21 Fast Growing Privacy Shrubs Ideas

Creating natural privacy screens doesn’t require decades of waiting when you choose the right fast-growing shrubs.

You can establish beautiful, functional barriers in just a few growing seasons with strategic plant selections.

These rapidly maturing options provide screening while adding landscape value.

Your outdoor privacy solution starts with these proven performers that grow quickly and reliably.

1: Green Giant Arborvitae

You’ll achieve impressive height quickly with these evergreen giants that can grow 3-5 feet annually in optimal conditions.

Their dense, feathery foliage creates excellent year-round screening.

The pyramidal shape requires minimal pruning maintenance.

You can plant them closer together for faster coverage or space them wider for individual specimen development.

2: Leyland Cypress Trees

You can create towering privacy walls using these rapid growers that reach 20-30 feet tall within a decade.

Their soft, blue-green needles provide attractive texture and color.

The columnar growth habit works perfectly for narrow spaces.

You’ll appreciate how these adaptable evergreens tolerate various soil conditions while maintaining consistent growth rates.

3: Privet Hedge Shrubs

You’ll establish formal or informal hedges quickly with privet’s aggressive 2-3 foot annual growth rate.

These hardy shrubs respond well to heavy pruning and shaping.

The small leaves create dense screening when plants mature.

You can maintain them at any desired height while enjoying occasional fragrant white flower clusters.

4: Forsythia Explosion Bushes

You can enjoy early spring color explosions while building privacy screens with these vigorous shrubs that grow 1-2 feet per year.

Golden yellow blooms appear before leaves.

The arching branches create natural informal barriers effectively.

You’ll love the dramatic seasonal display that signals spring’s arrival while providing summer screening through dense foliage.

5: Common Lilac Varieties

You’ll combine fragrant blooms with privacy screening using these beloved shrubs that establish quickly and spread naturally through suckers.

Purple or white flowers bloom spectacularly.

The heart-shaped leaves provide solid summer coverage.

You can choose from various cultivars that offer different bloom colors and mature sizes for specific landscape needs.

6: Viburnum Species Selection

You can select from numerous fast-growing viburnum varieties that provide privacy while offering seasonal flowers, attractive berries, and excellent wildlife value for your landscape.

The diverse family includes evergreen and deciduous options.

You’ll find varieties suited to different climates while enjoying fragrant blooms and colorful fall foliage displays.

7: Clumping Bamboo Groves

You’ll create exotic privacy screens with non-invasive bamboo varieties that grow rapidly upward without spreading aggressively through underground runners like running types.

The vertical growth provides instant screening impact.

You can choose from different species that offer varying heights, colors, and cold tolerance for your specific climate zone.

8: Red Robin Photinia

You can enjoy colorful new growth along with privacy screening using these evergreen shrubs that produce bright red young leaves throughout the growing season.

The glossy foliage creates attractive backgrounds for other plants.

You’ll appreciate having year-round coverage with the bonus of seasonal color changes that add landscape interest.

9: Skip Laurel Hedging

You’ll establish dense, formal hedges quickly with these broadleaf evergreens that tolerate heavy pruning while maintaining vigorous growth rates in various growing conditions.

The large, glossy leaves create sophisticated appearances.

You can shape these versatile shrubs into precise geometric forms or allow natural informal growth patterns.

10: Fast-Growing Boxwood

You can create classic hedge appearances using newer boxwood cultivars specifically bred for rapid growth while maintaining the traditional dense, small-leaved characteristics.

The evergreen foliage provides year-round structure and formality.

You’ll enjoy having traditional hedge aesthetics without waiting decades for mature size and desired screening density.

11: Weigela Flowering Shrubs

You’ll combine beautiful spring blooms with summer privacy using these deciduous shrubs that produce masses of tubular flowers in pink, red, or white colors.

The spreading growth habit fills in quickly.

You can choose varieties with colored foliage for additional seasonal interest while maintaining effective screening through growing seasons.

12: Spirea Hedge Plants

You can establish informal privacy borders using these tough, adaptable shrubs that produce clusters of white or pink flowers while growing vigorously in various conditions.

The fine-textured foliage creates soft, natural barriers.

You’ll appreciate how different spirea varieties offer varying heights and seasonal characteristics for diverse landscape applications.

13: Yew Privacy Hedges

You’ll create formal, long-lasting privacy screens with these slow-starting but ultimately fast-growing evergreens that respond excellently to pruning and shaping efforts.

The dark green needles provide classic hedge appearances.

You can maintain precise shapes while enjoying plants that live for generations with proper care and maintenance.

14: Holly Shrub Varieties

You can establish spiny barriers that deter unwanted visitors while providing attractive evergreen screening with glossy leaves and colorful berries on female plants.

The thorny protection adds security benefits beyond privacy.

You’ll enjoy having plants that support wildlife while creating effective boundaries around property perimeters or specific areas.

15: Bush Honeysuckle Screens

You’ll create fragrant privacy barriers using shrub honeysuckles that produce sweetly scented flowers followed by colorful berries that attract birds and wildlife to your landscape.

The dense branching provides excellent coverage quickly.

You can enjoy the dual benefits of privacy screening and wildlife habitat creation in a single planting strategy.

16: Rose of Sharon Hedging

You can establish tall, flowering privacy screens with these hibiscus relatives that produce large, showy blooms throughout summer while growing rapidly to desired heights.

The upright growth habit creates narrow screening options.

You’ll appreciate having late-season flowers when many other shrubs have finished blooming for the growing season.

17: Burning Bush Barriers

You’ll create stunning fall displays while building privacy screens using these adaptable shrubs known for brilliant red autumn foliage that creates dramatic seasonal landscape focal points.

The dense branching provides solid screening coverage.

You can enjoy relatively low-maintenance plants that adapt to various growing conditions while providing spectacular seasonal interest.

18: Mock Orange Hedges

You can combine heavenly fragrance with privacy screening using these vigorous shrubs that produce masses of white, orange-scented flowers in late spring or early summer.

The arching branches create informal, cottage-garden appearances.

You’ll love having plants that provide beautiful blooms and delightful fragrances along with functional privacy benefits.

19: Ninebark Privacy Plants

You’ll establish native privacy screens using these tough, drought-tolerant shrubs that offer attractive bark, seasonal flowers, and colorful foliage varieties for year-round landscape interest.

The peeling bark provides winter texture and visual appeal.

You can choose from cultivars with different foliage colors while supporting native plant communities and local wildlife.

20: Deutzia Flowering Hedges

You can create delicate, cottage-style privacy borders using these graceful shrubs that produce clusters of small white or pink flowers along arching branches.

The fine-textured appearance softens harsh landscape lines effectively.

You’ll appreciate having plants that provide privacy screening while maintaining elegant, understated beauty throughout growing seasons.

21: Barberry Defensive Hedging

You’ll establish thorny security barriers that provide privacy while deterring intruders using these colorful shrubs available in various foliage colors from green to deep red.

The sharp spines add protective benefits beyond screening.

You can choose from numerous cultivars that offer different sizes and colors while creating impenetrable barriers around property boundaries.

Conclusion

Your privacy needs get solved quickly with these fast-growing shrubs that combine rapid establishment with beautiful, functional landscape screening solutions.