How to build a slat screen
Whether it’s about dividing space or providing privacy, gather a kit or sleepers, some concrete and an afternoon, and your garden screen is simply solved.
Slat screen
Step 1 Boundary screens need to be a bit more substantial than garden screens to maintain your privacy. Using steel posts, slats and plastic spacers that come in a kit, this quick and easy screen goes together in minutes. Set out your screen and dig 600mm deep holes at post positions.
Step 2 Concrete in posts so they are plumb and level with each other. Screw a bottom rail to posts then drop a plastic spacer down the channel in posts. Slide a slat into spacer and repeat until you reach the top of posts. Finish off with a top rail and post cap.
Sleeper screen
Step 1 Rather than be a solid barrier, dividing screens can be a little more open to give a hint of the garden beyond. Offset timber sleepers (200mm x 50mm) can make great garden dividers – solid but airy at the same time. Mark post positions on ground with marker paint, staggering their positions so they are not too symmetrical and a few sightlines through them are retained. Excavate 600mm holes (we used a manual post-hole digger), insert posts and backfill with soil, firming the ground with a crowbar.
Step 2 Use a power saw to cut posts to random heights, then paint with an outdoor water-based paint in a low-sheen finish. Plant around base with a selection of grasses and native shrubs, then finish with mulch.
What we planted
