Meg Ryan's Privacy Planting Was a Study in Green Seclusion

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As our lives are lived increasingly outdoors, homeowners are seeking new ways to make our properties feel private. Instead of fortress-like walls or fences, sustainably minded people are opting for the greener alternative of trees, bushes, and hedges. Meg Ryan's '90s yard is the perfect place to turn for inspiration.

In photographs of the property she shared with ex-husband Dennis Quaid, captured in 2002, we see that the actress used plants for privacy so well that the home could only be captured with an aerial camera. Her front yard features well-manicured hedges and a collection of coniferous and palm trees. Though the layout is simple, it demonstrates the sheer power that lush greenery can have as pseudo-fencing.

To unpack the lessons from how Meg Ryan uses shrubs for privacy, Homes & Gardens spoke with Senior Garden Designer Mirela Bajic about the best ways to recreate her look. We also curated an edit of the best hedges and tools to get started with your own green fencing. Let's kick off with a glimpse into Meg's front yard.

Shop The Privacy Planting Edit

Low-maintenance

Proven Winners® Gem Box® Holly Shrub

With its dense, compact growth habit and small dark green leaves, this shrub is an excellent alternative to traditional boxwood in planting schemes. It produces attractive reddish new growth in spring, but loved for its year-round structure.

Comprehensive

4-Piece Trowel and Cultivator Planting Set

This set is ideal for beginners, providing all the essential tools needed to get started with gardening this spring at an affordable price. Designed to withstand the elements, these tools will look good all summer long.

Hardy

American Boxwood

The American Boxwood Shrub is a dependable garden favorite. Easy to shape and train, it creates a striking foundation hedge when planted in rows or provides year-round privacy and greenery when lined along a porch.

Expert Choice

Kviter American Arborvitae Tree Seeds

The classic American Arborvitae is an ideal starting point for creating a refined alternative to a fence. Its rich green foliage and upright growth habit make it perfect for vertical planting and for adding height and structure to any garden.

Resilient choice

Common English Boxwood Tree (20 Seeds)

Nothing says California garden like classic Boxwoods. Bring timeless elegance to your yard with these widely grown evergreen shrubs, perfect for creating refined, structured greenery throughout.

Decorative Potential

Wintergreen Boxwood Shrub

These Wintergreen Boxwood Shrubs are versatile and well-suited to topiary, bonsai, or decorative container planting. Growing just 2 to 3 inches per year, they provide year-round structure and beauty with minimal maintenance.

First, it's important to note that landscaping with hedges, as we see in Meg Ryan's garden is an increasingly popular backyard trend in 2026. Mirela Bajic, Senior Garden Designer at House Designer explains: 'More and more people are spending more time in their gardens and want to feel like a proper outdoor room. An extension of their home. The desire for privacy doesn’t have to mean solid wall or fence. This is where planting is a softer and more beautiful solution. When done well, it also adds structure as well as seasonal interest and biodiversity at the same time.'

As Meg's property demonstrates, height is a key consideration when planting for privacy. Mirela advises: 'The best plants for privacy are ones with structure and tall. These include bamboo, clumping varieties not running, grows fast and creates an almost instant screen. Pleached trees, hornbeam or lime, give you height and privacy without taking up ground space, think architectural.'

She continues: 'Photinia Red Robin is a popular evergreen, they grow fast and the red new growth is stunning. Rosa, climbing roses on a trellis give privacy with extraordinary beauty, particularly in summer.'

To emulate Meg Ryan's look, Mirela recommends a multi-tiered approach. She states: 'My expert advice is think in layers, tall structural plants at the boundary, mid height plants in front, lower planting at the front to create depth. Do not plant too close to boundaries or structures, give roots room. Mix evergreen and deciduous so you have year round structure but seasonal change too. Be intentional about placement. The best privacy planting should not look like a barrier.'

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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.