If you are designing your own garden it is likely that you will encounter the problem of screening niebourghs buildings, shed, oil tanks ect. the mistake many gardeners made is to screen with another solid barrier such as a leylandi hedge or panel fence, whist this is a solution often a few hours planning can provide a more effective screen.

GardenAdvice screen planting guide

1. Try not to create a solid barrier to screen a building or view
2. Use planting and structures to soften the edges of buildings and windows. structures for this purpose could include Pergola's, rose arbors and arches.
3. In planting a screen try to produce a three levelplanting scheme using a mixture of evergreens and decedious plants. This creates depth making your garden seem larger.
4. Always plan and create the screen with the main view points in mind. A good place to start is from your house windows may be the patio door if you send alot of time viewing the garden from this window.
5. Always try to use a soft screen such as planting. If you use a hard screen such as a panel fence or wall then you can use climbing plants to soften the structure.
6. In creating a screen try to vary the height by using different plants.

By far the best way to plan a screen is to take photos from several angles. By using tracing paper you can over impose a 2 dimensional image of the proposed screen.