Sometimes we are so used to our surroundings that we don’t see the obvious in our own backyard, so to speak. Stand back and have a good look at your house, yard, garden... is something sticking out beside your pool or your deck? Maybe an ugly hose exit, an air conditioner or some trash cans? These are things we can’t just remove or place somewhere else, but we have the chance to hide them. You can easily camouflage these. We all have machines and gadgets in our yards to disguise. Here are some solutions to these common but annoying problems.
Compost Bins
For compost bins, you’ll need to leave a side free in order to use them but all the other sides can be camouflaged with plants. Wrap your compost bin with trellises and plant some vines like sweet peas or honeysuckle. Bamboo and ornamental grasses can easily help you to disguise it.
Air Conditioners
For these you want to leave a couple of feet between the plants and the air conditioner to let the machine function properly. Try a trellis or a fence panel with some vines, clematis or some honeysuckle. Bamboo is tall enough and thick enough to camouflage almost anything. Try it!
Garages and Sheds
For these big spaces, some vines or high thin shrubs would help greatly. If you have windows, you could install window boxes. If not, don’t fret, simply hang some wired planters. Such walls make a great backdrop for plants if beds are located at their feet.
Stumps
If you have a stump that you don’t know what to do with, use it to your advantage. Depending on the size of the stump you can place flower boxes on it or a pot or two would do nicely. Grow creeping plants on the sides and a few taller ones in the middle. You can hollow out the centre for planting or just drill some holes (the bigger the better) and fill them with individual plants from the nursery. They make an instant and gratifying floral setting.
Pipes
Do you have pipes or downspouts that you don’t want to see? Vines can almost always save you from these problems. If you have problems getting the vines to climb your pipes, attach bird netting around them.
Lamp Post
Maybe some of you have a lamp post that is not very attractive and you would like to replace it. Not so fast! You can give your lamp post a new look. Wrap a loose wire around it from ground to top and plant some clematis, nasturtiums or passiflora “Incense”.
