Overlooked in Small Back Garden

Chranchel

I'm hoping for advice about tall plants for privacy. Our back garden is very small and we are overlooked from an uphill house, I'm trying to screen the view.

I need plants that get to about 380cm tall and stay evergreen. Ideally something that works beside a wall, so I assume we need planters? The wall is 225cm high.

It doesn't need to form a huge clump, be very thick, as I would like some light to still get through. But I do want to take the edge off the overlooking view.

I think what I'm looking for is something like Phyllostachys bissetii / Bisset's Bamboo, as it works in Ireland and is thin and tall, but I think they clump together quite aggressively and maybe totally block all light?

Any advice much appreciated!

looksee

Tall and evergreen and planters is not a great combination, anything that is going to get tall enough will not have enough root space in a planter. And read other threads about bamboo, you will not find a lot of enthusiasts - mostly people who have experience of them! When you say your garden is very small, what kind of area are you talking about? You could easily find yourself in a very shadowed garden if you try and grow things too high.

Is there any scope for putting up some lattice against the wall, to stand higher than the wall, which would itself cut the view a bit and you could grow summer climbers up them to look interesting from your side, without worrying about them getting to a significant height.

Is the wall in shadow any/most of the day? This will limit you as to what you can plant anyway, and you should avoid creating any more shadow.

Chranchel

Thanks for your response. I've been reading older posts on bamboo and was wondering if they were in planters, would stop them from taking over. Now I have seen some examples in garden centres of bamboo at 3.5 meters tall in pots...but like you said, keeping a few that height, evergreen, and in planters when space is tight is asking quite a lot.

When I say tight, the garden is only 6 meters wide at its widest tip. It angles in at a triangle (I know, again not ideal). So planters coming out from the base of the wall will eat into the 6 meters and look very dominant. 

Looking away from the garden, over the wall in question, the direction is southwest, so whatever we do will block some light. This isn't ideal, but we need to do something about the overlook. So I've been looking at options that don't fully clump together.

Lattice to go 1.5m above the wall height with climbers is probably a sensible way to go? Any suggestions on climbers to use given the sun is hitting the wrong side of the lattice?

looksee

A metre and a half is a lot of height to add to a wall, you will need some sturdy supports well anchored into the wall and even into the ground if it is possible. Even trellis will create something of a sail effect so you need to be sure the wall is sound.

A climber that will not mind shade would be clematis, Nellie Moser and is good, or one of the alpinas. I would avoid Montana as it would stress a high, free standing trellis too much. Honeysuckle similarly would be happy in that situation but could be too vigorous for your trellis.

Wyldwood

What about a few climbing hydrangeas? They tolerate shade well and have the advantage of self-clinging so no faffing about with wires etc.