Pleached Trees for Privacy & Screening

Pleached trees provide one of the most effective ways to create privacy above a fence, wall or existing boundary without taking up the amount of ground space required by a conventional tall hedge.

Sometimes described as hedging on stilts, pleached trees have a clear stem with branches trained horizontally across a framework above it. When several are planted alongside one another, the trained canopies gradually create a continuous elevated screen.

This makes them particularly useful in modern gardens where overlooking from neighbouring properties is a problem.

At Landscaping Emporium, we supply pleached trees and offer professional planting across North West England, including Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside and surrounding areas.

Whether you need a few pleached trees to screen a particular window or a complete elevated hedge along a boundary, we can help you select an appropriate species, size and spacing.

What Are Pleached Trees?

Pleaching is a traditional method of training tree branches horizontally to create a flat, controlled canopy.

A pleached tree normally has a clear stem before the branches begin. Those branches are then trained across a framework, usually made from bamboo or metal.

Rather than developing naturally in every direction, the canopy is encouraged to grow as a relatively narrow plane.

Plant several pleached trees in a row and the individual canopies can eventually combine visually to create what is effectively a raised hedge.

This is why pleached trees are particularly useful where screening is required at a greater height but retaining space at ground level is important.

Are Pleached Trees the Same as Pleached Hedging?

The terms are often used interchangeably.

Technically, you are normally buying individual trees that have been trained into pleached forms. Once several are planted together and their canopies create a continuous screen, the finished effect resembles an elevated hedge.

“Pleached hedging” is therefore a useful description of what the trees create rather than a completely separate type of plant.

Why Use Pleached Trees?

Pleached trees combine practical screening with strong architectural form.

A conventional hedge provides screening from ground level upwards. That is useful when you want to conceal an entire boundary, but it can also consume considerable garden space.

Pleached trees approach the problem differently.

Their clear stems retain openness at lower level while the trained canopy provides screening higher up.

This can make them ideal alongside fences and walls, around patios and outdoor living spaces, or where neighbouring upper-storey windows overlook a garden.

Pleached Trees for Privacy

Privacy is now one of the main reasons people choose pleached trees.

Modern houses are frequently built relatively close together, while extensions and upper-storey windows can create sightlines directly into neighbouring gardens.

Increasing the height of a fence is not always desirable or possible.

Pleached trees can provide a living screen above the existing boundary while maintaining a much softer appearance than additional fencing or solid structures.

The key is identifying where the unwanted view originates.

Once the sightline has been established, the stem height, canopy height and overall tree size can be selected accordingly.

Pleached Trees for Screening Neighbours

If your garden is overlooked, the natural reaction is often to look for the tallest possible tree.

That is not necessarily the best solution.

What matters is positioning foliage between the viewing point and the area you want to make private.

A correctly positioned pleached tree can therefore provide extremely effective screening without needing to become an enormous tree.

For gardens with broader screening problems, it is also worth reading our guide to Trees for Screening Neighbours.

Screening Above a Fence With Pleached Trees

One of the most useful applications for pleached trees is screening immediately above an existing fence.

Imagine a typical garden boundary with a fence already providing privacy at ground level.

The problem may not be the fence itself. The problem may be that neighbouring windows can see directly over it.

A pleached tree can retain a clear stem alongside the fence while positioning foliage above the fence line.

This means you can create additional screening exactly where it is required rather than filling the entire boundary with dense vegetation.

Screening Above a Wall

The same principle applies to garden walls.

Pleached trees can look particularly effective when planted in front of brick or stone walls because the repeated stems create rhythm at lower level while the trained canopies provide a strong green structure above.

This combination works particularly well in formal and contemporary garden designs.

The wall provides the architectural base and the pleached trees extend the vertical structure with living material.

Pleached Trees for Small Gardens

Pleached trees can be an excellent screening solution in smaller gardens because the canopy is trained to remain comparatively narrow.

A conventional large tree naturally develops a canopy in several directions and may eventually occupy too much space.

A pleached tree is intentionally controlled in a flatter plane.

It still needs sufficient rooting space and the canopy requires maintenance, but the overall form can be much more manageable where garden width is restricted.

If space is particularly limited, our Trees for Small Gardens guide may also help you compare alternatives.

Pleached Trees for New-Build Gardens

Pleached trees are particularly useful in new-build gardens.

New housing developments often combine relatively small gardens with close neighbouring properties and very little established vegetation.

A newly installed fence may provide privacy at ground level while doing nothing to prevent overlooking from upper-storey windows.

Pleached trees can introduce both screening and mature structure much more quickly than waiting for small trees to develop naturally.

They also soften the appearance of extensive fencing and can make a relatively young garden feel considerably more established.

Pleached Trees Around Patios

Privacy matters most where people actually spend time.

For many gardens, that means the patio immediately outside the house.

