Many people have asked me: “Are viburnums good privacy shrubs?“

I think people ask me because my wife and I have been planting viburnums around our property lines for years.

It’s something I learned when I was a kid and grew up in a duplex community situated adjacent to a busy office park. The apartment developer planted viburnums all around the property line, letting the shrubs grow tall on the sides that abutted the office park.

Let me tell you something: those viburnums kept the noise down, the unsightly views to a minimum, and helped ensure our duplex enclave was more secure and more secluded.

Here’s a view of the viburnums at my old place…

They did a great job of blocking the view of the office park from our back porch!

Choosing The Right Viburnum Shrubs For Your Landscape

Want options? When it comes to viburnums, there are plenty of them! More than 150 species of viburnums exist — not to mention a seemingly endless array of cultivars. I wouldn’t even be able to scratch the surface here, nor will I try.

Instead, I’ll show you the two types of viburnums my wife and I currently growing in our landscape.

Sandankwa Viburnums (Viburnum Suspensum) – Our Choice For A Compact Ornamental Hedge

We chose sandankwa viburnums (Viburnum suspensum) because it’s a densely growing, more compact type of viburnum than the viburnums we have known elsewhere. We know viburnums are good privacy shrubs, but would they make a good choice for a more ornamental application?

When looking for ideas, we thought a short row of these small viburnum shrubs would look attractive in front of a bedroom we converted to an office.

Admittedly, we didn’t know if growing any type of viburnum next to our house was the best idea. But we went forward with the idea after learning that you can safely grow many kinds of viburnums near the home. That is, so long as they are pruned and otherwise properly maintained.

They can grow anywhere from 4′ to 10′ tall and 3′ to 8′ wide. After several years growing by the bedroom window, they still seem perfectly happy. While they’re pruned at least twice a year, they generally don’t become too unruly. They’ve stayed in their lane, so to speak. They were the perfect choice for this partial-sun location under the shade of a tall oak tree.

Sweet Viburnum (Viburnum Odoratissimum) – These Are Good Privacy Shrubs

Sweet viburnums (Viburnum odoratissimum) are good privacy shrubs for so many reasons. They’re fast growing. They grow dense. Sweet viburnums take heavy pruning really well. They can get tall (over 25′). They also have beautiful little flowers (ideal for pollinators) and bountiful berries (birds love them). And they’re highly versatile.

I was first introduced to sweet viburnum when I was a child growing up in that duplex bordering the office park. Our landlord had planted sweet viburnums along the property line dividing us from the office park. And when we moved into the place back in 1989, it was brand new. I watched the sweet viburnums become good privacy shrubs as the years went on. I liked them! They were the first shrubs I ever sheared. You could say I cut my hedge-trimming teeth by cutting those viburnums (with the blessing of our landlord). I also knew that when I grew up, I’d want to plant “those shrubs” in my yard.

Well, here I am. And I did!

My wife and I are growing sweet viburnums along a couple of property lines and on either side of a six-foot-tall fence we hope to eventually obscure behind the viburnums. Those plants are well on the way to doing just that.

As for whether or not sweet viburnums are good privacy shrubs for your yard? Well, I recommend you grow sweet viburnums all day long, provided they grow well in your climate zone! Even if you don’t need a privacy shrub, sweet viburnums can also grow as small trees if left to their own wild devices. In that way, sweet viburnum can function not just as a privacy shrub, but also as an ornamental, specimen, or focal point of your landscape.

How To Plant Viburnums As A Good Privacy Shrub

You know those tags that come on plants you buy from your local garden nursery? I generally follow them more or less to a T. But there’s one thing I’ll take with a grain of salt or two: plant spacing commendations for growing privacy shrubs. I tend to space shrubs that I’m growing for privacy’s sake or for screening unsightly views a little more closely. This is something I’ve picked up both from landscapers as well as from my own observation.

Let me warn you: this can cause overcrowding. And that can be a big problem if shrubs are not maintained as manicured hedges. However, if the shrubs are regularly sheared, this seems to be less of an issue. I am sharing this insight as less of a “do what I say” recommendation and more as a “here’s what I do” tip.

I’m not recommending you plant your shrubs closer together than what planting guidelines suggest. But I am telling you this is something I’ve seen in many landscapes over the years and have done, too, to good effect so far under certain conditions.

Must-Dos When Planting Viburnums

Other than that, always be sure to do the following when planting viburnums:

• Dig the planting hole twice as wide as the rootball
• But don’t dig any deeper than the root ball — the top of the root ball should sit just above the surrounding grade
• Backfill with a mixture of native soil (the soil you dug out of the hole) and add a little fertilizer for an extra boost
• Water your newly planted viburnums well — at least once every one to two days during the first few weeks (and during droughts, as permitted by your municipality) to keep the soil moist as the plant establishes itself

Finally, I generally avoid any pruning of viburnums until at least the next season (or growing year) after I planted them. Even then, I go with only very light and selective cuts, avoiding any heavy shearing until at least two or three seasons after I planted the shrub. Take good care of your viburnums and they are sure to eventually serve as good privacy shrubs in your landscape!