Our house has a few spots where privacy is, let’s say, limited. Coming from a home where the yard felt completely private to one where we sometimes feel unusually exposed, we’ve had to get creative. One area in particular—what we jokingly call the “alley”—is a direct line of sight to our neighbor’s back deck. In other words, it’s easy for them to see in and easy for us to feel watched.
We love large sliding doors and big picture windows because they flood the house with light and make the rooms feel open. But we’re not the type to close curtains every evening, and constantly covering all those glass expanses feels like too much upkeep for two frankly lazy people. So instead of relying on nightly curtain duty, we decided to create a long-term, low-maintenance privacy solution: plant evergreen trees between the houses that will grow quickly and block the shared sightline.
After asking around and doing a little research, we picked Leyland Cypress trees. They were on sale at Home Depot for $9.99 each (they were pricier at another store, so shopping around saved us money). Gardeners in our area recommended them because they grow quickly, stay green year-round, get quite tall, and are generally hardy and easy to care for—perfect for forming a natural privacy screen.
We planted three Leyland Cypress trees in a triangular arrangement so each tree sits about ten to fifteen feet from the others, as recommended. This spacing lets them layer visually without crowding one another, which helps form a dense, overlapping screen as they mature. It will take time for the trees to fill in, but with regular watering and plenty of sunny days, they should provide a much more private backyard over the coming seasons.
Before planting, we cleared a few dead boxwoods and had a few unexpected encounters with backyard wildlife—like a small frog (or maybe a toad) who watched me work. He didn’t help with the digging, so I revoked his honorary assistant status, but he was a fun companion for the afternoon. Later I even found a plastic duck sitting on a log tucked into a bush, a little relic left by the previous owners. Strange discoveries like that make the yard feel lived-in and add personality to the space.
Once the cypresses were in the ground they didn’t look like much—just three skinny trees in a row—but we’re thinking long-term. Over time they should grow from modest saplings into a lush, evergreen screen that blocks those awkward sightlines. We also promised ourselves we’d be more appropriately dressed if we ever need to fiddle with the sliding door at night while the house lights are on. Lesson learned the hard way when a smoke detector needed a late-night battery change and I realized how visible I was to the neighbors.
Planting these trees was a straightforward project: dig the holes, place the trees, backfill, water well, and mulch to help retain moisture. We’ll continue to water them frequently while they establish roots, then scale back to seasonal care once they are established. In a few years the trio should provide the “wooded” privacy we were missing without turning our living room into a curtain-covered cave.
If you’re considering a similar approach, choose a fast-growing evergreen suited to your climate, follow spacing recommendations, and commit to initial care—regular watering and mulch can mean the difference between slow growth and strong establishment. For us, the Leyland Cypresses offer the right mix of speed, height, and low maintenance.
Have you planted fast-growing trees or evergreens to increase privacy? Do you prefer blinds and curtains, or do you rely on natural screening from trees and hedges? We’re curious to hear about other people’s privacy solutions, and any odd little surprises you found while tending your yard—plastic ducks and frogs included.