You may not need to screen the entire garden. A strategically positioned row of pleached trees around the principal seating or dining area can sometimes solve the problem far more effectively.

This can also help create a greater sense of enclosure, turning an exposed patio into something that feels more like an outdoor room.

Pleached Trees Around Outdoor Kitchens

An outdoor kitchen or dining area often benefits from additional enclosure.

Pleached trees can create a strong green backdrop without occupying excessive space around the kitchen itself.

Their formal structure also works particularly well alongside contemporary paving, outdoor kitchens, pergolas and garden lighting.

The mature canopy width should still be considered carefully so that future growth does not interfere with circulation or the kitchen area.

Pleached Trees Around Hot Tubs

Hot tubs create an obvious need for privacy.

Pleached evergreen trees can be particularly useful where neighbouring upper-storey windows overlook the hot tub area.

Rather than enclosing the entire space with solid screening, a row of trees can interrupt the sightline while retaining a greener and more natural appearance.

The correct positioning is crucial. Screening should be designed around the actual viewing angle rather than simply placed along the nearest boundary.

Evergreen Pleached Trees

Evergreen pleached trees retain foliage throughout the year and are therefore particularly attractive where permanent privacy is required.

Depending on availability and site conditions, evergreen pleached options can include Cherry Laurel, Photinia, Elaeagnus and other suitable evergreen species.

Each creates a different effect.

Some provide dense dark-green foliage, while others introduce seasonal colour or a softer appearance.

The choice should consider soil, drainage, exposure, light and the style of the garden as well as privacy.

Pleached Cherry Laurel

Cherry Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) can create a dense evergreen pleached screen.

Its relatively large glossy leaves provide substantial visual screening and make it particularly useful where privacy is the main objective.

The strong foliage creates a more substantial appearance than some finer-leaved species, so it tends to work best where a robust evergreen screen is appropriate.

As with conventional Laurel hedging, its eventual growth and maintenance requirements should be considered before planting.

Pleached Photinia Red Robin

Photinia × fraseri ‘Red Robin’ provides evergreen or semi-evergreen screening with the additional attraction of colourful young foliage.

New growth emerges bright red before gradually maturing to green, introducing seasonal interest into what might otherwise be a purely functional privacy screen.

Photinia can work particularly well within contemporary gardens where the repeated pleached forms create strong structure but the changing foliage prevents the planting from feeling too static.

Pleached Elaeagnus

Elaeagnus × ebbingei is a robust evergreen that can be trained into pleached form.

Its foliage provides year-round structure, while its tolerance of relatively exposed conditions can make it worth considering where other evergreen options may struggle.

The silvery underside of the foliage also gives the plant a distinctive appearance when moved by the wind.

Site conditions should still be assessed before selecting it, particularly where exposure is significant.

Deciduous Pleached Trees

Deciduous pleached trees lose their leaves during autumn and winter, although some species may retain dry foliage for part of the dormant season.

Their changing appearance can be one of their greatest attractions.

Fresh spring foliage, summer screening, autumn colour and winter branch structure give the planting a seasonal character that a completely evergreen screen cannot provide.

Deciduous pleached trees can be particularly effective where summer privacy is the main requirement.

Pleached Hornbeam

Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) is one of the classic choices for pleached planting.

Its foliage creates an attractive green screen through the growing season and established plants respond well to clipping and training.

Hornbeam is particularly useful in North West gardens because it can cope with a range of soil conditions and is often considered where ground is heavier or more moisture retentive.

Its traditional character works well in country gardens, but the disciplined pleached form also suits very contemporary landscapes.

Pleached Beech

Beech (Fagus sylvatica) is another traditional species used for pleached trees and formal hedging.

Fresh green foliage develops during spring before deepening through summer and turning warm copper-brown in autumn.

Clipped Beech can retain some of its dry leaves through winter, particularly in sheltered conditions, providing a degree of screening after the main growing season.

Beech generally prefers well-drained soil and may not be the best option where ground remains persistently wet.

Pleached Field Maple

Field Maple (Acer campestre) is a UK native tree that responds well to pruning and training.

It can create an attractive pleached screen with fresh green foliage and good seasonal character.

Its native status can make it particularly appropriate around country properties and gardens where the planting needs to connect with the surrounding landscape.

For customers interested in native planting more broadly, our Hedging Which Is Native to the UK guide provides further options.

Pleached Trees or a Conventional Hedge?

The best choice depends on where screening is required.

If you want privacy from ground level upwards, a conventional hedge may be simpler and more economical.

If an existing fence or wall already provides lower-level privacy and the problem is overlooking from above, pleached trees may provide a much more targeted solution.

A conventional hedge also occupies its full width from ground level.

Pleached trees retain clear stems below the canopy, allowing planting, paths and other garden features to continue underneath.

