"Privacy landscaping ideas: Find inspiration in the Obama's Chicago residence, a simple blueprint to emulate"
In the heart of Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood, the Obamas' home showcases an elegant blend of privacy and garden design. Drew Swainston, a master gardener and Content Editor at Homes & Gardens, admires the former First Family's choice of plants for maintaining privacy.
The front yard of their residence is adorned with mid-height evergreens, creating a screen that provides structure and formality over a long period. These shrubs are strategically positioned along the property edges, with larger trees used to block upper windows from sight. This combination offers year-round privacy without overwhelming the architectural features of the home.
Drew Swainston recommends adding evergreen shrubs to a fence line as an effective way to maintain privacy throughout the year. Smaller shrubs line the walkway and are closer to the house, providing a more minimalist approach to privacy screening.
For those new to gardening, Japanese Boxwoods are a fantastic option. These low-maintenance plants offer a neat, compact shape that makes them ideal for privacy screens when planted together.
If you're looking for a tool to help with pruning, Felco pruning shears are highly-rated for their performance in tough rose pruning jobs. However, no information about their use in the Obama's garden was provided.
The right planting can turn a home into a tucked-away, private oasis that celebrates the best parts of the home. In the Obamas' house, this is evident in the verdant hedging plants that line the walkway and the larger greenery that lines the edges of the property, blocking upper windows from sight. These plants allow natural light to come in and provide beauty to admire from inside the house, while shielding the windows from onlookers.
The Obama's technique of using evergreens for privacy can be customized to various garden ideas and landscaping styles. Whether you prefer a more natural look or topiary shapes such as cones, pyramids, or columnar forms, evergreen shrubs offer a versatile solution for maintaining privacy and enhancing your home's exterior.
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The Obama's home, nestled in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood, showcases a harmonious fusion of interior-design and landscape, as exemplified by the verdant hedging plants lining the walkway and the larger greenery along property edges that offer privacy screens and maintain visual harmony with the architecture.
For newcomers to gardening, Japanese Boxwoods, with their low maintenance and compact shape, make excellent choices for privacy screens in landscaping projects.
