Privacy Hedges for Every Yard: Our Top Plant Picks
Turn your yard into a private oasis with these beautiful, functional shrubs
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As lot sizes continue to shrink and houses are built closer together, privacy has become more important than ever. Privacy hedging provides a living barrier to screen out neighboring homes, block unsightly views, or provide a buffer from nearby streets and sidewalks. Hedging can also be used as a windbreak, to create a lush backdrop, divide different areas of the yard, and provide habitat for wildlife.
Decide what function you want your hedge to serve, and what attributes are most important. There are many different kinds of shrubs that are suitable for privacy hedging or screening. Evergreen shrubs add year-round appeal, while deciduous shrubs offer more color choices and allow more light during darker winter months after the leaves have dropped. Fast growing shrubs offer a quick solution, while slow growing bushes provide a long-lasting barrier that requires less pruning and other maintenance. Tall hedging is effective in screening out larger structures, while smaller shrubs are more suitable to plant along a fence, patio or deck.
There’s a privacy hedge for every landscape need, garden style, and personal taste. Here are some of the best privacy hedge plants for your yard, along with suggestions on how to use them.
1. JAPANESE HOLLY
Exposure: Part sun to sun Japanese holly is a broadleaf evergreen with shiny foliage and a dense growth habit that is amenable to shearing into formal hedging and topiaries. Hedge Box® has small oval green leaves and a narrow, upright habit suitable for tight spaces. Use to divide garden rooms, or in a narrow side yard. |
2. DISTYLIUM
Buckhead Bold™ Exposure: Sun to part shade Distylium is a little-known broadleaf evergreen shrub that deserves a spot in any Southern garden. This versatile landscape plant has a dense growth habit, upright layered branching, and an elegant vase-shaped structure. The textured foliage of Buckhead Bold™ shifts from bronze to blue-green, with plants producing bright red flowers in late winter for multi-seasonal appeal. Use this medium-sized shrub as screening along a property line. |
3. ARBORVITAE
Cheer Drops® Exposure: Part sun to sun Some of the best landscaping hedge plants, arborvitaes are coniferous trees or shrubs that come in a wide range of sizes and shapes. The attractive teardrop form of Cheer Drops® maintains its unique shape naturally, with fresh green foliage that holds its color year-round. Plant as a captivating privacy hedge or foundation planting to break up the monotony of the landscape. |
Laura LeBoutillier of Garden Answer shows how to plant an arborvitae hedge by using an auger to make quick work of creating a planting hole. |
4. FALSE CYPRESS
Cedar Rapids® Zones: 4-8 False cypress is a hardy coniferous tree or shrub with a mounding, pyramidal or conical shape, producing evergreen foliage in a range of colors. Cedar Rapids® has an attractive pyramidal shape, with lime-green foliage that adds lively color and feathery texture to the landscape. These tall shrubs, which can reach up to 30 feet tall, are useful for multi-story homes where privacy screening is needed along a property line. |
5. SOUTHERN WAX MYRTLE
Bayside Bonito™ Zones: 7-11 Suited for milder climates, southern wax myrtle is a native broadleaf evergreen shrub or small tree with aromatic green leaves and showy grayish-blue berries that persist into winter for year-round appeal. The dense growth habit and resilience to disease, heat, and drought makes Bayside Bonito™ a suitable plant for tough spots. Plant this taller shrub along a property line as a privacy hedge to screen out adjacent buildings. |
6. JUNIPER
Gin Fizz® Zones: 4-8 Some of the most common landscape plants, junipers are coniferous evergreen trees or shrubs grown for their versatility and carefree nature. Varieties come in a range of sizes, colors and shapes. Gin Fizz® has a uniform pyramidal habit and soft green foliage, producing abundant blue-green fruits for a showy display. Plant in a sunny spot as a lush privacy hedge and wind break. |
7. ROSE OF SHARON
Purple Pillar® Zones: 5-9 Also known as hardy hibiscus, Rose of Sharon is a deciduous shrub with showy trumpet-shaped flowers that lend tropical appeal to the landscape, even in colder climates. Purple Pillar® produces semi-double flowers that are pale lavender with a red center for stunning contrast. The unique columnar habit is suitable for narrow spaces. Plant as privacy screening around a sunny patio or deck where the vibrant flowers can be enjoyed up close. |
| Proven Winners offers an array of flowering shrubs that are perfect for sidewalk edges, and along fences and foundations for a colorful touch in different seasons. Here’s how to plan and choose a flowering hedge. |
8. PANICLE HYDRANGEA