If ordinary hedging is more appropriate for your project, see our Hedging Supplied & Planted service.

Pleached Trees or Instant Hedging?

Both can create relatively immediate screening, but they solve different problems.

Instant hedging creates a dense screen from relatively close to ground level upwards.

Pleached trees lift that screening onto clear stems.

If you want to conceal a fence completely, instant hedging may be preferable.

If the fence already performs perfectly well and you simply need another metre or two of green screening above it, pleached trees may make more sense.

See our Instant Hedges guide if you are comparing the two approaches.

Pleached Trees or Screening Trees?

Pleached trees provide a controlled, formal screen.

Natural-form specimen trees provide a softer and less structured effect.

A row of pleached trees can create something close to a continuous green wall, while carefully positioned natural trees can interrupt individual sightlines without creating such a formal boundary.

The architecture and style of the garden should therefore influence the choice.

Contemporary and formal gardens often suit the disciplined repetition of pleached trees particularly well.

Naturalistic and country gardens may sometimes benefit from a looser arrangement of specimen trees.

How Tall Are Pleached Trees?

Pleached tree dimensions are normally described using the height of the clear stem together with the dimensions of the trained framework or canopy.

This is more useful than considering total height alone.

For privacy screening, the important question is where the foliage begins and finishes.

If the canopy starts below the top of the existing fence, part of the expensive trained foliage may be hidden.

If it starts too high, there may be an unwanted gap between the fence and canopy.

The dimensions therefore need to respond to the particular boundary and sightline.

How Far Apart Should Pleached Trees Be Planted?

Spacing depends on the width of the trained frames, the species, the size supplied and the finished effect required.

If the objective is to create a continuous elevated hedge, the trees need to be positioned so that the canopies can visually connect.

Buying fewer trees and spacing them too widely can leave obvious gaps that take considerable time to close.

Conversely, unnecessarily close planting increases cost and can create maintenance problems.

We therefore recommend calculating quantities from the actual tree specification rather than using one universal spacing for every pleached tree.

How Quickly Do Pleached Trees Fill Out?

This depends on species, initial size, growing conditions and maintenance.

When professionally grown pleached trees are installed, much of the basic framework has already been created.

The next stage is encouraging new growth to fill gaps between individual trees and increase canopy density.

Correct watering and formative pruning are particularly important during this period.

Do Pleached Trees Need Pruning?

Yes.

Pleached trees are intentionally trained forms, so pruning is part of maintaining their appearance.

Without maintenance, branches will gradually grow away from the desired flat plane and the trees will begin reverting towards their natural shape.

Regular pruning keeps the canopy controlled, encourages density and maintains the architectural appearance that makes pleached trees distinctive.

Formative Pruning of Pleached Trees

During establishment, pruning and training are used to develop the structure of the canopy.

Suitable new shoots can be tied into the framework to extend the screen and fill gaps.

This is often referred to as formative or training pruning.

The objective is not simply to reduce growth but to direct it into the areas where additional coverage is required.

Maintenance Pruning of Established Pleached Trees

Once the principal framework is established, pruning becomes more similar to hedge maintenance.

Growth extending excessively from the front, back, top or sides of the desired canopy can be reduced to retain the flat form.

The exact pruning schedule depends on species and the level of formality required.

A tightly controlled formal screen will naturally require more maintenance than a slightly softer pleached canopy.

Do Pleached Trees Stay on Their Frames?

Nursery-grown pleached trees are normally supplied with a framework that supports and guides the trained branches.

How that framework is treated in the longer term depends on the tree and system supplied.

The branches themselves gradually become stronger as they mature, but ties and supports should still be inspected periodically to ensure they are not restricting or damaging expanding stems.

Supporting Newly Planted Pleached Trees

Pleached trees can be particularly vulnerable to wind during establishment.

The canopy acts rather like a sail, creating considerable leverage above the root system.

Appropriate support can therefore be extremely important, particularly on exposed sites and with larger specimens.

The support method should stabilise the tree while still allowing appropriate natural movement and root development.

Watering Pleached Trees

Pleached trees require careful watering after planting.

Larger specimens already carry a substantial canopy, while their root system has not yet expanded into the surrounding garden soil.

This creates an imbalance during establishment: a relatively large amount of foliage is relying on a restricted root zone for water.

Deep, consistent watering around the rootball is therefore extremely important.

Our Looking After Your Newly Planted Trees and Hedging guide explains establishment watering and aftercare in greater detail.

Irrigation for Pleached Trees

For a row of pleached trees, installing an appropriate irrigation system can make establishment considerably easier.

Rather than relying on occasional surface watering, irrigation can help deliver water consistently around the root zones.

It still needs to be managed according to rainfall and soil conditions.

Automatic irrigation should never mean automatic overwatering.

