Swimpool 360 plans and installs privacy screening for GTA backyards and pool areas: cedar hedges planted in a proper trench, narrow privacy trees for tight lots, and built screens that block a neighbour's window on day one. Because we also build pools, every screen is laid out around your enclosure, plumbing and equipment, not on top of them.
Most screening disappoints for one reason: it was planted along the lot line at whatever height the garden centre had in stock, while the view that bothers you comes from a second-storey window two houses over. Before we price anything, we sit in your lounge chair, stand on your pool deck and look back at every window that can see you. Then we work out the height and position that actually closes those lines.
The geometry is simple and it saves money. A 6 foot screen placed close to where you sit can hide more than an 8 foot hedge at the back fence, because the closer the barrier is to your eye, the larger the slice of sky and window it covers. On a narrow Toronto or Vaughan lot that often means a short run of tall plants or a single built panel beside the seating area, rather than 120 feet of hedge around the whole yard. Sometimes the right answer is both: a fast built screen where you need privacy now, and a privacy hedge along the perimeter that grows into the job.
A cedar hedge is still the most popular living screen in Ontario, but the three cedars sold here behave very differently. Emerald is narrow, stays bright green through winter and suits tight side yards, but it grows slowly and heavy snow can split its tops open. Brandon is wider, darker and faster, takes shearing well and holds up better under snow, so it suits longer runs where you have 5 to 6 feet of width to give. Native white cedar is the budget choice: it is sold smaller, grows quickly, shrugs off wet clay and needs to be sheared once or twice a year to stay dense. It also bronzes in winter, which some owners dislike.
Our cedar hedge planting method is a continuous trench rather than individual holes. The trench is as deep as the root balls and about twice as wide, so roots move sideways into loosened soil instead of circling in a clay pot. In heavy GTA clay we set the top of each root ball 1 to 2 inches above grade and blend in triple mix so water does not pool around the roots. A 4 to 5 foot cedar typically arrives with a 14 to 18 inch root ball; 6 to 7 foot stock usually comes in a 20 to 24 inch wire basket, which we cut back at the top so it never girdles the trunk. Every hedge goes in with a soaker line and 2 to 3 inches of shredded bark mulch kept clear of the stems.
New evergreens rarely die from cold. They die from drying out, either in their first summer or over their first winter. Timing and watering decide whether a new hedge thrives.
Warm soil keeps roots growing for weeks after the tops have stopped, and cool nights cut water loss. This is why searches for cedar hedge planting spike in October and November. The catch is the deadline: the hedge needs about six weeks of root growth before the ground locks up, so we stop planting cedars by early November. Fall hedges get a deep soak right before freeze-up and burlap screens on the side facing a salted road or open wind.
Spring stock is fresh and you get a full growing season, so it suits homeowners who want the hedge established before a summer pool opening. The risk is July: a hedge with a small root system meets the hottest, driest weeks of the year. Spring jobs need a stricter watering routine and benefit from a timer on the soaker line. We avoid planting from mid July to late August unless the client can water daily.
Where a hedge would eat too much of a narrow lot, upright privacy trees do the job in a fraction of the width. Emerald cedar, Sky Pencil holly and columnar crabapple are the familiar picks, but they are not the only ones that survive a GTA winter. Columnar hornbeam is one of the toughest trees we plant: it handles clay, compaction and hard pruning, and can be clipped into a tall green wall, although it is bare from late fall to spring. Swiss stone pine gives soft, dense evergreen cover and is hardy far north of Toronto, but it is slow, expensive at larger sizes and needs well drained soil, so it suits the sandier Oak Ridges Moraine yards in King, Aurora and Uxbridge better than wet clay in Brampton.
Skyrocket juniper is the slimmest evergreen we install, only 2 to 3 feet wide, yet ice storms can pull it open and it carries cedar-apple rust, so we never pair it with crabapples or apple trees. Upright yews such as Hicks and Hill are the only good choice for a fully shaded side yard, but every part except the red flesh of the berry is toxic, which matters if you have dogs or toddlers. We put these trade-offs on the table before you buy, along with the mature width, because a tree that outgrows a 6 foot side yard becomes a pruning problem in ten years.
