Creating Plant Screens

Creating plant screens are a wonderful alternative to traditional fences or hedges, one which will allow you to create a much more colorful "fence" than you would get otherwise. While this is a great option for most landscapes, it does require a bit of thought and effort on the part of the homeowner to ensure the proper screen is chosen and implemented. Here are a few guidelines that you can use to help ensure that you are creating plant screens you can not only live with, but absolutely love.

• Check your ordinances. Since a plant screen can be viewed as a type of fencing, you may want to look into your local ordinances. You really don't want to go through the effort and expense of putting in a plant screen only to have to later take it down due to you not having paid the proper fees or having the proper permits. Always check when you are doing any type of major home improvement.
• How high do you want it? Have you thought about how high you want to have your new plant screen? When thinking about how high you want your plant screen to be you need to try and strike a balance. That balance is often going to be between privacy and perspective. For example, while it may be nice to have an eight foot high plant screen, if you have a small one story bungalow you may be going over the top a bit. On the average, a decent height for a plant screen is between four feet five feet.
• What is the available space? How much space do you have to work with for your plant screen? This is rather important since you will need to be able to reach both sides of the screen, and some plants can grow to be rather large. Stop and think about which plants you may want to use, and how large they will grow and plant your screen accordingly.
• Care level. Another thing that you need to really need to think about is how much effort you are willing to expend on your new plant screen. Some plants require more care compared to others, and so the more care you need to give the more time it will take to ensure they are growing properly. In short, stop and think about how much time you are really willing to spend taking care of your plant screen before you begin installing it.
• Do some research. Do some basic research into the plants in your area, as well as the average weather, soil, and so on so you can make sure you choose a plant that will work best in your area. Additionally, make sure that you look into the colors and textures of the plants as well. When you are considering the colors of the plants, don't forget to choose ones that will work the best with your current landscape design as well.
• Material options. You will also need to look into the materials that your plant screen will be based around as well. For example, are you going to basically build a solid fence with some burlap attached which the plants can grow out of? Or perhaps you will be going with a trellis system which can help support vines and other creeping plants. Consider which plants will work best with which materials, and which combinations will work best with your proposed design.

After you have considered all of your options, you can begin planting your new screen. Keep in mind that these are only guidelines. These guidelines will ensure that you are able to create a unique, one of a kind plant screen for your landscape design. However, it is only through experimentation, and accepting the potential risk of failing, that you will be able to create a plant screen that is truly amazing.