How to Add Privacy to a Backyard

Creating a living privacy fence is easy -- you can even complete it in a day. Ravenna grass, also known as Saccharum ravennae, is a great choice for this project because it provides three-season privacy and only dies back in the winter. This perennial bunchgrass produces a dense, medium-green foliage that reaches 6 to 12 feet in height. The visual interest continues with drooping foliage that turns tan, brown and beige in the fall. Flowers appear as feathery ends on the stems, in colors that range from silver to red. This plant finds a home in USDA planting zones 6 through 10; it requires full sun and well-drained soil.

Measuring tape
Powdered milk
5-gallon container of Ravenna grass per 3 feet of planting area
Shovel
Wheelbarrow
Compost
Garden hose

Instructions

- 1
  
  Powdered milk is a non-toxic substance that serves well for marking up a landscape.
  
  Measure the area where you will plant the living fence. Mark off every 3 feet with powdered milk.
- 2
  
  Digging a hole twice as large as the planting container allows the plant to spread its roots easily.
  
  Dig a hole twice the width and height of a 5-gallon planting container. Put the displaced soil in a wheelbarrow.
- 3
  
  Mix soil and compost in a wheelbarrow before returning it to the planting hole.
  
  Mix compost into the soil in the wheelbarrow.
- 4
  
  Fingers are the perfect gentle tool for loosening the soil around a root ball before planting.
  
  Remove the grass plant from its container and gently loosen the soil around the root mass.
- 5
  
  Make sure that the plant is at the proper level in the ground before filling in the hole with soil.
  
  Spread a base of the soil-compost mixture from the wheelbarrow in the bottom of the hole, followed by the Ravenna grass. Make sure that the plant sits at the same level in the ground as it was in its growing pot. Adjust as needed by adding or removing soil from the bottom of the hole.
- 6
  Fill in the hole with the remaining soil-compost mixture and gently tamp it down with your foot. Do not hard pack the soil. Continue this process until all of the plants are in the ground.
- 7
  
  A garden hose is the only tool you need to properly water your perennial grass.
  
  Water the grass plants thoroughly. Monitor the soil moisture and water the plants as necessary until they take root, after which they are self-sustaining in natural conditions. If there is a period of drought, water them as needed to sustain their vigor.

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