GREEN SCREENS

Sometimes you want a little bit of screening, just to take the edge off of a distant view. This doesn’t have to be done with a fence or a wall of arborvitaes. Instead, you can create an overlapping, multilayered collection of trees, evergreen AND deciduous with a base layer of perennials for added flair.

I take time to position key evergreen trees intentionally, to maximize blockage of what lies beyond. The deciduous trees do more in terms or adding color, interest, and distraction. Multi-stem plants work the best, with lots of branches to cut up the long-range view. The eye is directed more to the close view and tends to forget about that which lies beyond.

Parking lots or pedestrian traffic are common causes for screening. The project above didn’t need to block the neighboring architecture entirely. It was intended to add a little bit of privacy and conceal the car parking. This was achieved with a small berm, evergreen screen plants at different sizes, deciduous point of interest plants, and a ground layer (not yet shown) of three-foot tall, native grasses. Stay tuned for a photo that shows the complete project with all of the shrubs and grasses installed.