Best Plants/Trees to Create Shade or Privacy in Your Yard

Your backyard is your haven, the place you go to unwind. When you’re landscaping, finding the right combination of trees and plants that provide shade and privacy can help you create the ideal spot for relaxing after a long week. Take a look at these top choices to give you the shade you want and the privacy you deserve.

1. Spartan Junipers
These elegant trees are ideal for smaller to mid-sized backyards, since they don’t require a lot of space to grow. Plant them in a row around the edge of your yard to provide great privacy, or line them up on a hilly property as an excellent windbreak.

2. Holly
You may think of holly as a holiday decoration, but you can grow almost variety of holly in just a little shade. Choose the Argentea Marginata variety to enjoy a privacy border filled with vibrant golden foliage.

3. Weeping Podocarpus
If you’re looking shade and privacy around a large property, consider this evergreen that grows quickly. You can plant single trees for spot privacy, or grow them about 5 to 10 feet from each other to develop a full tree fence. These trees are quite tolerant to drought, making them ideal for coastal locations.

4. Pyracantha
Train this evergreen shrub against a wall that faces north for quick growth, or let it stand on its own as a privacy hedge. The tiny, white flowers that bloom each summer turn to bright red berries in the fall.

5. Flowering Dogwood
These beautiful deciduous trees don’t grow very tall, but they delight every spring with their showering of pink or white flowers, which fall to reveal delicious shade. They turn a deep red in the fall to continue bringing color to your backyard.

6. Clematis
This climbing vine works its way up a trellis or fills in the gaps in your fence to provide solid privacy. With its beautiful large flowers, it draws attention to itself rather than to what’s happening inside your yard. Start with two-year-old plants for best results.

7. White Spruce
If you prefer evergreens and live in a mountainous climate (or want to feel like you do), white spruce is a great choice. It’s tolerant to many climate zones and extremely easy to care for, with dense foliage and lots of cones during the winter. This evergreen provides both shade and privacy.

8. Privet
Privet hedges are classics when it comes to establishing privacy, possibly because the plant grows so fast. With its dark green leaves, which are mostly evergreen in warmer climates, it’s an attractive hedge. Prune it carefully for the first couple of years to get the look and shape you want.

9. Southern Live Oak
This hardy tree grows quickly and is resistant to wind and pollution, making it a great choice as a shade tree — as long as you have a large enough backyard to accommodate its massive spread of up to 100 feet. However, the southern live oak doesn’t handle freezing temperatures well.

10. Buckthorn
This dense plant only reaches a height of about 7 feet as a shrub, so it provides excellent privacy without needing much in the way of trimming. You can also grow it successfully in pots as a small tree.

Choose the shade and privacy plants and trees that suit your climate and your own preference to make your backyard a truly appealing haven.