Plant Shrubs For Privacy

Get tips on which shrubs to plant for quick privacy. Find out how tall certains shrubs can get and whether or not they get bushy enough for needed privacy, as well as what their sun and shade requirements may be.

LESLIE: Connor in Rhode Island needs some help with landscaping. What can we do for you today?

CONNOR: Hi. I have nosy neighbors and (Leslie chuckles) [inaudible at 0:30:33.7]. But I was wondering what I could do – what kind of shrub I could put up so they could stay out of my house.

LESLIE: Are you looking for a shrub that’s going to get really tall or do you just want something that’s really thick or do you want both?

CONNOR: Both.

LESLIE: Both.

CONNOR: Mostly tall, though.

LESLIE: Mostly tall. The two things that are going to grow like weeds – pretty much in every climate and in shade or sun – are arborvitaes or Leyland cypress. We put in the three-to-five-foot-height Leyland cypress. We’ve been in our house five years and they are close to 20-feet-tall at this point. They’ve all interwoven together; they do fantastically.

I find that ours did better in the sun than they did in the shade. We lost one in an area that was too shady but both the arborvitae and the Leyland cypress will give you excellent coverage. They’re not terribly expensive. They’re evergreen all year long – so you’ll have something nice to look at – and it truly does keep the neighbors away.