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Want ideas for backyard privacy

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for ideas on how to provide good screening from neighbours. Currently from our kitchen and underneath the patio, we can see right out to the neighbour's driveway and we're wanting a little more privacy.

Our current colorbond fence already has a 300mm topper extension. I was thinking of growing hedges along the fence, such as a lilypilly, but afraid that its roots would be too close to our house. My other thought was that we don't know if there are pipes under the gravel; if you look closely at the bottom of the pergola pole, that's where our hose pipe is.

Another idea was to use S-hooks and hang wire mesh panels for height on the existing fence and then grow a vine along it such as Jasmine. But again, I'm thinking that depending on how heavy the panels are, the fence might not be able to hold the weight.

A third idea to mitigate any damage to underground pipes was to get create poles by cementing them into deep buckets and connect either the wire panels or trellis along it.

I'm also open to other low cost ideas!

I've added photos of the space and of ideas I've taken from the net.

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Building and Construction

Fencing and Screening

Comments

JacobZ

Hi @diylife,

Thank you for your questions about creating more privacy in your backyard.

I think if they are planted along the fence line, then Lilly Pillies are a good option. From your images, it doesn't look like it would be too close to your house, but I wouldn't advise planting them right up against the wall. If you weren't comfortable planting them in the ground, then some extra-large pots might be a good option.

Steel posts could also be a good option to hang bamboo screening or shade sail from. Ideally, you would concrete them into the ground, but I understand your concern about damaging underground services. If you check with your building plans, align the posts closely with the existing fence posts, and dig carefully, then you should be able to avoid damaging underground pipes.

If you are not comfortable with this, then concreting posts in buckets could be an option, but in high winds, there is a risk that they could fall over.

Allow me to tag @Nailbag, @mich1972 and @Dave-1 to see what ideas they have.

Jacob

mich1972

Good Afternoon @diylife Thank you for sharing this. So many people have that same problem about seeing the neighbours and wanting privacy. I’m the same. I love the ideas @JacobZ has given. It looks like a small backyard from the photos. I personally wouldn’t plant straight into the ground.
This is just my opinion but what I was thinking is :

Clear the whole fence line, removing that creeper and straggly shrubs that are currently there.
You could add Raised Garden Beds and plant a hedge that will grow a bit taller than the fence to block out the neighbours. If you don’t want to use raised garden beds then you could also use large rectangular planters that will do the same thing. I also like the idea of Screening as well. It gives you a few options and I am sure that other Workshop Community members will have some great suggestions for you too. Good luck and stay in touch. 🌿🙂

Dave-1

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/50754#Comment_50754

Good Afternoon @diylife

I like your research 🙂 And I dont think id would tyake the route of hanging anything more off the fence.

I really understand the viewing angles of houses these days. SOmetimes you think no one has given it a thought of what can be seen.

I would go for larger metal garbage can sized pots for posts and use stones/smashed concrete for the posts. less likely to fall over and they dont look top heavy. You could then do the whole wire trellis up higher. Note vines can be pretty heavy so maybe a solid beam between the posts in garbage cans?

So GC post, beam, GC post, beam but stepped so it overlaps teh last one, GC post and contine along teh fence line. If you wantto stop wobbles or the wind all you need as another GC post out at right angles and a beam from the right angle post back to the straight run.

Grapes might be an idea to grow! Tho they do loose their leaves for a bit.

I am going to install vertical posts with timber slats as a screen from my neighbours. Here are some sketches Ive done with what I am thinking of doing. You could do the same with the posts in gabage can's (GC's) and only have slats teh top 600mm.

02 20-03-2025.jpg

How the fence would look like without any screening. The ground is higher then the base of the fence.

03 20-03-2025.jpg

The type of slats I am thinking of.

04 20-03-2025.jpg

How the base of the posts will be fixed and also how I am going to handle the drainage of the area (A spa is next to this area, well future spa 🙂 )

Dave

mich1972

@diylife I don’t want to overwhelm you with too many plants but I put a small list of good Hedging / Privacy Plants that will help. They are very popular .

Lilly Pilly Backyard Bliss
Murraya Orange Jessamine
Radermerchera Summerscent
Viburnum odoratissimum
Lilly Pilly Goodbye Neighbours

Nailbag

Hi @diylife

Looking at your first backyard photo, there doesn't appear to be a lot of open space. So, anything you place in front of the fence-line will shrink it further. The obvious solution is planting tall-ish trees or shrubs as suggested, but then there will be the issue of on-going maintenance. There are many varieties of bamboo that will retain their height once cut at the desired height. A friend of mine has a small 6m x 6m backyard and with regular maintenance they look great and ideal as a fine tall privacy boarder. But they do grow new shoots from the ground, so these will need to be cut every few months to maintain the thin wall.

As an alternative, you could consider concreting into the ground 40mm x 40mm posts to support a range of Coreten decorative panels. I recently installed several of these to provide backyard privacy from a neighbouring 2-story home. These look awesome when backlight with low voltage lighting. You could combine these with a low garden to fill the gap under the panels to hide the fence.

Nailbag

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