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Cherry laurel is a great screening tree
Marketing
Creating Privacy with Screening Trees /in , , /by

Screening Trees

Prunus laurocerasus Novita`

Privacy in your garden can be created using trees to hide or screen out an undesirable view; they can also be used to draw the eye to a specific feature.

Trees grown for this purpose often have a clear stem i.e. no leaves on the lower trunk; they reach up to fence panel height of around 1.8-2m with a full bushy canopy above, forming a good screen above the fence line. This type of screening is particularly useful if you are overlooked by neighbouring properties or would like to retain lower level exposure to an attractive wall or area.  Screening trees can be designed to create a focus point, perhaps to make the most of a feature.

 

Type of Privacy

It is a good idea to consider what you are aiming to screen out. For example are you directly overlooked by a neighbouring property, or would you like to filter out a large building or structure? Also consider the angle you are viewing from, as this may help choosing the right tree for your needs.

Practicality Brown’s semi-mature trees can be planted to achieve effective screening from the offset with evergreens being preferred for this purpose as they screen throughout the year.  However, a planting scheme that includes deciduous trees can provide rich contrast and seasonal interest.

 

Cherry Laurel

Prunus laurocerasus Novita close up

Prunus laurocerasus Novita, a dense evergreen tree, is popularly used for screening due to its upright and bushy habit and its

resilience to cold weather. In April small, fragrant, white flowers grow in vertical racemes about 12cm long which are followed by small glossy, black fruit.

We have semi-mature containerised Prunus laurocerasus Novita with a 1.8m clear-stem, available now.

The Cherry Laurel grows well in most soil and conditions, preferring moist slightly acidic soil.  Pruning in late spring to helps to retain its shape and encourages new growth.  If planting in a row, the optimum distance for the clear stem is with 1.2-1.5m spacing.

Trees from Practicality Brown

We can supply a range of top quality trees for decorative or screening, which are particularly useful to create privacy in your garden.   These include feathered trees that have full growth from the ground upwards and offer the same screening ability.  A mix planting of evergreen and deciduous trees, if space allows, can be an attractive solution.

We also have a range of pleached trees which can be used in the same way; pleached trees can be effective for a formal screen and where space is limited.

Elveden Instant Hedge
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Truly instant hedging – up to 1.8m high /in , , , /by

First planted in 1998, Practicality Brown is the sole supplier of the award-winning Elveden Instant Hedge, which is a truly mature, dense hedging product.

The Elveden Instant Hedge difference:

  • Grown from British origin stock (seed or cutting) not just UK provenance (which can be where plants have been growing in the last six months)
  • Allowed to grow and mature over time at the Elveden Estate in East Anglia
  • The roots are grown in a membrane which helps to eliminate transplant shock; thereby allowing planting of this substantial mature hedge to be carried out all year round
  • It is fed, watered and regularly clipped to ensure that it is an effective, robust and dense hedge around 2ft deep
  • For example the Green Beech available to plant now at 1.8m high was planted during 2008/9 season, some 7 or 8 years of diligent care and attention whilst the same height Laurel is 4-5 years old.
  • Available in 2.5m length strips which ensure continuity of plants, as they are replanted in the same order as they are lifted from the ground.

Time and again this proper instant hedge provides landscape architects and garden designers with the essential element to emphasize, enhance or enclose their design.  We have stock available in heights from 1.2m, 1.5m and 1.8m across a range of species, all of which are 400-500mm deep.

Elveden Instant Hedge is a premium product and still is the best in class in terms of the size, density and quality; it is perfect for high end projects and where clients or circumstances demand a superior finish.