The objective is consistent moisture during establishment without leaving the roots permanently saturated.

Pleached Trees in Clay Soil

Many gardens across North West England contain clay or clay-dominant soils.

Some pleached species can perform very well in heavier ground, but drainage remains important.

Hornbeam is often particularly useful where soil is heavier or moisture retentive.

Where clay is severely compacted or persistently waterlogged, improving the planting environment may be necessary before substantial trees are installed.

For related advice, see Hedging for Clay Soil.

Pleached Trees for Exposed Gardens

Exposure deserves careful consideration because the flat canopy of a pleached tree catches considerably more wind than a narrow stem.

This is particularly important immediately after planting, before the root system has established into the surrounding ground.

Species selection, tree size, support and watering all become particularly important on exposed sites.

In very challenging conditions, choosing slightly smaller specimens that can establish more readily may be preferable to installing the largest possible trees.

When Is the Best Time to Plant Pleached Trees?

The planting season depends partly on how the trees have been grown and supplied.

Container-grown specimens can generally be planted across a broader part of the year, subject to suitable weather and soil conditions.

Field-grown and rootballed trees are normally associated with the dormant lifting and planting season.

Autumn and winter planting can be particularly useful because trees have an opportunity to begin root establishment before the demands of the following growing season.

Whatever the planting date, adequate watering during establishment remains essential.

How Much Do Pleached Trees Cost?

Pleached trees generally cost more than equivalent untrained trees because of the nursery time and skilled work involved in creating their structure.

The final cost of a pleached screen depends on the species, stem height, frame dimensions, maturity, number of trees, delivery requirements and installation.

Larger trees also become progressively more difficult to transport and handle.

When comparing prices, make sure you are comparing trees with genuinely equivalent stem heights, frame dimensions and overall maturity.

A cheaper pleached tree may simply be a substantially smaller product.

Are Pleached Trees Worth It?

Where overlooking is a significant problem, they can be an exceptionally effective investment.

Their principal advantage is precision.

Rather than filling the garden with very large trees or building increasingly tall solid screens, pleached trees position foliage at the height where it is most useful.

They also bring architectural structure to the garden and can form an important part of the design rather than looking like a purely functional privacy measure.

For many smaller or more formal gardens, that combination of privacy, narrow form and visual structure is difficult to achieve with other plants.

Pleached Trees Supplied and Planted Across North West England

Landscaping Emporium supplies pleached trees with professional planting available for suitable projects across North West England.

We can help with projects in Lancashire, the Ribble Valley, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside and surrounding areas.

Professional planting is particularly valuable with pleached trees because their size, weight and exposure to wind mean correct positioning, support and establishment are important.

Access also needs to be considered before ordering larger specimens.

A substantial pleached tree and rootball may be considerably larger and heavier than customers expect.

Frequently Asked Questions About Pleached Trees

Are pleached trees good for privacy?

Yes. Pleached trees are particularly effective where privacy is required above an existing fence or wall because their foliage is concentrated within an elevated trained canopy.

Are pleached trees evergreen?

Some are evergreen and others are deciduous. If year-round privacy is essential, choose an appropriate evergreen species.

What is the best evergreen pleached tree for privacy?

There is no single best species for every garden. Cherry Laurel, Photinia and Elaeagnus can all be considered depending on the site, appearance required and growing conditions.

What is the best deciduous pleached tree?

Hornbeam and Beech are among the classic choices, while Field Maple can provide another attractive option. Soil and site conditions should influence the decision.

Can pleached trees screen an upstairs window?

Yes. This is one of their most useful applications. The tree dimensions and position need to be selected according to the actual sightline between the neighbouring window and the area requiring privacy.

Can pleached trees be planted next to a fence?

Yes. This is extremely common. Sufficient space should still be left for the trunks, root systems, canopy development and future maintenance.

How close can pleached trees be planted to a boundary?

There is no universal distance appropriate to every site. The mature form, foundations, neighbouring property, maintenance access and overall design all need consideration.

Do pleached trees need a lot of maintenance?

They require regular pruning to retain their trained form. The amount depends on species and how formal you want the finished screen to remain.

Can pleached trees be kept narrow?

Yes. Their narrow trained form is one of their main advantages. Regular pruning is required to prevent the canopy becoming unnecessarily deep.

Do pleached trees need watering?

Yes. Newly planted pleached trees require careful watering during establishment, particularly because the existing canopy can lose substantial moisture before the roots have expanded into the surrounding soil.

Can you supply and plant pleached trees?

Yes. Landscaping Emporium supplies pleached trees with professional planting available across North West England, subject to project location, access, stock availability and site conditions.

Buy Pleached Trees for Privacy and Screening

If you need privacy above an existing fence or wall, pleached trees can provide one of the most effective and attractive solutions available.

The first step is to identify what you need to screen and at what height.