Your front garden sets the tone for your home. It's the first thing you see upon entrance and is there to greet you again upon your exit. And if there's one thing to run a beautiful front yard, it's the beady eyes of your neighbours.
This issue doesn't just stop there, though. An exposed front garden can shatter the illusion of seclusion immediately. Whether it's the wandering eyes of passersby or the constant hum of street noise, these seemingly small annoyances can have a significant impact on the overall ambiance of your front yard landscaping ideas. Your home should feel like your own private haven to retire to at the end of the day, and this feeling should begin as soon as you enter your beautiful, modern front yard.
But front yard privacy doesn't have to begin and end with a fence. There are plenty of stylish, creative, and interesting ways to make your front yard feel a bit more protected from the outside world. Luckily for us, our experts have shared with us their absolute favorite ways to bring some more privacy to a front yard, so you can create your own little haven right in front of your home.
1. Use Decorative Screens
A decorative, metal screen brings an additional design element to your front yard, while providing also more privacy.
If you're looking for a short-term solution, there are numerous privacy options that don't require waiting for your plants to mature. "If you have a bit more budget to play with, decorative screen panels, which add both privacy and personal style to a garden, are a great option," suggests Joe Raboine, vice president of design at Oldcastle APC.
These decorative panels, or screens, are available in a wide variety of materials and designs, ensuring there is something to suit any style of front yard.
"Privacy screens can create a sense of seclusion, block unwanted views, and contribute to a more private and relaxing atmosphere," Joe continues. "Additionally, privacy screens can provide shade during certain points of the day."
They have an element of indoor-outdoor living, with a distinctly decorative design style, elevating your outdoor space.
"Homeowners can select from a variety of options that come in many different colors and infill patterns. Add aluminum frames, pergolas, or other outdoor structures alongside privacy screens for greater privacy and design flexibility," says Joe.
2. Create Layered Hedges
Staggered, layered hedging interspersed with wildflowers is not only beautiful, but is an excellent way to create more privacy.
"One of our favorite front yard privacy strategies is to layer staggered hedges of perfectly pruned evergreens, like Emerald Green Arborvitae, with flowering native perennials and ornamental grasses," comments Juna Durrant, from Ventures.
"This approach balances privacy with beauty, creating a soft, natural screen that enhances curb appeal rather than closing the space off entirely," she explains.
This approach of layering evergreen shrubs for front yards combines utility with beauty, offering both a practical solution to a more exposed front yard, as well as a way to elevate the perimeter of your garden, giving it a more purposeful design feel.
"Arborvitae offer a tall, narrow, evergreen foundation that blocks unwanted views year-round without encroaching on sidewalks or driveways. In front of those, we plant seasonal interest layers—think coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, or switchgrass—that add color, texture, and movement," Juna explains, "This layered look creates depth and visual interest while maintaining a sense of openness and warmth."
It also leaves plenty of room for creativity, allowing you to incorporate plants native to your area, for a native plant lawn.
"We’ve used this approach in several builds where privacy from foot traffic or roadways was key. The combination of structure and softness delivers both form and function, transforming the front garden into a visually rich and secluded entry," says Dura.
3. Use the Sandwich Planting Technique
This double hedge planting style creates a beautiful, classic look.
"For the front yard at this project, we created privacy and a buffer from the street with planting beds, approximately 3' wide, on both the inside and the outside of the picket fence, and filled it with a mix of perennials," says Jordan Clough, principal at Richardson & Associates Landscape Architecture.
This sandwiching technique allows for a more dense and concentrated hedge, which creates a heightened sense of privacy and absorbs more outside noise than a singular hedge. This works especially well with species like the Ficus Ntilda hedge.
"This visually softened the fence and created separation from the public sidewalk. The front lawn, really the only lawn and open 'play space' on the property, is also buffered from the fence on the yard side," he explains.
When working with a property where the front yard is the only outside area, it becomes even more crucial to ensure maximum privacy.
"By centering the fence in the 6' wide bed, both sides have a better aesthetic, and when viewed from the street, the plantings create a barrier in the foreground that does obscure the overall view of the house," Jordan continues.
