Screening an Overlooked Garden to Create an Outdoor Room – Loughborough, Leicestershire

Our clients lived in an established estate in Loughborough, and their garden had a problem with overlooking properties. This was an issue for them as they wanted to install a hot tub in the garden, and to create an outdoor room for dining and entertaining.

Our design included various screening solutions. The hot tub itself, set into a decked seating area at the rear of the garden, was screened by a substantial, bespoke timber pergola. The design of the pergola allows plenty of light in, but the angle and thickness of the uprights create a capable screen.

In other parts of the garden, we installed rows of pleached oak trees, which will grow to form an attractive barrier from overlooking windows. We also added young multi-stem birch and cherry trees which also create extra screening.

Elsewhere in the garden, we designed the planting to have a layered effect. Yew hedging provides year-round structure and is planted in front of rows of shrub hydrangeas, which add bold splashes of colour when in flower.

The lighting scheme was designed in partnership with lighting specialists Inui, and the shadows created in the evening create a dramatic effect, setting off the more sculptural planting and the slatted timber screens.

McKay Landscapes of Barrow on Soar expertly did a high-quality landscaping installation.

This garden was featured in the December 2019 issue of Modern Gardens magazine.