Today, the outdoor space is a real extension of the house so that we spend a lot of time there with family or friends during convivial moments. In order to maintain privacy, it is necessary to install a screen system to block prying eyes from neighbors or passers-by. This effective solution also avoids that we have under the eyes of the bars of buildings for example or any type of undesired vis-à-vis. In order to combine the useful with the pleasant, we opt for the plant screen. Some plants lend themselves particularly well to it and there are many possible supports, very aesthetic and original. Let’s follow the guide.
Plant screen: the plants that have it all
To change from the synthetic windbreak that you see almost everywhere and is not very authentic, you can opt for a plant screen. It could be :
- Climbing plants that require the installation of a support,
- Of non-tracing bamboos,
- Shrubs planted in hedges.
All these solutions are perfect when the environment is suitable. Climbing plants still have the advantage of being able to be used everywhere, on the terrace, the balcony or around the swimming pool since these plants can be grown in pots. Some species of bamboo can also be planted in containers, which remains a possible alternative if you want to create a screen on a large enough balcony. In any case, we can dispense with planting a shrubby hedge…
The best plants to offer yourself without waiting to avoid being seen by neighbors are the following:
- The Passionflower (Passionflower) or Passion flower: breathtaking with its many magnificent flowers that bloom from May to the end of October,
- The Clematis (of the kind Clematis): by varying the species, we take advantage of a spring, summer, autumn but also winter flowering,
- The honeysuckle (of the kind lonicera): they bloom from June to October,
- The Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) or Jasmine des Andes: the flowering period is between May and September,
- The winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum): it is adorned with pretty flowers from December until mid-April,
- Volubilis (Ipomoea purpurea): it is also called Morning Glory or Blue Bindweed. Ultra fast growing, this climbing plant grown as an annual is covered with superb deep blue funnel-shaped flowers from June to October.
- The Bignone (Campsis radicans): it is remarkable with its large trumpet-shaped flowers.
- The Rosier liane: there are a multitude of varieties of climbing roses which come in a rich color palette. You can treat yourself to a collection of creeper roses to create an intimate and fragrant outdoor space.
- The black-eyed Susan(Start Thunberg): it flowers all summer but must be brought in in winter because it is not hardy. Its abundant foliage is an effective screen provided it is sheltered. Also note the species Thunbergia grandiflora also ideal for protecting your privacy.
- The Glycine (Wisteria): its sumptuous clusters of flowers appear from April and last until mid-summer,
- The Virginia creeper(Parthenocissus quinquefolia): it is grown in the ground or in a large pot. We love its flamboyant foliage in autumn and the speed with which it covers a large area.
- L’Aristoloche siphon (Aristolochia macrophylla) or Pipe des Hollandais: This herbaceous vine with large leaves displays very rapid growth and brings an exotic note to the plant screen. It requires strong support.
- The colloquintes (from the family of Cucurbitaceae): they give decorative fruit different colors but not edible. In this category, we can for example choose Pumpkin for its small ornamental gourds, Cucurbita argyosperma or the true Coloquinte (Citrullus colocynthis).
The Photenia (Photenia) is a very interesting shrub, which flowers generously in spring and all its new leaves are a deep red forming a striking contrast with the existing foliage of a beautiful glossy green. It is one of the ideal plants for quickly having an effective and aesthetic screen, especially since it likes both the ground and a container. And he doesn’t need any support… This is also the case for the tall, misty grasses, which play as much with the slightest breeze as with the light, forming an animated screen. As for the various species of bamboo, some are particularly well suited to making a screen worthy of the name. To be placed here and there in addition to a natural screen.
You can also ensure your peace of mind with a gourmet vegetable screen. To do this, it suffices to cultivate climbing vegetable plants to benefit in addition to delicious products such as:
Then it remains to let them climb along their support. And so that even in winter we benefit from a vegetal screen, we plant a few feet of Jerusalem artichokes which will very quickly reach two good meters in height…
Plant screen: the choice of supports
Everything is allowed to drive your climbing plants and obtain an original plant screen. Everyone can therefore give free rein to their imagination. However, it is necessary to select the support according to the area to be protected from view. It all depends on whether it should simply hide a bathroom or bedroom window, or whether it is intended to serve as a fence. It can be solid or perforated, this second solution being recommended so that there is less wind resistance.
Among the many possible supports for a plant screen, one can for example opt for:
- mesh,
- Wooden or plastic-coated iron braces,
- A structure in wrought iron,
- Big assembled bamboo canes,
- Vertical or horizontal slats,
- A reed resin, PVC, wicker or pine bark,
- A wooden trellis,
- A slatted fence panel with integrated pergola,
- An outdoor screen,
- Half logs of wood,
- Crates assembled together and in which different plants are planted to create a cascade of flowers,
- Of the recovery palletsmore or less dissociated, repainted in white to bring luminosity, or why not in different colors to fully play the fantasy card,
- Of the hanging pots in which it is enough to install plants for suspensions which will very quickly create a vegetal curtain.
In addition to magnifying your garden, balcony or terrace with plants, you can completely transform it by choosing a support that contributes 100% to the aesthetic aspect. To buy ready-to-install or to manufacture with the means at hand, the plant screen support can become an ornamental element in its own right. Of course, we avoid the fence, not very glamorous!
Creating your own media is a recreational activity in which toddlers can take part. And it is not necessary to have a big budget since a few wooden slats that are sanded before painting them in red, lavender blue, green or in a more discreet tone, are enough. Of course, this forces you to play with the brush every two years or so, but repainting your support is a pleasant hobby and you can take the opportunity to change color so you don’t always have the same decoration under your eyes. It is in any case a very nice way to bring an original touch, while putting the plants in scene and enhancing them. The result is striking.
Finally, if you are lucky enough to benefit from an outdoor space in a situation sheltered from the wind and very sunny, it is wise to vegetate your screen with a combination of summer-flowering annuals and evergreen plants. In this way, not only this little corner of paradise will change in appearance with the seasons but it will be possible to continue to be well hidden throughout the off-season to take advantage of the few rays of the sun in peace.
Please note: regardless of the screen chosen, you must think about comply with the law in force which prohibits fixing the structure on the fence when the neighbor is the exclusive owner. And in the case of a dividing fence, everyone can install a screen, but only on their side.