Jordan is a designer with over a decade in the field. His keen artistic bent, knowledge of native plant ecology, and life-long concern for the environment are evident in all his designs. A native of Loudoun County, Virginia, Jordan blends contemporary influences with the rich architectural heritage of the region he knows so well.
4. Opt for Well Selected Trees
Choose a different array of trees for a front yard rich in color and texture.
"Planting trees in a front garden is an effective way to enhance privacy," says Mark Latchford, director of landscape design at HollandGreen, "In addition to screening views, trees can add height, seasonal interest, and support local biodiversity."
While this one may seem obvious, the species of tree and the location in which you plant them can have a major impact on the privacy of your front yard.
"Choosing the right tree is key; consider its mature height and shape, and the views you’d like to block (e.g., an upper-storey window or a path at eye level). Decide whether you want evergreen foliage for year-round coverage or a deciduous tree that will offer seasonal highlights like spring blossom or rich autumn colour," Mark says.
For an even more secluded front yard, pleached trees are great for privacy.
Or, as Mark suggests: "A specimen tree such as a mature Liquidambar delivers stunning autumn hues, naturally drawing the eye and subtly distracting from less desirable views."
5. Go for Attention-Grabbing Focal Features
A garden sculpture brings a beautiful, artistic touch to your front garden.
Don't underestimate the power of distraction. Want to draw your eyes away from the neighbours? Just provide something more interesting to look at.
As Shelley Landale, from Karen McClure Garden Design, says, "To subtly draw the eye away from neighbouring windows or unwanted views, we often incorporate focal points — such as a composition of sculptural pots, a statement bench, or a feature planter."
A statement garden feature doesn't have to cost too much either; it's surprisingly easy to thrift larger, dramatic plant pots, which can act as a beautiful focal point in your front yard. Or, for a more luxe interpretation, a water feature can also help your outdoor space feel more private.
"The goal is always to gently enclose the space, enhance kerb appeal, and create a welcoming sense of arrival — while still allowing the property to feel connected to its setting, says Shelley, "A well-designed front garden can be more than just an entrance — it can be a signature feature of your home."
6. Use Tall Planters
Choose evergreens in varying heights for a more layered look.
If your front yard feels particularly exposed to street view, bringing some more height to your space will help you create a more secluded feel.
"For instant height and structure in an urban front yard garden, I like using evergreen shrubs such as Ilex glaba or boxwood in tall narrow planters," shares landscape designer Kat Aul Cervoni.
While other privacy ideas have a more traditional, classic feel, this design has more potential for modern, urban garden designs.
"This creates a lush, green screen that feels intentional and architectural — and you can move them if needed," adds Kat.
Katherine "Kat" Aul Cervoni is the founder and principal of Staghorn as well as the blog, The Cultivation. Her passion for all things outdoor living is driven by her desire to help people reconnect to nature wherever they can. She believes that outside spaces should exist as natural extensions of the interiors, and brings this ethos to all her design projects
Height: 78cm
Height: 87cm
Height: 66cm
7. Layer, Layer, Layer
Create a garden rich in biodiversity by including several local plants in your layered design.
If there's one lesson you take away, it should be the importance of layering. And that doesn't just apply to your hedges; this approach can be applied throughout your garden design.
"At KMGD, we often take a layered approach to front garden privacy—one that balances elegance with practicality," says Shelley.
Our favorite privacy ideas are the ones that don't sacrifice on beauty, and this one is just as attractive as it is practical.
"Rather than blocking views completely, we use a combination of soft evergreen structure, airy multi-stem trees, and sculpted hedging to introduce height and seclusion without feeling overly dense or defensive," Shelley continues.
This can be applied to a whole variety of plants. We love combining low, dense shrubs or ornamental grasses with other privacy trees for a more visually intriguing look.
"Underplanting with textured grasses and low shrubs brings interest to ground level, while vertical climbers such as jasmine or ivy can soften boundaries and introduce scent and seasonal detail," says Shelly.
Now that you've got your front yard covered, it's time to crack down on your garden and get it ready for a summer spent outside. Try incorporating the best plants for privacy within your design, or to take it one step further, we love the idea of security planting.
