Designing Deep Garden Beds for Privacy and Interest in Your Outdoor Space

When I moved to Michigan 13 years ago, I was ­excited by the endless plant possibilities afforded by my new Zone 6 location. Compared to the secluded 5-acre garden I had left behind in southern Minnesota, however, my newly purchased corner lot surrounded by houses and neighbors felt like a fishbowl.

Learn more: See a planting plan for this garden

| AT-A-GLANCE|

Where: Zeeland,
Michigan

Zone: 6

Age of the garden:
13 years

Size: 1/4 acre

Conditions: Full sun
to full shade; sandy,
fast-draining soil
heavily amended
with organic matter

To make the property feel more private, I encircled the house with sizable foundation plantings and laid out deep beds around the property’s perimeter, leaving a wide grass path in between. Filled with a carefully chosen mix of plants displaying a striking variety of heights and textures, these borders enclose the house without making it seem cut off from the rest of the neighborhood. Trees and shrubs are spaced to allow some views from the street into the garden, which feels much friendlier than a fence or hedge.

Deep beds screen views from the street, striking a balance between openness and privacy

In the border separating the garden from the street, ­weeping Alaskan cedars (Xanthocyparis nootkatensis ‘­Pendula’ and ‘Green Arrow’, Zones 4–7) are planted close enough together to mature into a colony that has become a neighborhood landmark (p. 68, top). Nearby, a staggered row of ‘Degroot’s Spire’ arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Degroot’s Spire’, Zones 3–8) is planted with openings between the trees that serve as subtle windows from the street into the interior of the garden (p. 64). Flowing around these evergreens are a host of smaller and more fastigiate conifers and a wide