Privacy Shrubs for Sale Online

Even if you love your neighbors, a little bit of privacy is always welcome. Formal fences offer seclusion and clear boundaries, but they can be expensive, not to mention difficult to install and maintain. If you’re looking to turn your yard into more of a sheltered retreat, why not consider planting privacy shrubs and hedges? With privacy shrubs installed along your property line, you get a soft, natural buffer that offers a beautiful view for both you and your neighbors without creating the feel of a compound.

Types of Privacy Shrubs

If you are looking for a natural buffer between your property and the rest of the world, several easy-to-grow species of shrubs fit the bill. Privacy shrubs tend to be very dense, with foliage thick enough to deaden outside noise and block the view of onlookers. A few varieties include:

  • Red-Tipped Photinia: The photinia is a popular evergreen shrub, best recognized for its young red leaves that provide a beautiful contrast against its older green foliage. A fast-growing shrub, this plant will provide excellent privacy year-round. This is an easy-to-grow plant that once established can reach heights above 10 feet tall. Think of Photinia as an evergreen burning bush that will give you the red color without losing its leaves.
  • Cherry and Skip Laurels: Laurels are low-maintenance, beautiful evergreens with dark green foliage. They produce fragrant flowers in the spring and respond well to pruning. The Otto Luyken laurel creates a beautiful low hedge, while the Skip laurel is a good choice for taller barriers.
  • Steeds, Densa Inkberry, and Christmas Jewel Hollies: These evergreens provide a beautiful dark-green border year-round, and the Christmas Jewel variety produces red berries in the winter for a pop of festive color.
  • Silver King, Manhattan, and Golden Euonymus: Euonymus shrubs are excellent choices for privacy shrubs. Whether it’s the white-tipped Silver King, the shiny Manhattan, or the yellow-edged Golden Euonymus, these shrubs provide an easy-to-maintain solution, with minimal pruning and watering needs.
  • Gold Dust Aucuba: With variegated leaves peppered with golden spots, the Gold Dust Aucuba, also known as the Japanese laurel, is a beautiful plant for shadier locations and will add color to your privacy hedge. The Aucuba requires minimal maintenance and provides a privacy screen up to eight feet tall once fully matured. When inter-planted with the male ‘Mr. Goldstrike’s wonderful red berries are formed.
  • Boxwoods: A classic choice in Colonial times and still today, the Boxwood is a glossy, rounded evergreen with luscious green color. It can be trimmed into a perfectly formed hedge with very little pruning required. It is slow-growing and naturally only ten to twelve feet tall. The Boxwood shrubs are a good choice for anyone seeking garden borders and hedges.
  • Ligustrum: Also known as the Japanese privet, this versatile yet underused shrub is an attractive evergreen with waxy, dark-green leaves. Highly adaptable with sweet-smelling white flowers in the late spring, the Ligustrum is becoming known as the perfect shrub for a privacy border.

Benefits of Privacy Shrubs

The main benefit of installing privacy shrubs is the obtainable seclusion. With a line of privacy shrubs, you get both an audible and visible buffer between you and your neighbors, so you don’t need to worry about causing disturbances when you entertain guests outdoors. Additionally, privacy shrubs allow you to more clearly define your property without installing a fence.

On top of these benefits to your neighbor relations, privacy shrubs offer landscaping advantages to your yard by providing a visual backdrop for deciduous shrubs. Certain types of shrubs can also act as shades for other plants in your yard, providing a better growing environment for plants needing partial shade. All of these factors can help add interest and curb appeal to your property.

Choosing the Right Privacy Shrubs for Your House

Determining the best privacy shrub for your property depends on what you want in a hedge. For example, if you’re looking for a taller hedge, a skip laurel or red-tipped Photinia might be a good choice, while a Dwarf English Boxwood or Otto Luyken Laurel will fit your needs if you want a lower growing option.

Appearance is also important to consider. Do you want a beautiful dark green backdrop for the rest of your landscaping or are you looking for a hedge with a beauty all its own? If you want your new buffer zone to be pretty as well as practical, you may opt for flowering shrubs for your privacy hedge such as Ligustrum or Skip Laurel, or perhaps a bright-colored plant such as golden euonymus.

If you’re not sure what type of privacy shrub will work best for your needs, we welcome you to contact us at Garden Goods Direct and talk to one of our nursery experts for advice! We’ll match you with the best natural barrier for your yard and needs.

How to Care for Privacy Shrubs

Each shrub has a slightly different ideal environment for optimal growth and health, but most privacy shrubs require relatively little maintenance once planted. As long as you space your privacy shrubs appropriately for their size during planting, the majority of your privacy shrub maintenance will consist of yearly fertilization and pruning. The frequency of your pruning and fertilizing, however, will depend largely on the species of privacy shrub you choose.

Most privacy shrubs prefer rich, yet well-drained soil that retains moisture. The best way to ensure this is by watering your privacy shrubs every few days until established. You may also consider improving soil conditions with light fertilizing and mulch each spring.

Many species of privacy shrubs are also relatively pest-resistant, meaning that insects are less likely to feast on them. But it’s still worthwhile to check your shrubs regularly for signs of pests, like browning leaves or heavy needle loss, especially if you hear reports of local infestations.

If you’re not sure how to care for your privacy shrubs or foundation planting, Garden Goods Direct can help. Talk to one of our nursery experts today, and we’ll answer any questions you might have about the care and keeping of your privacy shrubs.

Buying Privacy Shrubs Online

If you’re looking to create a hedge that will give you privacy and yard beautification, check out the wide variety of privacy shrubs available through Garden Goods Direct. As America’s number one online garden center, we carry a wide selection of healthy plants — in fact, each of our bushes and shrubs is personally inspected by Woodie, and we don’t sell them unless they earn his Seal of Approval. Order your privacy shrubs online today!