Sometimes you just don’t want to talk to your neighbors.  Or maybe you’d prefer to sun yourself in your itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini without fear of peeping eyes.

Here are three plants that bring instant privacy to your outdoor space: (if you can’t see the video link, please click here)

If you are desperate for instant gratification, I would suggest purchasing a larger specimen of ornamental grass. However, if you have some patience, you can purchase 1 gallon containers costing anywhere from $7-12.  The grass shown in the video is a 5 gallon Maiden Grass standing approximately 5ft tall, costing approximately $30 at TimberPine Nursery

Here are my top 5 ornamental grasses that would work well for privacy:

1.  Maiden Grass

2.  Karl Foerster Reed Grass

3. Silver Feather Grass

4.  Huron Sunrise Grass

5. Zebra or Porcupine Grass

Two vertical evergreens that work well in the Iowa climate are the Hetz Juniper and the Skyrocket Juniper.  Both handle the winters well and can adapt to the clay soils, versus the pyramidal Arborvitae that struggles here.  (so much so that I don’t ever use them).

Happy privacy planting.

kk