A garden privacy screen gives you cover where you actually need it: beside a seating area, around a hot tub, in front of the bins, or above a fence that is too low. We build free-standing and fence-mounted screens in timber slats and trellis, sized to the space and fixed so they stay put in the wind.
If you want a full boundary in the same style, our slatted fencing page covers complete runs. This page is about shorter, targeted screening.
Where screens make the biggest difference
Privacy problems are usually about a particular spot rather than the whole garden: the window that looks down on the patio, the gap where the path runs past, the corner where the hot tub sits. A screen placed close to where you sit blocks more of the view than a taller fence on the boundary.
- Around patios and seating areas
- Beside hot tubs and decks
- In front of bins and storage
- Above a low fence, as extra height
Slatted or trellis
Slatted screens give the most privacy, especially with narrow gaps, and suit modern gardens. Trellis is lighter and more open, softening a view rather than blocking it. Many people use solid or slatted screening at sitting height and trellis above, so the screen does not feel like a wall.
Raising privacy on a low fence
Where the fence is sound but too low, trellis or a slatted topper can be added to raise it. The posts have to be tall and strong enough to carry the extra height and wind, so we check them first. Our trellis-topped fencing page explains how toppers are fitted, and our low fence privacy page covers the options in more detail.
Free-standing or fence-mounted
Fence-mounted screens use the existing posts or are fixed to new posts set beside them. Free-standing screens, away from the boundary, are set on their own posts in concrete or fixed to a deck frame. A screen catches the wind like a sail, so the fixing matters as much as the look.
Height and planning
As general guidance, fences, walls and screens over 2 metres in a back garden, or over 1 metre next to a road, usually need planning permission. Screens on a raised deck are measured from the ground, so they reach that limit sooner. If you are in a conservation area or at a listed building, check with your local planning authority first.
How a privacy screen job runs
Take a photo from where you sit, looking towards the view you want to block. That shows us where the screen needs to go better than any measurement. Bin screens and full bin stores are covered on our bin stores page, and hot tub decks on our hot tub decking page.
Send us photos and rough measurements, we send a written estimate, then we visit to confirm before work starts. We cover London and Hertfordshire.