Garden Design Ideas - Covering an Unsightly Wall

A quick and elegant way to cover up an unsightly wall is by creating a wooden screen. You can do this with trellis, but I really like to use horizontal slats fixed to wooden uprights giving a sort of Venetian blind effect.

Secure some 25mm x 50mm treated softwood uprights to the wall at intervals of no more than a metre apart along the wall. These uprights should start at the base of the wall and finish at the top. Create the vertical slats of the screen using lengths of wood 10mm x 25mm and fix these horizontally across the supports with a small vertical gap in between each slat. You can use slightly wider pieces of wood if you prefer.



If the wall does not belong to you, for example, if it’s the back of a neighbours garage you’ll need to ask their permission before you fix anything to it. If they are not happy for you to do so, set some wooden uprights 100mm x 100mm as close to the wall as possible and use these as supports for the cross pieces.

Use the void behind the slats to disguise the pipes for a water spout that spills into a simple reservoir sunk into the lawn, border or paving in front of the screen. Or, create a fake window by incorporating some mirror. If you’re using mirror make sure it’s secured in a wooden frame and sealed in with waterproof mastic.

Here’s a shot of a garden I designed where we used this type of screening to enclose a built in seating area and to cover an ugly piece of a neighbours fence. A mirror has been used with a slatted surround to reflect the statue that forms the focal point at the end of the pergola.



If you need help designing your garden please feel free to email me linsey@linseysgardens.com. You can visit my Web site and see some of my completed projects and get a bit more information.