back garden

[roadkill]

Im looking for some addvice for making my back garden more private ,

The garden i have at home is about the size of a shoe box , at the minute the whole lot is slabbed and looks very depressing , so i would like to bring this small space alive , there is also no privacy due to on looking houses So i would like to put up some trellasis with climbing plants that will block out nosey neighbours and also would like to line the low fences on both sides with bamboo .

Does bamboo grow well in the uk and would this work as a kind of screening?

also what other plants would be good to use as a screen ?

[Patchninja]

I understand your desire for more privacy. Be careful with bamboo. You MUST make sure that you get a variety that doesn't spread. It can produce the most astonishingly strong shoots that whoosh along underground and come up where they fancy - through concrete..... It can be really difficult to control / get rid of. Your neighbours won't thank you if you plant wrongly. Grows like a weed. I don't think it's the best solution for a small space.
Also, anything very tall around your garden will cause shade and you could end up being in a small black hole

[Two_Sheds]

We have a terrible bamboo planted at school: it sends out vicious spears up to 6 feet away from the main plant, they come up between the slatted wood benching.

I have 2 black bamboo in my garden, they are clump forming, but slow growing

You could try a faster bamboo, but several of them lined up, and contain their roots in pots.

[roadkill]

bamboo doesnt sound such a great idear , what about climbers if i attach 6ft trellises down either side of the fence and also one in front of the shed to hide that away

[Jeanied]

You don't say what aspect your garden has - if you are putting things to grow higher on the west or east sides then you may end up making the garden darker. It may be better to look for a light screening plants rather than a solid planting. I have a small sorbus tree which is quite feathery but also gives a good sense of privacy - and I grow clematis and other climbers up the fence and onto a trellis across the top. But screening out neighbours is nigh on impossible - if you want to be that private you'll need something like a small gazebo in the summer!

[pipkins]

I have got trellis on top of picket fences on both east & west sides as north facing garden one side is completly covered with Ivy, honeysuckle and clems, the other side jasmine, rose's, clems & honeysuckles.

I will sort some pictures out if you would like?

[quark1]

I wonder if some sort of pergola might do? You could train something like clematis to obscure neighbours but not block out full light. Even provision of some privacy for just part of even a small garden/yard will give you somewhere to sit away from twitching curtains!

You could also grow other things such a grapes or beans which would give you the 'Brucie Bonus' of an edible crop!

What you spend pretty much depends on how long you intend to stay put.

[Headfry]

Bamboo - is this the 'new' Knotweed?
Please look around before using Bamboo.....
Do you get sun or shade most of the time?

[kirsty b]

I quite fancied bamboo for mine - himself is doing away with the pond this year (so if anyone is interested in some Koi and other pond fish, PM me) and the garden will be re-done - will remember to grow in large pot instead of in the ground.

My 'garden' is small, about 4m wide by roughly 8-10m long. Luckily south facing though.

[Parsleythelion]

The current Mrs P and I put in a bamboo plant (it came in about a 9" pot - unsure of the variety) into the garden about 8/9 years ago...the garden was generally neglected for one reason or another until earlier this year when I started to clear everything. The only thing I have left to remove is the bamboo. It is about 7ft tall, has a circumference of about 6ft and is really really dense.....I am gearing myself up for a whole weekend of back breaking labour to get this thing out. It's so dense I think I might find a couple of pandas living in there!

In summary, avoid bamboo.

I nice bamboo screen may be effective (not that I selling them, although I've probably got enough bamboo for it!!)

[Nessa]

I definitely agree with not planting bamboo directly into the ground. I've had to make solemn promises never to do it again after we dug ours up, after planting it about 8 years ago. We now have a solid 3m round of roots, and are still finding them in random places around the garden. And we have just discovered they have broken a soak away pipe (luckily only containing rainwater).

Having said all that I would grow it again, but only in pots.