Ornamental grass privacy screen: height and the law
Updated: October 2026
You want the upstairs window opposite, or the patio next door, out of the sightline. An ornamental grass privacy screen can do part of that job with movement and a summer bulk of leaves, and it can fail it for half the year. A 10.5 cm blue fescue will not hide anything. A 17 cm pampas will not hide anything this season. A line of grass is also not the high hedge the council can order you to cut under Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, because that complaint is about trees or shrubs. The [ornamental grass comparison](/hub/hedges-and-privacy-screens/ornamental-grass) is the shelf. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You want the upstairs window opposite, or the patio next door, out of the sightline.
You want the upstairs window opposite, or the patio next door, out of the sightline. An ornamental grass privacy screen can do part of that job with movement and a summer bulk of leaves, and it can fail it for half the year. A 10.5 cm blue fescue will not hide anything. A 17 cm pampas will not hide anything this season. A line of grass is also not the high hedge the council can order you to cut under Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, because that complaint is about trees or shrubs. The ornamental grass comparison is the shelf. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Form | Plant | Stated size | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Carbeth Plants Carbeth blue festuca, three 10.5 cm pots | Live plant | Blue festuca intense | 10.5 cm pots | 9.6 | about £18.99 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Perfect Plants Perfect Plants pink pampas, 17 cm pot | Live plant | Cortaderia selloana Rosea | 17 cm pot | 7.8 | about £17.95 | View offer |
| Preis-Tipp |  Just Seed Just Seed hare's tail grass, 100 seeds | Seed | Lagurus ovatus | 20 cm expected height | 7.7 | about £1.35 | View offer |
On this page
What a grass screen can and cannot hide
A grass screen hides by bulk and movement, not by a solid evergreen wall. In summer a tall clump can break a view of a window or a sitting area. In winter a deciduous grass goes brown and thin, so the sightline comes back. If you need a neighbour's bedroom window blocked in January, a grass is the wrong plant, however tall the label sounds. On this amazon.co.uk shelf, most of the listings never reach that summer bulk. Carbeth blue festuca is an edge: the RHS puts Festuca glauca at about 0.1–0.5 m, and Intense Blue at about 30 cm. The pots are 10.5 cm. Faux stems are about 25 cm to 52 cm. None of those covers a window, and the plastic ones will not grow next year. Hare's-tail seed is a short annual for dried heads. The moment you need height, you have left them behind, which is why the ornamental grass buying guide starts with the job rather than the photograph.
Pampas after years, miscanthus if you buy it elsewhere
The only listing in this set that can grow into a screen is Perfect Plants Cortaderia selloana Rosea, a 17 cm pot at about £17.95, with 4.2 from 46 ratings. Several UK reviews say it arrived healthy and that the plumes were not showing, so the first season is green leaves in a modest pot. The RHS gives common pampas about 2.5–4 m in height and 1.5–2.5 m of spread after two to five years, in full sun and deep well-drained soil, with sharply toothed leaves. That is a future plant. It does not block a view in year one. Do not plant it in the wild. Cortaderia jubata is a different, banned name. Rosea is the common species unless the label says jubata. Miscanthus is the RHS suggestion for an informal summer screen, and it is not an ASIN here. Those cultivars are deciduous, so the screen thins in winter. Which of the listings matches an edge, a wait, or a vase is on best ornamental grass.
What the council can and cannot do
A complaint under the high hedges rules needs a line of two or more trees or shrubs, mostly evergreen or semi-evergreen, over 2 m, that is a barrier to light or access, on someone else's land, and that harms a home. Section 66 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 says evergreen here means an evergreen or semi-evergreen tree or shrub. Official guidance excludes bamboo because bamboo is classed as a grass. A line of ornamental grasses sits with that exclusion. Pampas can be evergreen and, years later, over 2 m, and it is still a grass, not a tree or a shrub. Do not invent a case that pulls it inside Part 8. There is no general maximum height for a hedge you plant in England. Talk to the neighbour before you plant on a shared view. Highways, covenants and conservation areas are separate controls. The high-hedge statute cited here is the law for England and Wales. If your boundary is under a different devolved rule, check that council's page.
Before you plant on the boundary
Measure the mature spread, not the pot. A pampas at 1.5–2.5 m across will enter a path, a fence and a neighbour's bed if you set the crown on the line. Sharp leaves at that width are a reason to step it back, and to wear gloves when you tidy. Plant in late spring, water the first summer, and keep the crown out of winter-wet clay. The spring cut, gloves, and the warning not to burn the crown are on how to plant ornamental grass. Tell the neighbour what you are planting and how tall the RHS says it gets. Check the deeds for a covenant on height or on planting near the boundary. If the bed is a highway verge or a public right of way, stop and get advice. A faux stem of 25–52 cm is not a privacy planting. It does not grow.
Common questions
Can ornamental grass block a neighbour's view?
A tall grass can soften or break a view once it has bulk, mainly in the growing season. It will not act like a clipped evergreen hedge, and a deciduous grass opens the view again in winter. In this set, only common pampas can reach that bulk, and only after about two to five years. A blue fescue at about 30 cm, and faux stems under about 60 cm, do not block a window.
Will a 17 cm pampas do that in the first year?
No. The Perfect Plants listing is a 17 cm pot. Reviews often describe a healthy green plant without plumes. The RHS height of about 2.5–4 m, and the spread of about 1.5–2.5 m, are mature figures. Amazon's expected-height field on the page is 17 cm. Judge the first year as establishment, not as privacy.
Can the council treat a line of grass as a high hedge?
Not under the tree-or-shrub test in Part 8. The complaint is a line of two or more mostly evergreen trees or shrubs, over 2 m, blocking light or access. Official guidance excludes bamboo because it is a grass. A line of ornamental grass is in that same position. Being evergreen and tall does not turn pampas into a shrub for that Act.
Is there a legal maximum height for a grass you plant?
There is no general maximum height for a hedge in the GOV.UK guidance. Part 8 is a complaint route for trees and shrubs, not a national cap of 2 m on every plant. A covenant, a highway, or a conservation-area constraint can still limit what you do on that piece of land. Talk to the neighbour before you rely on the absence of a council form.
How much room does common pampas need?
Allow about 2.5–4 m of height and 1.5–2.5 m of spread after two to five years, in full sun and deep well-drained soil, and keep sharp leaves off a narrow path. That is the RHS figure for Cortaderia selloana, not the 17 cm pot on delivery day. Do not plant it in the wild. Seedlings are part of the species note from the GB Non-native Species Secretariat.
Does a faux stem of 25–52 cm count as a privacy screen?
No. Those are the stated heights of the plastic stems and the 44 cm potted faux pampas on this shelf. They do not grow, they do not thicken, and they sit below a window. UV-resistant on the listing is a seller claim without a test in the file. Use them in a vase or a sheltered pot, not as a boundary.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources named below. amazon.co.uk prices, stars and review counts are from the nine listings in this comparison. Page updated October 2026.
- RHS, plants for screening (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- RHS, how to grow ornamental grasses (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- RHS, cutting back ornamental grasses (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- RHS, Cortaderia selloana (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- RHS, Festuca glauca (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- RHS, Lagurus ovatus (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- GOV.UK, high hedges: complaining to the council (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- GOV.UK, invasive non-native plants (retrieved 21 October 2026)