Today Dave Lincoln in Webster, New York, shares the approach he and his wife came up with to add privacy to their garden.

The winters here are bone and root chilling. Summers can oscillate between sauna bath and Sahara drought. If you can take 10 good days for the beach you’re fine, or keep jumping in the pool. With our backyard, staycations are the rule, since our travel budget gets used up pretty quickly with remote family.

My wife and I came up with the idea of using clematis as an impact feature and privacy element while looking at plant catalogs. I think I bought the clematis varieties from White Flower Farm; the two varieties are sweet autumn (Clematis terniflora, Zones 4–8) and ‘Sweet Summer Love’ (Zone 4–9). The sweet autumn is more profuse, with five hours of morning and/or afternoon light. ‘Sweet Summer Love’ is not as profuse, with three hours of afternoon light. The soil is rocky clay-loam in nature with slight acidity. I do not water these vines.

I have mixed in an English climbing rose, but it is not doing that well. I like David Austin climbers in general and have numerous climbing varieties.

As you can see, the privacy element has been achieved.

Close-up of the flowers on sweet autumn clematis.

In containers is Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’ (Zones 10–12 or as an annual). They love containers with occasional water and a biweekly application of fertilizer.

And the beautiful leaves of an Aglaonema, sometimes called a Chinese evergreen. These plants are most popular as houseplants, but they can be used in shaded spots outside during warm weather as well.

The garden also yields a harvest of beautiful and delicious peppers.

More about gardening for privacy

Podcast: Plants for Privacy

Beyond the Green Wall: Naturalistic Hedge Ideas

Creating a Private Haven

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