If you are tired of neighbors and street noise, you can consider better insulating your garden or outdoor spaces with noise barriers. Nowadays, peace and quiet in the home and outdoors are becoming an increasingly important priority. This makes adding a soundproofing solution in the garden area useful, while also allowing for a stylish garden design. In addition, the use of fences, walls and plant walls can reduce annoying traffic noise cheaply and effectively. Here are some easy ways to transform your outdoor space into a tranquil retreat to make it easier to escape the stresses of everyday life.
Find inspiration and make your garden soundproof with a noise barrier
What makes gardens so beneficial is the fact that you can enjoy your own piece of nature. When the weather is good, you can just sit back and listen to the birds chirping whenever you feel like it. This makes it easier to forget about everyday problems for a while, but this could become more difficult when outside noise intrudes. Fortunately, this can be prevented with well-thought-out planning of the outdoor area. Currently there isinspiring garden trends, such as sitooterie, which follow exactly this concept.
Although isolation is not easy in both urban and rural areas, ambient noise can be blocked out using suitable materials. In addition, you can use some tricks to reduce noise from neighboring houses, other gardens, public paths and background noise such as pedestrians and trains. For example, if you are located on a busy street or near a highway, a property can be made soundproof without any renovations. It's best to proceed strategically by protecting your garden from any noise with a noise barrier.
What factors should be taken into account when canceling noise?
To reduce environmental noise, it would be useful to familiarize yourself with the principles of noise reduction. This will help you make informed decisions about soundproofing your landscaping. Installing a sound barrier in the garden can therefore help to better reflect other outside noises. Many materials are suitable for this and can normally be used to form a soundproof barrier. Density plays an important role here, because the more massive the construction, the more repellent the fence or wall appears. For the same reason, a brick wall provides more effective noise suppression than a wooden fence or earthen wall.
You can use a solid noise barrier to enhance your garden or other outdoor spaces by improving noise resistance. This means that sound waves can be redirected and reflected back in other directions, or sound absorption can be achieved. In addition to the density, the height is of course also important in order to better reflect or absorb background noise. For example, a chain-link fence or low wooden panels won't be particularly effective at blocking noise. However, taller sound barriers made of brick or stone would be a better choice, and they should be located between your area and the source of the noise.
How can a noise barrier make gardens and courtyards more soundproof?
Another way to reduce ambient noise in the yard or garden area is to dampen sound with a wall. The idea is to absorb sound energy to reduce noise before it reaches the relevant area. In contrast to sound reflection, this technique relies on barriers between the ears and the sources of noise. However, such noise barriers that absorb sound are usually looser and softer, such as hedges and plant walls. However, sound absorption works more difficult than sound reflection in outdoor areas. Still, this is a cheaper option that can also make the look of your garden area much more attractive.
Tips on material selection and design options
Regardless of which material you choose, you should combine it with the appropriate planting to provide better noise cancellation. Therefore, try to grow more massive plant varieties such as trees and shrubs in the yard or garden area. Of course, the plants alone cannot suppress all ambient noise. However, the right planting contributes enormously to sound absorption.
In addition, you can grow your garden plants in front of or behind noise barriers, although both are also possible. It's best to choose evergreen shrubs and trees as they offer the most effective noise protection in the garden. A variety of disruptive noises, such as lawn mowers, are most noticeable between knee and ground level.
For this reason, choosing sound-absorbing materials for higher walls would be recommended. A height of two meters would be ideal, although this may require planning permission. However, you could add a trellis at the top for extra height and plant flowers above it to improve sound absorption. Otherwise, you can consider the following materials and construction methods for such fences and walls.
Insulate the garden with bricks or stones by using masonry as a noise barrier
You may consider adding brick or stone masonry. These natural materials do an excellent job of suppressing outside noise. Such solid structures can both reflect sound and dampen noise. However, in this case, the cost of a brick wall can be high. A cheap option is recycled and reclaimed building materials, which will also add a modern, rustic touch to your garden area. In addition, weathered rock or old bricks allow for vintage-style garden design and create a stylish contrast to modern and minimalist outdoor spaces.
Install a sound barrier
There are also acoustic fences on the market that are specifically designed to combat noise. A combination of sound-reflecting and sound-absorbing panels or materials is usually observed in such constructions. For example, there are wooden fences that are covered with special wool to make them reflective. Such variants also look good and can even be cheaper than masonry.
Make your garden more soundproof using plants or wooden boards as a noise barrier
As already written above, dense bushes and hedges provide reliable sound insulation and look good as noise barriers. This also allows you to have yourMake your garden animal-friendly, as many species of birds like to nest in them or hide from predators. For example, try fast-growing plant varieties such as conifers, cypresses or laurel trees. You can even use densely packed bamboo as a noise barrier to protect your garden from ambient noise. This will not only help you improve the aesthetics but also keep your garden area quiet, private and peaceful.
In addition, the rustling of leaves and branches caused by the wind has a gentle effect on your hearing and makes other disturbing noises less audible. Finished and cultivated plant walls also provide additional sound absorption in the garden and make outdoor areas more attractive and lively. You can find different types of green wall structures that can be easily adapted to various designs. When it comes to wooden fences, they are easy and cheaper to install. Depending on their thickness, they provide some degree of noise reduction, but are not entirely effective and are prone to rot.
Use metal plates or Corten steel to suppress noise
Soundproof walls made of metal or Corten steel are usually not an entirely effective choice. This is because metal plates vibrate and can even amplify the sound waves. However, they have the advantage of looking attractive and contemporary, as well as providing better privacy in the garden. Choose this option if the ambient noise is not that annoying and you want to design your garden in a modern way.
Add water features in the garden area
Effective noise cancellation or distraction can also be achieved with rippling water in the garden. There are numerous ways to do this, including your ownGarden fountain through a DIY projectcan realize.
Although water features are not physical barriers, they block outside noise by counteracting it with their own noise. The moving water therefore naturally creates gurgling and pleasant sounds that can drown out the annoying noise.
