Urban living is full of convenience but also full of noise. Traffic, planes, people, the general hubbub of city life rumbles on 24 hours a day and it can be hard to get away from it - even in the sanctuary of your own or . Many road builders now construct so-called baffles along busy highways to block the worst of the traffic noise, but the background hum is ever present.
Luckily, there are many ways you can help to reduce it further by using plants to create a natural sound barrier. Clever planting not only helps to mask noises from beyond your backyard, it creates an attractive feature in its own right. Generations of gardeners have used trees, shrubs and plants to demarcate their property lines and create privacy, but they can also be used to reduce the impact of unwanted external sounds.
Here we look at many ways of mitigating urban noise using plants, how to create a living sound barrier, and profile nine of the best plants for the job. There are several ways that plants in urban yards can help to muffle the sounds of city life. These are: For your living sound barrier to grow and thrive you need to give it the right conditions.
Make your priority, by digging in lots of well-rotted manure and (also known as organic matter) to enrich it and boost its nutrient load. You also need to know what type of soil you have, whether it is chalky, acidic (ericaceous) or has a neutral pH so you can choose the appropriate plants. If your soil is poor and sandy, added organic matter wil.