Backyard Privacy

Backyard Privacy
Landscape design can meet many backyard desires
Homeowner wants to add privacy and beautify her yard
The Sacramento Bee, Home Remodeling Q&A, March 6, 2008
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Q: I live in a small cottage home in a nice location, but my “blah” backyard has too much lawn and not enough privacy from my neighbors. I like my neighbors, but don’t feel like saying “hello” every morning when I am in the yard with my coffee. Could you suggest some creative ways to remodel my backyard? -- Rachel Williams, Sacramento
Cozy shaded cottage garden.
Cozy shaded cottage garden
A: Many homeowners yearnfor a private park in their own backyard for relaxing as well as a practical yard to meet their family’s needs for entertaining and play, says Susan Silva, owner of Susan Silva Landscape Design in Orangevale. 

There’s a multitude of things to consider before putting a shovel into the ground, so it is always best to start with a plan designed to cover the overall picture, even if you have to implement it in stages. 

“Privacy can be easily addressed with trees and tall shrubs, but it’s vital to consider the size of the yard,” Silva says. “In smaller yards, I like to mix varieties of tall, linear shrubs along the fence line and add canopy-type trees so you can see underneath them to other areas of the yard and enjoy the shade they create for the patio area.

“In larger backyards, the choices of big trees and shrubs are endless, but they need to be properly planted in the right locations, always considering
their growth at maturity.”

When remodeling a yard, Silva says, she looks carefully at the existing trees, shrubs and other features in hopes of keeping as many of the original elements as possible while creating something new and beautiful.

Many mature plants are worth saving; old patios can often be updated by contractors when saw-cutting the edges into new shapes and overlaying new materials onto the old gray concrete.

“I assume by ‘blah’ you mean boring, with little interest, color, or movement, and in need of a focal point,” she says. “That’s why I always try to create a feeling of intrigue, fun and mystery into every yard, big or small, to make it
truly special.”

One inexpensive and simple idea is to create a curvy planted path from one area to a decorative gate and arbor. Curved paths can be made with ground cover or even a meandering piece of lawn. The gate can match the style of the home or be an eclectic, artistic, colorful one-of-a-kind feature that can be built by a contractor or purchased.
An arbor and gate planted with fragrant roses and clematis 
creates a feeling of mystery and illusion of much more space behind it.
“Whether it leads to a rose garden, a serene fountain and bench, a vegetable and herb garden or even just disguises a storage area, a gate creates a
feeling of mystery and the illusion of much more space beyond it,” Silva says.

Although the Wells and Schimandle home's half-acre lot backs up to Clover Valley Creek, a fence and a steep hill covered with blackberry brambles blocked their view of the creek. Many old, overgrown, diseased shrubs camouflaged the majestic oak trees and classic koi pond in their existing backyard.

The remodeling project will consist of tearing out the 40-year old shrubbery and planting colorful privacy shrubs and flowers. Covering a metal-screen fence with climbing vines will hide a storage shed, while removing the fence and terracing the hill leading down to the creek will open up the yard so it looks and feels larger.

“The highlight of the yard will be a new quiet place perched over the creek for meditation and yoga,” says Silva. “A planted pathway will meander from here to the flowering gate and arbor connecting the backyard to the side and front yards, which Silva redesigned for the couple several years ago. Wells says they could only afford to install new landscaping in the front half of their lot the first time they hired Silva. They love the results so much, they know it was worth waiting to do the back.

“If you could see my front yard you would know it was the work of a true artist,. “When you drive down my street, you see many yards that
look nice but very structured with all the standard stuff, while ours has a special touch that catches your eye. People who walk by constantly tell us our yard is so beautiful.”

Shade from all the trees in their side yard kept grass from growing there, so they did nothing with that area until Silva turned it into a beautiful garden of ferns, hydrangeas and other shade-loving plants with a curvy groundcover path in the middle.

“From the street, you will be able to see past the intriguing gate, inviting you into the backyard,” she says. “It will be beautiful walking under the
trees and feel quiet and peaceful, like you’re in a little piece of the country. It will be magical, I know.”

Susan's Published Garden Articles

By Susan Silva 02 May, 2015
To conform with drought restrictions, we're seriously regulating the water to our lawns or eliminating watering them entirely. Unfortunately, the water most trees desperately need is often missed or forgotten.  
 
It will take thirty years to replace a thirty year old tree. A lawn can be restored in just a couple of months.
 
Kyle Floyd, with Green Acres Nursery reminds customers that it's the lawn that is the larger culprit for consuming water and not the trees. Unlike lawn, a majority of trees can withstand drought, but still need to be properly watered based on the tree's species and size.
 
Studies show, a gallon of water per square foot per hour is used with most lawn-watering sprinkler systems. That's 1,000 (one thousand) gallons of water for a 1,000 (one thousand) square foot lawn after being watered a total of just 1 (one) hour. Trees require far less water.
 
Kyle also reminds customers that a tree's canopy provides moisture, shade, and the need for much less water to the plants that benefit nearby and below it. Trees also cool the house and the need for air conditioning is significantly reduced.
 
