It depends on how close you have to plant the trees to your house, and what sort of trees you use. Fruit trees or maybe something like laburnum could be contained reasonably well to create a Belgian Fence, and be beautiful in bloom. You'd have to plant them quite close to each other, and they'd be quite work-intensive to maintain, though. I am sure you CAN buy pleached trees. At a (very high) price. But I'm not sure how it would work. The words you use, Valerie - "Very small garden" set alarm bells ringing. Are you sure pleaching a boundary of trees is the right thing to do? I have absolutely no doubt someone else on GoY will be able to give you more constructive advice.

I did a blog on Pleaching if you want to see a photo. I am usually a great fan of Pleaching. But in a very small garden I think you would end up with so much shade in your garden that nothing else would grow well and you would feel over whelmed. The other thing to remember is that there are regulations about the height of fencing - which is usually 2 metres. Why not look at a screen of trellis or Pleaching across (not around) some part of your garden which can work better at producing some areas of privacy?

This is a situation we are all going to have to get used to. Gardens are as small as my back yard in new build houses, the smallest in Europe. I have got used to the unimaginable fact...that my neighbours don't find me fascinating.

A large tree that has been pleached will take many years to grow and train. If you are planning to buy some large plants, you will have to pay for all the time the nurseryman has spent in growing them so they won't come cheap

Thank you all for your comments and advice. Dear Pimpernel, its not so much me that my neighbours might find fascinating but my 16 year old rather pretty, tall and leggy daughter! I'm not particularly referring to the men but the 8 and 9 year olds who lean out of their windows watching her making her feel quite an object of young boys dreams. It was this that finally led me to decide I need to do something, anything. So if anyone has some suggestions as to something else I could attempt to provide some sort of privacy screen without overwhelming the garden and our living space I would be grateful. The garden is roughly 20 x 20 ft in the shape of a half oval. Many thanks for all your help so far.

Well , your daughter and the little 8 or 9 year olds ................will grow faster than your garden.

Hi Valerie,

Bamboo is an excellent screen.

You can buy 8ft bamboo from the likes of B&Q for £19. Keep them in a large pot (gives an extra foot or so) They are evergreen and will grow even taller. You might need 5 or so (you can break up the clumps to spread out the screen) so that will save some money.

You can also buy evergreen trees by the foot (by length as well as height)

Cheers.

I have made 2 secluded seating areas in my overlooked garden, one using a wooden rose arbour and smothering it in roses and clematis and the other by strategic use of creeper- covered trellis in an L shape against the fence thus creating 3 sides of a square. We can't be seen when sitting in there.

Thank you for all your helpful and useful replies. It sounds like Bamboo is the answer, kept in pots, and trellis along the wall and fence. What creepers are the quickest to grow? As you can see I'm not a gardening expert with my silly questions. Many thanks

Not silly at all, Valerie. I'm quite interested to hear the answers, too.
You might be tempted to plant a Russian vine (Fallopia baldschuanica) which is also called Mile-a-minute vine. It would certainly fit the bill. My advice is - DON'T! It's a thug. We had one. It will take over your entire garden very quickly indeed, and is a so-and-so to get rid of.
A potato vine or quite a few of the clematis would make very pretty trellis coverers, but you will not have much cover in the winter months. Bamboo in pots definitely sounds a very good idea to me.

I'd like to know which way the garden faces (north, south, whatever). It might be possible to plant one tree (not a large one) in one spot which would create a focal point and block the view from some of the houses, without blocking too much sun - but it does depend on the aspect. South facing would be good and a small tree wouldn't block too much light. Bamboo is a great idea, but bear in mind it will not attain its full height contained in pots - probably better to plant in the ground but with a rhizome barrier to prevent it running at the roots. Climbers are useful, but will not prevent people viewing your garden from upstairs windows.

Not silly..I find the potato vine Solanum jasminodies a thug as well. i will be getting rid of mine. if the aspect allows Runner beans would do it more or less instantly and you get a crop.

Hey, Pimpernel, brilliant idea!

Hi everyone, the garden is SSW facing, but already has 3 trees (did have 5! one on inside and one on outside of wall which have been cut down, as I was worried about the foundations of the house and garden wall)Of the 3 left, one is an Ash of some sort, one is a Whitebeam and one a Cherry Blossom. They have all recently been pruned back by a tree surgeon to reduce height and root potential and give fuller middles, but of course none of them are evergreens. they are all located towards the end of the garden. It is the right hand side of the garden which is most exposed and this is where I will need to put the climbers and bamboo to provide some level of privacy. We only moved to this house in July and have to admit the main thing I was worried about was the garden being so overlooked

P.S. Thanks for all the advice. I know about mile a minute vine - we had it in our last garden, absolute nightmare! Like the idea of a Rhizome barrier and planting the bamboo in the ground, that sounds good.

You do not need a rhizome barrier for clumping bamboo like Fargesia murielae or Fargesia asian wonder. Bamboo are either clump forming or running. You only need barriers for runners (these tend not to be available in shops - only clumping ones). Bamboo does well in pots if looked after - plenty of water, fresh compost, add some bark around the rhizome and it will grow away nicely. I would divide it every 3-5 years to keep it growing up.