Fire Light® Exposure: Part sun to sun Hydrangeas are one of the most popular landscape shrubs, producing large showy flower heads late in the growing season. Panicle hydrangea is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with cone-shaped flowers that is tolerant of a range of growing conditions. The large flower heads of Fire Light® are held upright on sturdy stems, emerging creamy white and shifting to red as they age. Plant along the front of a home as an attractive privacy buffer to soften the building facade. |
For an extra pop of color where winter screening isn’t vital, consider these 10 best shrubs for flowering hedges. |
9. NINEBARK
Ginger Wine® Zones: 3–7 This North American native shrub is revered for its carefree nature and four-season appeal, with an elegant structure, colorful deciduous foliage, clusters of spring flowers, and attractive peeling bark. Plants are hardy down to USDA hardiness zone 3. The new growth of Ginger Wine® emerges bright orange, fading to burgundy, with white flowers in spring that are followed by showy red seed heads. Plant as hedging in a native landscape to provide privacy and habitat for wildlife. |
10. LILAC
Scentara® Double Blue Zones: 2–8 Lilac is a beloved harbinger of spring, grown for the fragrant flower clusters. This deciduous shrub is exceptionally hardy and virtually maintenance-free. Scentara® Double Blue is a heavy bloomer, producing intensely fragrant double lavender-blue flowers on disease-resistant plants. Plant in a front or side yard as a privacy hedge where the sweet fragrance can be most enjoyed. |
11. WEIGELA
Czechmark Trilogy® Zones: 4–8 Weigela is a classic landscape shrub, with colorful deciduous foliage, tubular flowers in spring, and an elegant growth habit. Czechmark Trilogy® is a unique variety that produces white, pink and red flowers simultaneously for a striking effect. The glossy green foliage remains lush and dense throughout the growing season. Plant this low maintenance bush as hedging to divide garden rooms, or as an attractive buffer along a sidewalk. |
FAQs
What is the fastest growing hedge for privacy?
There are a number of hedges that can put on 2 or more feet of new growth annually. Lilac bushes can produce 2 feet of new growth per year, while ninebark has a fast growth rate, reaching its full mature size in a single growing season. Arborvitae is one of the best fast growing privacy shrubs for evergreen color, adding as much as 1 to 3 feet of vertical growth per year.
What is the best hedge to block neighbors?
Award-winning landscape designer Michael Glassman says, “There’s nothing more frustrating than to go out into your yard and the neighbor is looking in on you, or if you’re sitting there and looking into windows, balconies, doors. Or if you live on a busy street and you see cars rolling by. That’s a really important thing that you need to think about.” When planting privacy bushes to block neighboring yards, choose varieties such as Gin Fizz® juniper or Cedar Rapids® false cypress that have a dense growth habit and will grow tall to keep your yard private.
How close to a fence can I plant a hedge?
It depends on the growth rate and final mature size of the shrubs that you plan to use for your hedge. For example, if the mature width is 6 feet, then plant at least 3 feet away from the fence. Allow extra room for adequate air circulation, pruning and other maintenance. Shrubs that have more extensive root systems may need additional space to avoid damaging structures.
Laura Leboutillier of Garden Answer demonstrates how she planted a new arborvitae hedge along a fence behind her greenhouse:
What hedge will look good year-round?
Choose an evergreen conifer or broadleaf evergreen such as Japanese holly or arborvitae that will retain its foliage year-round. Deciduous shrubs such as ninebark and hydrangea also have multi-seasonal appeal.
Say goodbye to ho-hum hedges with these Proven Winners ColorChoice® shrubs.
When should I plant a privacy hedge?
The best time to plant a privacy hedge is during cooler months in spring or fall to avoid heat or cold stress. In spring, wait until all danger of frost is past in your area. Fall planting should occur at least 6 weeks before the average first frost date in your region to allow roots to become established. Choose a site with well drained soil and the right amount of light for your shrubs.
How often do privacy hedges need pruning?
When to prune privacy plants depends on the variety of shrub you are planting. Prune evergreen conifers in early spring when plants are putting on new growth. For flowering shrubs, wait until plants are finished blooming. Pruning at the wrong time can result in a loss of flowers for that growing season. When planting privacy hedging, allow enough room for the mature size to minimize the frequency of pruning. Arborvitae looks best with little or no pruning to retain its natural shape and size, while Japanese holly may benefit from regular shearing for the best appearance.
Learn more about pruning hedges or screens.
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