Plants for Landscape and Privacy Screenings

Proper plant selection |  almost PERFECT Landscaping

A landscaping screen or buffer is a natural or man-made feature which separates land uses. Screening, buffering, and landscaping requirements address visual, light, and sound impacts. Screens and buffers can enhance community appearance, reduce land use conflicts by separating incompatible land uses, improve the appearance of parking areas and public rights-of-way, minimize soil erosion, and reduce stormwater runoff.

Screening requirements focus more on the visual impacts of the use, and buffering focuses more on light and sounds, although the two are interrelated. Screens often are specific trees or shrubs chosen for their growth habits and foliage that are placed to help blend the use into the surroundings or block it completely. Buffers could be strips of land or water, hills or berms, a clump of trees, or other landscaped features.

Appropriate screening, landscaping, and buffering will vary according to the characteristics of the site and the compatibility of the land use with surrounding uses. The first inclination of many homeowners is to plan a formal planting of one row of all the same kind of tree in a straight line, evenly spaced. This ideal is often hard to accomplish. Most plantings attempted this way wind up with one or more trees missing. Sometimes the homeowner tries to replace the missing tree, but the match is rarely perfect. Tree rows are a long-lasting addition to a landscape, so the not-so-perfect effect can be a constant source of frustration for a homeowner who wants the landscape to look tidy.

Instead of planting a formal row of all one type of tree, consider planting a mix of different trees and shrubs. By choosing a mixture of plants, you will protect your screen from major loss caused by an outbreak of a single pest or disease. A mixed planting also increases the biodiversity in your landscape by creating habitat for beneficial insects, birds, and animals. By attracting these beneficial creatures, you may find that they successfully keep populations of pest insects in check.