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How to Reduce Noise Levels in a Garden

Noise pollution can be annoying when all you want to do is relax in your garden but there are ways to cut down on the level of noise.

11/08/2022

Noise pollution is a fact of life, whether it is the neighbours' kids screaming in the garden, cars passing on the road outside, or even a neighbour that loves to DIY on a regular basis. It is hard to sit back and relax if all this is going on around you. Noise is a main factor in elevating stress levels, yapping dogs, loud music, revving motorbikes - you get the picture.

Acoustic Principles

Your garden is a place you want to escape to, and you want it to be a calming and peaceful environment where noise does not intrude. There are ways to cut down on noise pollution in a garden and, for these solutions to be effective, you need to keep in mind acoustic principles of noise transfer.

Noise carries in all directions, and you will have noticed that the weather can enhance or reduce the level of noise. Think of a foggy day or when there is a lot of moisture in the air and notice how it deadens sound. It does this by blocking out sound waves. In the same way, whatever method you use in your garden should provide the same effect - a way of deadening sound waves and blocking them out. Even the basic of acoustic principles involves the premise that if you can see it, you can hear it.

For any barrier to be effective it needs to be high enough and wide enough to block out side, have a density that reduces sound and is also aesthetically pleasing and long-lasting.

For a sound barrier to be effective is needs to be solid with no gaps. The garden fence below is aesthetically pleasing and adds interest to the garden and, with the addition of bushy trees that will eventually grow in height, the barrier becomes even more effective at blocking noise pollution.

Any of the solutions offered below will work towards lowering the level of noise in a garden.

1. Wooden Fencing

Organic materials have a way of absorbing sounds. Just as you would use these inside the home, you can use many of the same methods outdoors in the garden or on a patio. Installing a wooden perimeter fence, or even a privacy fence, will reduce sound levels and anyone looking to block out traffic noises on a nearby road should consider the option of installing a wood fence.

A number of sound barrier fences are available, each with a particular material composition and level of soundproofing effectiveness. To effectively block out the increased volume of sound and lessen loud street or traffic noise, denser or heavier materials are needed. Check here what is the best type of fence for sound barrier.

A fence with gaps is not effective as a sound barrier on its own but with the addition of low-growing trees that have dense foliage, the ability to block out sound will be achieved.

Installing a wooden privacy fenced around the area where you spend most of your time outdoors will not only help to block out unwanted noise, but it will also give you more privacy from neighbours, or foot traffic if you are close to a road. A brick wall can also help to block out noise, but it is a more expensive solution than a wooden fence and can sometimes work against you since it can create an echo-effect in your own garden making the sound from your own outdoor space louder. For a wooden fence to serve as a sound barrier it should be designed with very few gaps between the planks, since gaps allow sound waves to pass through. The focus of the fence is to block out noise and this can only be achieved by placing the wooden planks close together.

To successfully block out noise pollution, make sure whatever sound barrier you install is high enough, particularly close to a busy street.

2. Using Nature to Block Out Sound

If you already have a perimeter wall in place, there is also the solution to add wooden trellises along the length of the wall. Plant creepers or climbers on the trellis, preferably ones that are easy to get established and will grow quickly to fill up the space. This option is ideal for blocking out sound and will also offer an interesting feature if planted with varieties that flower during spring or summer.

A hedge of densely packed foliage provides privacy from close neighbours and helps to block sound.

Large shrubs, and particularly planting evergreen varieties, are another way to reduce noise pollution in the garden but you need to plant varieties that are bushy to block out noise. The plants need to create a natural barrier that effectively lowers noise levels.

An atificial hedge, like the one below from Leaf & Livng, can be used for privacy, decoration, or to help block sound.

3. Textiles Deaden Sounds

The easiest way to notice how textiles help to block out sounds is to remove curtains and carpets or rugs from a room. Once these are removed, sound seems to echo around the space and becomes louder. The same can be said for a bathroom and a bathroom that has no textiles in it whatsoever carries noise more. Add a window treatment, a few bathmats and a couple of plush towels and noise is immediately softened. And the more textiles you add, the softer the sound level.

Heavy drapes have the ability to deaden sounds, which is why these are recommended for inside the home to block out noise levels.

You can use textiles as a sound-deadening method on a concrete patio or in a courtyard garden. Hanging fabrics, floor mats and rugs, and even upholstered furniture - all of these provide an effective way to dampen sound levels. So, think about this when decorating your outdoor space.

Love this clever idea for installing curtains that they do not blow in the wind. Curtains offer privacy, protection from the elements and also block sound.

4. Disguising Noise Pollution

In some cases, it may be impossible to put any sound cancelling methods in place and if this is the case, you should consider ways to disguise noise pollution. The easiest way to do this is with a water feature of some kind that adds soothing sound that mask annoying ones. Even a waterfall or feature in a swimming pool will disguise noises coming from a neighbouring street, sounds that cannot easily be reduced. Running water has long been used to distract the senses, hence the reasons why there are so many Japanese garden that incorporate water in one form or another.

By creating white noise, your focus is towards more calming sounds that relax and soothe and distract you from other forms of noise pollution. Another effective and psychological way to approach noise pollution is to distract in other ways with the idea being that if you can't see it - you won't hear it as much. And it does work.

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