07. Guest House Privacy Screen
An evergreen screen with a cluster of cryptomeria.
The design for the privacy screen at the north edge of the property is simple — a straight line. The privacy screen at the guest house is more complicated. I want there to be a privacy screen, but I also don’t want it to feel like the edge of the property. My solution, make the thing I don’t want into a thing I want — instead of a rigid privacy hedge, an amazing garden spot with lush greenery on all sides.
Combo Privacy Screen
Structures
The privacy screen for the guest house is composed of both plants and structures. The existing pool house already does a good job of blocking the views between the main house to the guest house. In the future, I want to add an orangery, or green house (GH), to capture the outdoor eating and entertaining zone around the pool.
Plants
In addition to these hard screening elements, I envisions softer planted screening, too. The planted screen is composed of two layers: the evergreen screen in front of the guest house and the lush border around the pool.
Privacy Screen Design Drivers
Plant Inspiration
We used to rent a house on Bainbridge Island with an amazing garden. There were these delightful evergreen trees with bright green new growth. I had no idea what they were, but I knew that I would want this in our own yard, one day. Now is my chance!
I am no plant expert, but I think these are a Cryptomeria — at least I sure hope so since I just planted ten of them.
Cryptomeria Cluster
In total, I planted four Cryptomeria Japonica Sekkan-sugis (CJ), six Cryptomeria Black Dragons (BD), four Cheer Drops Arborvitae Thuja Occidentalis (CDA), three Slender Hinoki Cypress (HK), one Osmanthus Fragrans Tea Olive (OTO), and three August Beauty Gardenias (ABG) — which the deer devoured right away. These plants were delicately intermingled with an existing small Japanese Barberry (JB) shrub and four existing huge ever green trees. The goal is to make the screen look lush and natural.
Focus on big
For now, I focused mostly on larger scale shrubs and small trees, with the goal of filling in the gaps later. I think this would be a nice place for a few Japanese Maples and a handful of Cryptomeria Japonica Globosa Nana shrubs. Once the existing walkway is removed and relocated, I will also fill in that gap with more screening plants.
Plant Details:
Cryptomeria Japonica Sekkan-sugi (CJ)
Mature Height: 10-30 Feet
Mature Width: 10-12 Feet
Growth Rate: 12 inches per year
Sunlight: Full, Partial
Black Dragon Cryptomeria (BD)*
Mature Height: 6-10 Feet
Mature Width: 4-5 Feet
Growth Rate: 6-8 inches per year
Soil Type: Well Drained
Sunlight: Full, Partial
*I bought all my plants on-line and I sourced my Black Dragon Cryptomeria from two different sources. Interestingly, the same size and cost plant showed up at two significantly different sizes. The Black Dragon Cryptomeria from Conifer Kingdom were about twice the size of the Black Dragon Cryptomeria from The Tree Center.
Cheer Drops Arborvitae Thuja Occidentalis (CDA)
Mature Height: 10-18 Feet
Mature Width: 6-8 Feet
Sunlight: Full, Partial
Slender Hinoki Cypress (HK)
Mature Height: 8-10 Feet
Mature Width: 4-5 Feet
Sunlight: Full
Growth Rate: slow
For now, the new plants all look so tiny. The existing Japanese Barberry shrub which will be tiny compared to mature plants still looks huge. Adding mulch (or more precisely loads and loads of leaves from the tennis court) around the base helped to define the planting bed. Just like with the north property line, I just really hope these plants start to grow. Six months later, there does not appear to be much vertical movement.
The next step — or next steps! — is to add a few Japanese Maples and more smaller scale evergreen shrubs. This is going to be a slow, but hopefully rewarding process to make a lush, natural screen that looks great from all angles.