It does not matter how you interpret the proverb in Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall”. Fact is, everyone wants a bit of privacy from time to time in this over exposed life of selfies and twitter and facebook and who had what for lunch where.. and that’s where the “fences” come in. In this case – screens.
The purpose of a screen could actually be anything that breaks the direct visual view and / or filters noise to create a separate, more private section of a home or garden.
No entirely sure if a screen does it literally or figuratively, or both, but it does serve us with that impression of an extra line of security that makes us feel less vulnerable than usual. Whether you are dressing up behind a decorative folding screen while holding a conversation with someone in the same room or lazing away behind a simple arrangement of potted shrubs next to your pool to avoid the unwanted attention from next door – it’s a screen that does the job.
Screens have been around for many many moons and serving not only as something practical but should also be pleasing to the eye. The first interior decorating screens originated from the East, picturing classic stories of legends in battle or sacred garden scenes. Modern day decor dishes up an array of screening options – too much to mention as we manufacture and decorate them to suit our every whim and taste.
Apart from trees or shrubs being one of the most obvious forms of a screen in the garden, it could really be anything that serves the purpose and literally is limited only by our imagination or budget. Depending on how much privacy you desire, you could erect a boundary with wooden trellises, a row of pots with fast-growing evergreen plants or even making an objects-curtain which hangs from above. Strings of pebbles, drift wood, beached objects or shells could be used to create this garden curtain effect. There is also a d.i.y. trend of “up-cycling” used objects but the choice is yours and how imaginative you feel.
Screens are also used to cover something which you prefer not to see. If your outdoor entertainment area faces an unsightly wall that seems difficult to hide or cover, you could consider a vertical garden system which could change it into a sea of lush tones of green plants and herbs and flowers that you could now cherish and even harvest.
If gardening or maintenance is not your forte, artificial turf and creepers could be a no maintenance and fashionable option to consider as it requires next to no attention after installation, NO WATER and is always green.
Living in a spot where noise is a concern, water could be your knight on the white horse. The sound of water splashing or falling a reasonable height, drowns out most forms of disturbing noises and replaces it with an ambience that one may take a day to get used to, but it has a very strong calming effect on the human spirit. The positive health benefits of burble can not be expressed enough.
Adri Neuper from In Eeden Design Concepts has been finding solutions for many individual screening challenges making it not only effective but aesthetically complimentary.
Thinking about it, humans need their privacy as much as they need company in order to remain human. Mr Frost’s fences may not necessarily be maintained to keep things apart but more about balance, respect and understanding that borders are there for a reason.