Designing Pleached Tree Screens For Your Garden
When it comes to garden design, two things are always at the top of our client’s priority list – privacy and aesthetics.
At Heath Landscapes & Garden Design, we understand that our clients want a beautiful garden that they can enjoy in peace. You do not want your neighbours intruding on your outdoor events or relaxation time under the sun, which is why pleached tree screens are so popular.
Pleached tree screens rely on natural elements and stunning greenery displays to create an outdoor environment that looks amazing and is completely private.
In this post, we are sharing everything you need to know about pleached tree screens and how you can incorporate them into your garden design.
What Are Pleached Trees?
Before we can move forward with our recommendations and design tips, we first need to explain what pleached trees are. Pleached trees are trees that have been trained to grow in a particular way, allowing them to be paired with others and create a stunning natural display in your garden.
These kinds of trees grow with straight, clear stems and a flat, horizontal crown. With careful pruning and shaping, pleached trees can intertwine their branches to create a screen of foliage.
Once matured, pleached trees can create a continuous, leafy barrier to your garden that is both ornamental and functional.
Pleaching has been a landscaping art for hundreds of years and continues to be a great solution for style and privacy, no matter what kind of garden design you have. With a choice of trees suitable for pleaching, you can create a natural screen that perfectly complements your landscape and home.
What Do Pleached Tree Screens Do?
Pleached tree screens can be a great addition to any outdoor space, offering a range of benefits to both the garden design and your lifestyle, such as:
Offers Privacy with Elegance
It is common for people to seek ways to make their garden more secluded and private, and pleached tree screens are ideal for this. They are a refined alternative to traditional fences and walls, offering the same level of structure with the added benefits of natural appeal.
While hedges can be used around your garden’s borders to incorporate a similar natural feel, pleached tree screens add a touch of elegance to the space due to their precisely shaped canopies. With multiple options for pleached trees, you can make your garden private without compromising on style.
Space-Saving Design
As well as offering both visual and functional appeal to the landscape, pleached tree screens have the added benefit of being suitable for all sizes of gardens. Unlike bulky hedges or dense shrubbery, which may also be used as a natural screen, pleached trees do not take up as much space.
Pleached tree screens make the most of upward space, growing vertically and leaving you with plenty of ground space to play with in your garden. With this in mind, pleached tree screens are an ideal solution even for small or compact gardens that are looking for effective screening without compromising ground area.
Hide Unpleasant Views
While you can work hard to make your garden perfect, there is not a lot you can do about the surrounding landscape – but pleached tree screens can help.
Although you may not be able to move the unsightly building, less-than-charming fences, or neighbouring properties, you can hide them using a stunning pleached tree screen that perfectly complements your landscape.
The uniform height and dense foliage of these natural screens can cover even the highest unsightly display and ensure cohesive design across your landscape.
Noise and Pollution Reduction
As well as being an excellent screen for visual privacy, pleached tree screens can also help reduce noise pollution to create a calmer, quieter environment. The dense foliage can reduce noise from the surrounding landscape, allowing you to experience a more tranquil garden throughout the season.
Trees are also an excellent tool for your well-being, due to the improved air quality they provide.
Trees, like all plants, act as natural air filters, removing carbon dioxide and other toxins from the air while releasing clean oxygen. They can even trap dust and debris from neighbouring roads or industrial sites, keeping your outdoor space clean, safe and tranquil at all times.
Best Trees To Make Pleached Tree Screens
Now that you understand the benefits of pleached tree screens, you may want to add one to your landscape and need to find a suitable option.
Pleached trees are those that have been trained to grow in a specific way, allowing for the intertwining of branches and a lush screen of green foliage. As this is a trained growth pattern, there are several types of trees suitable to make pleached tree screens, allowing you to create the perfect one for your unique landscape.
Some ideal trees to make pleached tree screens with include:
Hornbeam
Hornbeam is a versatile tree that is ideal for pleached tree screens because of it’s dense canopy. This tree can also thrive in most soil types, making it ideal for all kinds of landscapes.
Evergreen Oak
If you’re looking for year-round coverage from your pleached tree screens, evergreen oak is perfect as its glossy leaves provide a beautiful, consistent screen – even in winter.
Common Lime
Lime trees are a traditional choice for pleached tree screens and other forms of arboricultural design, making them suitable for formal gardens and those seeking a more classic appearance to their landscape.
The heart-shaped leaves of the common lime tree are a particular highlight of this choice, along with the fragrant blooms during summer.
Photinia (Red Robin)
The Red Robin variety of Photinia trees is a great way to add a splash of colour to your garden through pleached tree screens. The striking red and green foliage add some vibrancy to any outdoor space, creating a unique focal point to the landscape.
Cherry Laurel
Cherry Laurel is a fast-growing evergreen tree, ideal for pleached tree screens with its lush green leaves which offer dense coverage all year round.
The best type of pleached tree screen for your garden will vary greatly from anyone else’s, as you have your own unique preferences and needs. Based on your garden design, your maintenance requirements and the kind of privacy you are looking for, either of these trees will make a stunning natural screen to complement the landscape.
Conclusion
Pleached tree screens can offer a range of benefits to your landscape, creating a tranquil, private environment that looks great all year round. This traditional screening method may often be overlooked by modern homeowners but can be a great addition to any kind of garden and offer the benefits you have been seeking.
Health Landscapes & Garden Design are experts in landscape design, and our team can help provide the perfect addition to your garden. We offer expertise on tree and plant species, working with you to create a suitable screen for your garden that offers the benefits you desire and looks amazing.
With a range of trees to choose from, pleached tree screens are suitable for all kinds of landscapes and can offer a breathtaking natural display, no matter the weather.
Contact Us Today
Choose Health Landscapes & Garden Design to transform your outdoor space, and experience high standards across all our services. Contact the team today to learn more or request a consultation.
