How to Hide Ugly Items in the Garden

When you're relaxing in the garden, you might find it difficult to enjoy it due to an ugly drainpipe or an air conditioner unit that's covered with grime. But you have plenty of ways to disguise unattractive items. From living screens to products designed to look like rocks, get creative to hide that annoying eyesore.

To quote architect Frank Lloyd Wright, "A doctor can bury his mistakes but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines." With that in mind, one option for hiding your eyesores is to use plants. Vines can create a living screen around nearly any object, and because they grow upwards, they won't take up a lot of valuable space along the ground. Some vines require wires or some other type of support to grow on, while clinging-type vines will grow up on almost anything. Try growing trumpet vine (Campsis radicans), which grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 10, which also produces attractive flowers. Another option is to plant Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata), which grows in USDA zones 4 through 8, which turns a vivid red in the fall. Both of these plants are considered invasive in some areas, so check before planting.

If you have a little more space for new plants to grow in your garden, tall plants will cover the ugly item, but not actually grow onto it. New Zealand wind grass, also called feather grass, (Anemanthele lessoniana), grows in USDA zones 8 through 10, to about 3 feet tall. For a taller, fast-growing plant, consider a variety of bamboo -- but not an invasive type. University of Tennessee recommends "Green Screen" bamboo (Fargesia robusta "Green Screen"), which grows in USDA zones 7 through 9, which can grow to a height of about 18 feet.

To create a solid barrier between the garden and the ugly items, build a fence or trellis. Build your fence with solid wood panels to block out the unsightly view, or create it with lattice sheets that give you something onto which vines can grow. If you choose this option to hide an electrical item, such as an air conditioner, make sure you're giving the item the recommended amount of space to allow for ventilation or safety. An air conditioning unit typically needs 2 or 3 feet around it to allow for proper air flow.

You've probably seen the fake rocks that hide your house keys -- but they get much larger than that. Fake rock "domes" or "mock rocks" come in sizes large enough to hide water pipes, septic system parts and other items that don't necessarily warrant plants or trellises. They'll also be easy to remove whenever you need to access those items -- plus they'll protect the ugly items from wind, rain or snow.