Garden Privacy Ideas: Using Tall Planters and Screening Without a Fence

The most effective fence-free privacy solution for an overlooked garden is a run of tall trough planters filled with pleached trees, bamboo or tall grasses — giving you 2m+ of screening height without planning permission issues, because the planter and planting are movable rather than a permanent structure. Here's how to do it well.

Why planters beat higher fences

In most UK gardens, fences over 2m need planning permission — and even where permitted, a taller fence can feel imposing and darken the garden. A planted screen reaches the same effective height with greenery instead of timber, softens noise as well as sightlines, and can be repositioned if your needs change.

The core setup: tall troughs + tall planting

An 800mm-tall Corten steel trough planter plus 1.2–1.5m of planting gives you over 2m of screening. Repeat troughs along the sightline you want to block — usually just one or two key angles from neighbouring windows, not the whole boundary.

Best screening plants

• Pleached hornbeam or photinia — a formal "hedge on stilts" that screens above fence height.
• Clumping bamboo (Fargesia) — fast, evergreen, and safely contained in a planter where its spread is controlled.
• Tall grasses (miscanthus, calamagrostis) — a softer seasonal screen with movement and sound.
• Italian cypress or upright yew — narrow evergreen columns for year-round cover in tight spaces.

Positioning tips

Place the screen close to your seating area rather than at the boundary — the closer a screen is to you, the more sightline it blocks per metre of height. This is the single most under-used trick in privacy planting.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need planning permission for planted screening?

Planters and plants are not fixed structures, so normal fence height rules don't apply — though very tall hedges can fall under high-hedge legislation if they affect neighbours, so keep screening targeted and reasonable.

How heavy is a filled screening trough?

Substantial — position before filling. That weight is an advantage: planted troughs are stable in wind where freestanding screens blow over.

Will bamboo crack a steel planter?

Clumping Fargesia varieties won't; avoid running bamboo (phyllostachys) unless root-barrier lined.

What if I only need summer privacy?

Tall deciduous grasses give full summer screening and die back in winter when you're indoors anyway — the cheapest option per metre of cover.

Build your screen

Start with trough planters from the Corten steel collection, made in Britain.