It can be 20 (twenty) degrees cooler under the shade of a mature leafy tree, also providing a very comfortable place out of the sun for relaxing and entertainment.
 
There are warning signs that trees are stressed and needing water. A healthy tree's vibrancy is replaced with lifeless, under-sized leaves appearing pale and limp. Premature dropping of leaves along with yellowing and browning are other warning signs the tree needs water. The tree's canopy is often sparse instead of full. Prolonged neglect can lead to tree diseases and eventually death to the tree.
 
It's essential to understand trees and their water needs. Most tree roots are in the top eighteen inches of soil, but studies show the greatest number of tree roots consuming water, oxygen and nutrients are in the top six to eight inches.
 
The amount of water needed for a tree depends on its size and species. According to the article, "Caring For the Trees in a Dry Climate" from Colorado State University, trees must be given top watering priority during the drought over the lawn and includes these general tree watering guidelines:
  • A general rule is to use approximately ten gallons of water per inch of the trunk's diameter (width of trunk measured at knee level) for each watering. General formula: Tree diameter times five minutes equals total watering time.
  • Example: When hand watering using a garden hose at medium pressure, it will take about five minutes to produce ten gallons of water. For a four inch diameter tree, it should receive forty gallons of water. Multiply by five minutes for a total watering time of twenty minutes.  
  • Distribute water evenly under the tree's dripline.
 Change your outdoor irrigation systems to drip, micro-spray or low-flow systems based on the needs of your trees and landscape with timers for efficient and not over watering. Seek the help from professional landscapers and nurseries for low water irrigation systems and drought tolerant landscapes for your property.
 
Water early in the morning or after the sun has gone down. These are the times when trees restore the water lost during the day. Also, be sure to add mulch around the trees to reduce soil temperature and decrease water evaporation.  
 
Soaker hoses and drip systems keep the trees healthy while using less water. They soak into the ground where the water is needed, and not run into the street and drains. Long, slow watering to a depth of twelve inches with soaker hoses or in-line emitter drip systems buried below three to four inches of wood mulch is often recommended. Generally in warmer months, younger trees need to be watered twice a week, and most mature trees every two weeks.
 
Landscape contractor, Steve Irwin of Alpine Terrace Landscaping often advises using soaker hoses placed around the drip zone (area shaded) of the tree with timers. For extra large established trees like Sequoia sempervirens (Redwoods), Steve advises watering these giant trees with soaker hoses for a twenty-four hour period every two weeks in the warmer months.  
 
An easy and inexpensive option for deep & slow watering for very small trees is to water them using a five gallon bucket. Steve Irwin recommends puncturing a very tiny hole at the the base of the five gallon bucket (thirty-second of an inch), place the bucket under the tree's drip-line, and fill to the brim with water. This method should be done twice weekly per small tree, moving the bucket (s) when empty to other spots within the dripline.
 
Trees provide shade and shelter to our homes and wildlife, and most importantly trees provide the healthy air all of us need to breathe. It's critically important for our health and environment to keep our trees watered, healthy, and producing oxygen.
 
According to chemistry expert, Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D in her article, "How Much Oxygen Does One Tree Produce?", are the following quotes from studies made of different trees regarding the overwhelming importance about the oxygen our trees produce.  
 
"One acre of trees annually consumes the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent to that produced by driving an average car for twenty-six thousand miles. The same acre of trees also produces enough oxygen for eighteen people to breathe for a year."  - NY Times
 
"A mature leafy tree produces as much oxygen in a season as ten people inhale in a year."  - Arbor Day Foundation
 
"On average, one tree produces nearly two hundred sixty pounds of oxygen each year. Two mature trees can provide enough oxygen for a family of four."  - Environment Canada
 
"A one hundred foot tree, eighteen inches in diameter at its base, produces six thousand pounds of oxygen."  - Northwest Territories Forest Management
 
"A single mature tree can absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of forty eight pounds a year and release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support two human beings."  - Mike McAliney, Arguments for Land Conservation: Documentation and Information Sources for Land Resources Protection, Trust for Public Land, Sacramento, Ca. December 1993
 
Susan Silva Landscape Design of Orangevale, has been designing conceptual residential landscape plans for more than thirty years.  
 
Susan recommends Steve Irwin and his crew with Alpine Terrace Landscaping for professionally engineering and installing her landscape designs.
 
Susan refers to Kyle Floyd and other team members at Green Acres Nursery, recommending them to her clients for quality service, plants & supplies.
By Susan Silva 30 Sep, 2014
Whether you want to garden all year long or just prolong the spring and summer seasons, there’s a greenhouse just right for you and the space that you have. Regardless of the size of your backyard, a greenhouse comes in many sizes and designs imaginable, from something simple to something elaborate.
By Susan Silva 09 Sep, 2014
Going into the job, I knew this small backyard was in need of a complete makeover. The deck was old, worn and rotting. The brick patio and planters were falling apart. The spa always needed maintenance and wasn't being used. The backyard also needed screening from fences, high rise wires and the westerly sun.
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