Most privacy fences we get called in to replace have the same problem. The owner wanted to block out a neighbour or a busy street. They got a solid 1.8m fence. Then they realised the yard now feels like an exercise yard. Here is how to avoid that.
1. Decide what you actually want to block
Three things people usually want to block: the view into your section from one specific spot (a neighbour’s deck, the road), wind, and noise. You do not need a solid fence on every boundary to fix any of those. Often you need a tall panel in one spot, and a lower or more open style elsewhere.
2. Use a louvre or wide-batten style where you need vision blocking only
If the issue is just that you do not want to be seen from a neighbour’s first floor window, a Louvre panel blocks the sight line completely at the angle you need, while still letting wind and light through. The yard feels open. You do not feel hemmed in.
3. Use Square or Diagonal where you want softness
On the far side of the yard, away from the privacy issue, switch to an open Square or Diagonal panel. Get plants growing through it. The yard becomes a series of garden rooms instead of a single sealed box.
4. Plant on both sides
A bare timber fence reads as a wall. The same fence with climbing jasmine or a row of pittosporum in front of it reads as a backdrop. Plant the trellis side first, plant your neighbour’s side a year later when they have stopped being annoyed about the fence.
5. Use the gate as a feature, not an afterthought
A trellis fence with a matching trellis gate looks intentional. A trellis fence with a cheap aluminium gate looks like you ran out of money. Custom timber gates with a Star pattern insert or a CNC Pattern Panel insert are not expensive and they change the whole feel of the entrance.
6. Get the height right
Council fence height rules in Tauranga (and most of NZ) are typically 1.8m at the boundary, 2.0m if it is a pool fence, higher with consent. Build to the rule. A 2.4m fence may seem like more privacy, but it triggers consent, it looks oppressive, and it usually gets dispute from neighbours.
Want a hand planning yours? Send us a photo of the boundary and a rough measurement, and we will sketch up a mix-and-match panel layout. Email info@trellisoutdoor.com or phone 07 578 1459.