Approximate mature widths and typical growth once established in GTA conditions. Hardiness ratings are Canadian plant hardiness zones; most of the GTA falls in zones 5 and 6.
| Tree | Mature Width | Growth | Light | Hardy To | Honest Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emerald cedar (Thuja 'Smaragd') | 3 to 4 ft | 6 to 12 in/yr | Full sun to part shade | Zone 3 | Holds bright green colour in winter; heavy snow can splay the tops, so tie in young plants. |
| Columnar hornbeam (Carpinus 'Frans Fontaine') | 8 to 12 ft | 12 to 18 in/yr | Sun to part shade | Zone 4 | Tolerates clay and hard pruning; deciduous, so screening drops off from November to April. |
| Swiss stone pine (Pinus cembra) | 6 to 10 ft | 6 to 12 in/yr | Full sun | Zone 3 | Soft, dense blue-green needles and very cold hardy; slow and costly, and it sulks in wet clay. |
| Skyrocket juniper (Juniperus 'Skyrocket') | 2 to 3 ft | 6 to 12 in/yr | Full sun only | Zone 4 | The narrowest option here; ice can pull it open, and it hosts cedar-apple rust, so keep it away from crabapples. |
| Upright yew (Taxus 'Hicksii' or 'Hillii') | 4 to 6 ft | 6 to 12 in/yr | Full sun to full shade | Zone 4 | Best evergreen for shady side yards; foliage and seeds are toxic to pets and children, and deer browse it. |
| Columnar Norway spruce ('Cupressina') | 4 to 6 ft | 8 to 12 in/yr | Full sun | Zone 3 | Stiff, upright and wind tolerant; prickly, so keep it back from walkways and pool edges. |
A mixed screening border often beats a single-species row. Layering a few evergreens for winter structure with upright hornbeams, ninebark or tall grasses in front gives you screening at several heights, softens the wall effect and means one pest or disease cannot wipe out the whole run. If you want the border to read as part of a wider planting plan, our garden design and planting team handles the beds and seasonal colour around it.
Book a sightline visit. We show you where a hedge, a row of narrow trees or a built panel will do the most work, with costs for each option.
Plants take seasons; carpentry takes days. Our built screens are the fastest backyard privacy ideas to put in place, and they work where roots cannot go, such as on top of interlock, beside a pool deck or on a rooftop. Cedar privacy panels with horizontal boards are the classic option and can be stained to match a deck. Composite or aluminium-framed slat screens cost more up front but do not need staining and will not twist. We leave a small gap between slats on tall panels: you still cannot see through at an angle, but wind passes through instead of treating a solid 6 foot wall like a sail.
A pergola solves the overhead view that no fence can, and adds shade over a lounge or outdoor kitchen. Adjustable aluminium louvres let you open the roof to the sun or close it against a neighbour's upper window, while outdoor curtains in solution-dyed acrylic pull across for evening privacy and tie back by day. For renters, condo townhouses or spots over buried pool lines, planter boxes with trellis screens give a movable living wall. Posts for every freestanding screen and pergola sit on footings below the GTA frost line, roughly 4 feet down, or on helical piles, so they stay plumb after a few winters. Building the screen into a new deck? Weigh the board options in our composite and wood decking price breakdown.
A screen is never the pool enclosure. However dense a hedge becomes, it does not replace the compliant fence and self-closing, self-latching gates your municipality requires around a pool. We design screening to sit beside or behind that enclosure. We also keep planters, benches and horizontal rails away from the outside of the pool fence, because many bylaws treat anything a child could climb near the barrier as a violation. Our guide to Ontario pool fence rules covers the enclosure itself.
Height and placement rules vary by town. Rear yard fence and screen limits in many GTA municipalities sit around 2 metres, front yards are lower, and corner lots have sightline triangles where tall hedges and screens are restricted. Large or roofed pergolas may need a permit or setbacks. Removing an existing large tree to make room can also need approval; Toronto, for example, regulates the removal of private trees above a set trunk diameter. Check your own bylaw, and we verify the limits for your address before we draw the plan.
Keep plants out of the splash zone. Cedars browned by chlorinated splash and backwash are a common sight. We set hedges at least 3 to 4 feet back from coping, keep tree canopies from overhanging the water so the skimmer is not full of needles and leaves, and avoid aggressive rooters such as willows, poplars and silver maples near the pool shell, drains and buried lines. We also plant fully on your side of the property line, offset by half the mature width plus a working strip, so you can trim both faces without stepping onto a neighbour's lawn.
Day one
Cedar, composite or aluminium screens, pergola curtains and screened planters.
1 to 3 seasons
6 to 7 foot Emerald or Brandon cedars: tall enough at planting, with the gaps between plants knitting together.
2 to 4 years
4 to 5 foot white or Brandon cedars, sheared each year to thicken the base.
3 to 5+ years
Small Emerald cedars, Swiss stone pine and yews. Worth it for the long term, not for next summer.
Emerald, Brandon or native white cedar planted in an amended trench at the right spacing, with soaker line, mulch, a written watering plan and a spring check.
Quote a Cedar HedgeNarrow hornbeams, junipers, yews, spruce and pines placed to block specific windows on tight lots, sized from 6 foot nursery stock to machine-planted specimens.
Choose Privacy TreesLayered evergreens, upright deciduous trees, shrubs and tall grasses that screen at several heights and look less like a wall than a single-species hedge.
