Having a garden in Ontario is a luxury loved by many and offers endless joy, peace, and creativity. However, it can lose some of that appeal when all of your neighbours are in clear view, hampering your rest and relaxation. If you’re tired of nosy or excessively chatty neighbours, we’ve got the perfect tips to help you craft a perfectly private landscape right here in the Port Carling and Bala communities.
Ideas for Creating a Privacy Landscape in Ontario
If you’re not into planting a ton of trees to enjoy a little privacy in your landscape, try out some of our designers’ favourite tips for creating the perfect oasis away from prying eyeballs:
Fencing
Alright, so fencing’s a pretty obvious choice if you’re looking for more privacy, but it can also be implemented in some pretty clever and attractive ways. Instead of going with something super bulky or generic that sticks out like a sore thumb, opt for fencing options that blend seamlessly with your surrounding landscape. Make it a functional part of your overall design by using it as a focal point or backdrop for the rest of your garden, accentuated with tall plants, grasses, vines, or even hanging baskets.
Retaining Walls
Get creative by adding a retaining wall into your privacy landscape design for a more dramatic look. Retaining walls are perfect for blocking out unwanted eyes, plus they also add structural support and prevent erosion in your landscape. You can either build them up using a solid slab of stone as a backdrop or by adding layers separated by smaller garden spaces for a more dynamic effect.
Ornamental Grasses
We love the way ornamental grasses flow and sway in the wind, but we also love the impressive height and texture they bring to the landscape! Use tall grasses like zebra grass, switchgrass, purple fountain grass, and Japanese blood grass to add both privacy and an eye-popping aesthetic to your garden, or plant taller varieties in front of your fencing to add extra cover and dimension to your landscape.
Trellises & Living Walls
Installing a trellis or living wall is one of our favourite ways to achieve a tranquil, private landscape. You can use trellises to train some pretty vigorous climbers—like clematis, climbing roses, climbing hydrangeas, wisteria, grapes, and English ivy—to fill in empty visual spaces and add romance and charm to your landscape or seating area. A living wall filled with potted plants will also cover up any unwanted sightlines and add a ton of exciting variety to your landscape while giving you some serious secret garden vibes.
Screens
Outdoor privacy screens are often used in the garden design universe and come in many styles, textures, and colours. Most of these are freestanding, so you can take them down and shuffle them around as you feel like it. Wood is an especially popular choice and makes an excellent backdrop for flowers and potted ornamental grasses while adding a relaxed Zen feel to any landscape.
Trees & Hedges
Trees, hedges, and shrubs are some other obvious choices for creating more privacy in your landscape. Certain trees, like cypress, can be planted on their own for an eventual living wall effect, or you can plant taller varieties behind a retaining wall for a stacking visual effect. We like landscapes that bring in surrounding features, too, like a neighbour’s towering maple or a nearby structural piece that can be woven into your own garden design for an added touch of drama. Try layering trees of different heights and using shrubs with seasonal interest where possible to create perspective, privacy, and added excitement and pull in as much visual depth as you can.
Lowered Seating Areas
Creating a sunken seating area is a top-notch idea for adding privacy to any landscape. Not only do these areas feel incredibly secluded, but they also ooze luxury in that unmistakable resort getaway way. You can surround your hideaway with potted plants, retaining walls, trees, raised garden beds, hedges, or privacy screens and enjoy our Ontario outdoor season in pure summer style.
If it’s time to create your own privacy landscape in Ontario, or if you just want to chat about more great ideas for your outdoor space, stop by and see us today at our Port Carling or Bala locations for more expert advice, supplies, and landscaping help. We’d love to hear what you’re up to!
