
5. Create Privacy in the Backyard
Here in the United States and Canada, a lot of people have at least a half acre to an acre of backyard. Many of us don’t try to put up a fence unless it is absolutely necessary. In fact, some people believe that it is rude or unfriendly to put up a fence between you and your neighbor’s backyard. But in England, it is expected that every single person is going to have a tall privacy fence blocking out their neighbors. As an American, I was shocked to see that many houses in England even had tall fences in the front of their house, too. Since so many people walked to the village, and it’s understandable that they don’t want neighbors seeing into their windows or when walking by.

When you go into a backyard garden in England, it is always so fenced in, that you feel protected. There is little to no chance that nosy neighbors are going to see what you’re doing while you spend time outside. It really does feel like an extension of the house. When I got back home to the US, it really made me crave having that privacy in my own backyard, especially during quarantine, where this was my only option to get outside. If you want to do this at home, this can be accomplished with tall shrubbery, trees, trellises with ivy, or- of course, a tall privacy fence.