Garden Design and PlantingHorizontal cedar boards or low-maintenance composite and aluminium slat screens on frost-depth footings, gapped to cut wind load while still blocking the view.
Plan Privacy PanelsWood or aluminium pergolas that cut off the overhead view from upper windows, with adjustable louvres or outdoor curtains, and optional lighting for evenings.
Add Pergola LightingBuilt cedar or composite planter boxes with trellis or slat screens that sit on interlock or decking, ideal over buried pool lines or where digging is not allowed.
Pair with InterlockA typical 60 to 100 foot cedar hedge is planted in one or two days. Built screens take two to five days, and pergolas up to a week, depending on footings and finishes.
We stand where you actually sit, swim and eat, and map exactly which windows, decks and second-storey views need blocking, so the screen goes where it does the most work.
We request free utility locates through Ontario One Call, check bylaw limits, then string-line the hedge or screen with an offset from the property line that leaves room for mature growth.
We match species to sun, soil and space, hand-pick cedars and trees for full colour and sound root balls, and order panels or pergola components for built screens.
We dig a continuous planting trench and improve heavy clay, or set screen and pergola posts on frost-depth footings so they stay plumb through freeze-thaw cycles.
Plants are set at the correct height, burlap and wire are opened, the trench is backfilled and watered in, and a soaker line and mulch are added. Built screens are assembled and levelled.
You receive a written watering schedule, winter protection steps and a spring check visit, when we confirm every plant has rooted and flag any that need attention before the summer heat.
Installed price ranges in Canadian dollars. Hedge prices include trenching, soil amendment, planting, mulch and initial watering. Screens and pergolas include footings and hardware.
| Screen Type | Size / Spec | Installed Price Range |
|---|---|---|
| Native white cedar hedge | 4 to 5 ft, 18 to 24 in spacing | $25 to $45 per linear ft |
| Brandon cedar hedge | 5 to 6 ft, 3 ft spacing | $50 to $85 per linear ft |
| Emerald cedar hedge | 4 to 5 ft, 24 to 30 in spacing | $55 to $80 per linear ft |
| Emerald cedar hedge | 6 to 7 ft, 30 in spacing | $100 to $160 per linear ft |
| Columnar privacy tree | 6 to 8 ft (hornbeam, juniper, yew) | $300 to $700 per tree |
| Specimen privacy tree | 8 to 12 ft, machine planted | $700 to $1,500 per tree |
| Cedar privacy panel | 6 ft high x 8 ft section, frost footings | $700 to $1,300 per panel |
| Composite or aluminium slat screen | 6 ft high x 8 ft section | $1,000 to $1,800 per panel |
| Planter box with trellis screen | Cedar or composite, planted | $900 to $2,200 each |
| Wood pergola with privacy curtains | Approx. 10 x 12 ft | $7,000 to $14,000 |
| Aluminium louvred pergola | Approx. 10 x 12 ft | $12,000 to $25,000 |
| Old hedge removal | Cut, haul and stump grind | $15 to $40 per linear ft |
Estimates for the GTA market in 2026. What moves the price: plant size and variety, backyard access for root balls and machines, clay that must be removed rather than amended, and the finish level on built screens. Ask for an exact price for your yard.
Cedars planted before early November root in while the soil is warm and are ready to push new growth in spring. Ask about this season's planting dates.
A landscaper who has never built a pool can plant a beautiful hedge directly over the return line or tight against the equipment pad where the heater needs clearance. We have installed and renovated pools across the region since 2010, so we know where the pipes run, where the enclosure has to go and how a screen should hide the filter and pump without trapping heat or noise. We can uplight a finished hedge with our landscape lighting service, or lay a new path beside it with our interlock crew.
Ground conditions change across our area, and we plant accordingly. Heavy clay in Vaughan, Markham, Brampton and much of North York needs raised root balls and careful watering. The sandy Oak Ridges Moraine soils around King City, Aurora, Stouffville and Uxbridge drain fast, so hedges there need more frequent water in their first summer. Lakeside yards in Scarborough, Pickering and Ajax take strong winter winds that favour Brandon cedar and spruce over Emerald. Based in Zephyr, we work across Toronto, York Region and Durham, including Richmond Hill, Newmarket, Whitby and Oshawa. See every community on our service areas page.
Every outdoor service we offer, from pool surrounds to planting.
Beds, perennials and seasonal colour around your screen.
Uplight a hedge or light a pergola for evening use.
A paved sitting area tucked behind your hedge or screen.
Level a sloped edge before planting a hedge along it.
Enclosure heights, gates and permits explained.
Hedges, privacy trees and built screens planned around your pool and your sightlines. Free on-site quotes across Toronto, York Region and Durham.
Tell us which view you want gone and roughly how much length you need to screen. We will book a visit, measure the sightlines and send options with prices.