April 23, 2025 - Thank you to House Beautiful for featuring Cory Morris’s insights in your latest article, “Get Celeb-Level Privacy with These 8 Stunning Fence Trends.” We’re delighted to see expert advice on outdoor design and privacy showcased in such a trusted publication. Grateful for the mention and for helping to inspire beautiful, functional landscapes everywhere!
Check out Cory's tips below or click here to access the full article.
Spring is in full bloom, which means your flowering trees and lush grass lawn are just begging you to spend more time outdoors. But if your backyard lacks privacy, you may feel like you’re better off hanging out indoors, especially if you have little ones or curious pets.
Fences can secure your outdoor space while keeping out prying eyes and ensuring your family is safe from the road, woods, or other perils. That said, unless you’re building on an empty lot, fences are rarely a new design decision homeowners get to make. Instead, you’re stuck with whatever material and overall aesthetic the previous owners installed. But if you’re looking for an outdoor refresh, a new fence can completely transform your yard without the need for a green thumb (or a full exterior reno). A piece of advice: Before you begin your backyard upgrade, just be sure to double-check any HOA or historic preservation guidelines your home may be subject to.
Like indoor paint colors and furniture styles, fences are also subject to the trend cycle. “We are seeing clients take more interest in fencing design,” says Cory Morris, a landscape architect and associate principal at the landscape architecture firm Hoerr Schaudt. “In the past, it's been positioned as more functional—to keep pets or kids in. While fencing is still used to separate spaces, our goal now isn't to hide a utilitarian design, but let it be seen as part of the aesthetic of the landscape.”
From cedar privacy fences to rows of dense emerald green arborvitae, the fence trends for 2025 go far beyond the idyllic white picket. To spark your imagination and get you prepared for upgrading your own outdoor space, we’ve tapped experts to reveal the top trending fence materials and styles homeowners are asking for this year.
More Automation
Having a fence that you always have to exit the car to open or close can be frustrating, but Morris notes that motorization technology is making fence security easier for homeowners. "Typically, clients want to have automated gates, keypads, and cameras, which most often are tied into smart home systems," he says. The tech also allows owners to integrate their fence systems with their other digital home devices so that they can be accessed from their phones, no matter how far from home they are.