Jennifer Aniston's Elevated Privacy Planting Offers an Unexpected Temperature-Regulating Benefit to Keep Your House Cool All Summer

Save on air conditioning bills this season with Jennifer Aniston's clever planting trick – her former home is a study in functional greenery

Jennifer Aniston
(Image credit: Rich Fury via Getty Images)

When it comes to clever planting to ensure privacy, celebrity homes are the best place to source inspiration. They want their homes to be secluded sanctuaries that offer an escape from the busy world, and also want them to be beautiful and aspirational spaces in which to spend time. Take, for instance, the Sunset Strip home where Jennifer Aniston lived during the early seasons of Friends.

The actress's former Spanish-style Los Angeles home is a study in using plants for privacy. It is adorned with gorgeous English ivy crawling up the front, and accented with small bushes to create dimension. Pink and red flowers bring a tropical pop.

To explore Jennifer's look and its benefits, Homes & Gardens spoke with a variety of garden experts about the evergreen climbers we see in her former front yard. We also curated an edit of the best plants and tools you can use to recreate the look. According to our resident master gardener, Rachel Bull, ivy like Jennifer's is as functional as it is pretty.

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Jennifer Aniston's privacy planting at her former home

Jennifer Aniston's former Los Angeles home on the Sunset Strip, where she lived at the time that Friends premiered

(Image credit: Barry King via Alamy)

Rachel explains that planting English Ivy, like Jennifer's, helps to naturally cool buildings in the heat of summer. She states: 'Ivy leaves create a canopy that prevents direct sunlight from hitting walls. By stopping the brick from acting as a heat sink, heat doesn't radiate inside later in the day.' If you live in a warm climate and want to save money on Air Conditioning bills, this sounds like a pretty good option.

Shop The Privacy Planting Edit

Climbing plants are gorgeous, but they require pruning and other regular maintenance to keep them looking fresh. These are our favorite tools for growing them in style.

Furthermore, planting a green wall, as we see here is the perfect option for prioritizing privacy in a small backyard. Growing up instead of out allows you to protect your home, while creating a beautiful display.

Designer Nina Lichtenstein advises: 'For smaller backyards or vertical privacy, climbing plants like ivy, clematis, or wisteria can transform a fence or trellis into a green wall. For a more fragrant option, consider star jasmine or honeysuckle, which add both privacy and fragrance.'


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Sophie Edwards
News Editor

Sophie is a writer and News Editor on the Celebrity Style team at Homes & Gardens. She is fascinated by the intersection of design and popular culture and is particularly passionate about researching trends and interior history. She is an avid pop culture fan and has interviewed Martha Stewart and Hillary Duff.

In her free time, Sophie freelances on design news for Westport Magazine and Livingetc. She also has a newsletter, My Friend's Art, in which she covers music, culture, and fine art through a personal lens. Her fiction has appeared in Love & Squalor and The Isis Magazine.

Before joining Future, Sophie worked in editorial at Fig Linens and Home, a boutique luxury linens brand. She has an MSc from Oxford University and a BA in Creative Writing and Sociology from Sarah Lawrence College.