Privacy screen in garden

twopenny

I a) planted a small growing tree to give some screening - worth every penny.. Something like a Prunus Negra will have blossom and red leaves

and b) what Doozergirl suggested. I put my seat on the opposite side of the garden, put a standard lavender £10 from Tescos in a pot beside it and a small cheap willow trellis which I grow sweet peas up for summer. It's almost like that neighbour isn't there.

Something like Wisteria can grow like the wind and make it's own privacy panel.

Davesnave

kdotdotdotdot said:

A word of advice from personal experience: don't let anyone talk you into buying bamboo plants to screen the fence.   if you do get it, buy the 'clumping' type, not the 'spreading' type,

The clumping types are actually very well-behaved, which is why they're expensive. My clumping one, planted beside my awkward neighbour, has stayed exactly where I put it for the past 8 years!

rach_k

We had clumping bamboo that didn't move for years.  When I eventually got rid of it - because we needed the space - the root ball was about the same diameter as the plants themselves.  Nothing has grown back since and I didn't pay any particular attention when I dug it out.

Another option might be a canopy type thing.  Can your neighbour see into your garden from their upstairs windows?  We are very overlooked so when we're sitting out, we put up one of these from Ikea - https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/dyning-canopy-white-60125785/  We clip one side to the top of the fencing between us and the neighbour and the other to whatever is available (kids' play equipment for us).  We don't leave it out permanently but it's fine for a few weeks at a time and is very easy to put up/down.  You could angle it with the side furthest from your annoying neighbour higher so you still get plenty of light, although they do let light through.