seems to be the solution, unless the two neighbors move first.

[@PrettyPurpleDoor]

That sounds really frustrating I'm so sorry.