12 Stunning Plants for Privacy and Screening

Trees and shrubs can be the ultimate way to provide screening and privacy in your garden. In comparison to traditional fencing, they're a cost affective alternative, environmentally friendly and provide for our wonderful wildlife. We've collected some of our top picks 🌳

Purple Beech Tree (Fagus Sylvatica Purpurea)

The Purple Beech Tree, with its dense growth habit, makes an excellent choice for screening, whether as a tree or in hedge form. The transformation of its leaves throughout the seasons makes this tree a fantastic choice for those wanting practicality and beauty. Starting as red in spring, the leaves gradually transition to a deep purple-green and eventually turn bronze in autumn. Although deciduous, this tree holds its leaves, providing year round screening.

• Beautiful transforming leaf colour
• Deciduous but holds leaves for screening
• Ideal for larger gardens
• Suited to wet soils & will flourish in full sun to part shade

 

Portuguese Cherry Laurel (Prunus Lustianica Tree)

Portuguese Cherry Laurel is a dense evergreen tree that offers excellent year-round screening. The attractive, elongated glossy green leaves beautifully contrast with long racemes of pretty white flowers in spring. Cherry Laurel is also a wildlife friendly choice, as its flowers attract pollinators, and the berries that follow are enjoyed by birds. This makes it an ideal option for those who want to support the local ecosystem while maintaining privacy.

• Dense, evergreen leaves
• Fantastic for wildlife
• Any moist but well-drained soils
• Will flourish in full sun or partial shade

 

Photinia x Fraseri Red Robin

Photinia Red Robin is a very popular evergreen, producing gorgeous, bright red young foliage that contrasts against its thick, glossy green leaves. It also produces clusters of delicate white flowers in spring. Red Robin is very dense and makes an excellent hedging or screening tree, and will respond well to harsh pruning if you'd like it a certain shape.

• Dense, evergreen leaves with red young foliage 
• Ideal for smaller gardens
• Any moist but well-drained soils
• Will flourish in full sun or partial shade

 

The Golden Bamboo Plant provides excellent screening if you're wanting more of an exotic touch in the garden, and as a clump forming variety, it creates a dense structure. This beautiful bamboo boasts slender custard yellow stems with green streaks. A unique feature is the soothing sound it creates when a breeze passes through, resembling running water. 

• Clump forming & dense 
• Ideal for small gardens
• Moist but well-drained loam soil
• Will flourish in full sun

 

Common Holly Tree (Ilex Aquifolium)

The common English Holly is a staple of the British garden and forests. It makes a great screening tree due to its dense and glossy, evergreen leaves, which provides year-round privacy and natural protection from wind. Perfect for a wildlife garden, holly also provides year-round shelter and lovely, bright red berries for birds in winter. 

• Year-round evergreen foliage
• Bright red berries, loved by birds
• Any moist but well-drained soils
• Will flourish in full sun or partial shade

 

Evergreen Holm Oak Trees (Quercus ilex Tree)

The Evergreen Holm Oak Tree is the perfect screening tree due to its dense, leathery leaves that provides privacy all year round. It grows to a substantial height, creating a natural barrier in the garden. The acorns are a favourite food for wildlife like squirrels, while the catkins attract bees, and the large evergreen canopy offers a shelter for birds. 

• Dense, evergreen leaves
• Wildlife friendly
• All moist but well-drained soils
• Very hardy & will flourish in full sun or partial shade

 

Strawberry Tree (Arbutus Unedo)

Arbutus Unedo, commonly known as the Strawberry Tree, is admired for its bright red and yellow ornamental fruits and delicate urn-shaped white flowers that bloom in autumn. It also makes an excellent screening tree with glossy, compact evergreen leaves and domed-shaped habit. Growing to a manageable height, it can be sufficiently pruned in late winter to early spring to suit smaller gardens. 

• Compact, evergreen foliage
• Bright red and yellow ornamental fruits
• Moist but well-drained loam, sand and chalk soils
• Will flourish in full sun or partial shade

 

Irish Yew 'Fastigiata' Conifer (Taxus Baccata 'Fastigata' Conifer)

A classic choice for privacy and screening, the Irish Yew's dense leaves form a natural barrier, and its compact, yellow-tinted, evergreen foliage adds colour year-round. Its narrow, columnar shape makes it ideal for creating a neat, fence-like structure when planted in rows. Hardy and low maintenance, it makes a fantastic choice for those new to gardening.

• Compact evergreen needles
• Sturdy, natural barrier
• All moist but well-drained soils
• Will flourish in full sun or partial shade

 

Clematis armandii 

If you're looKing for an alternative to trees, Clematis armandii is an beautiful evergreen climber that provides year-round screening. Its lush, glossy evergreen leaves provide coverage on unsightly brickwork or fences. In spring, the plant is covered in pretty star-shaped white flowers that pollinators love, adding to its a appeal for a wildlife garden.

• Perfect for covering walls
• Attracts pollinators
• Moist but well-drained soils
• Will flourish in full sun or partial shade

 

Pleached Lime Tree (Pleached Tilia Europaea)

The Pleached Lime is a beautiful tree with charming heart-shaped leaves that turn a golden yellow in autumn. Expertly pruned, its compact shape makes it ideal for screening, and it develops a dense canopy as it matures. Since its pleached, it offers a neater, more structured look for a tidy and elegant solution to privacy. 

• Compact, neat and great for privacy
• Heart-shaped leaves
• Moist but well-drained soils
• Will flourish in full sun

 

Irish Ivy (Hedera hibernica)

Irish Ivy is a robust evergreen climber, similarly to Clematis armandii, its fantastic for covering unsightly walls or fences. In autumn it blooms small green flowers and black berries, providing a food source for late foraging bees and birds. Ivy is fast growing and low-maintenance, a great choice if you're wanting instant impact.

• Robust, evergreen leaves
• Thick screening
• Moist but well-drained soils
• Will flourish in full sun

 

Common Hornbeam Tree (Carpinus Betulus)

The Common Hornbeam with its smooth, grey-brown bark is a striking native tree known for its bushy, rounded form. Its dark green, deeply serrated leaves add texture to the garden, turning a beautiful golden yellow in autumn. Its perfect for screening as it holds its brown leaves in winter, providing a dense, year-round barrier that offers excellent privacy. 

• Glossy, textured leaves
• Holds leaves in winter for screening
• Moist but well-drained soils
• Will flourish in full sun or part shade