How to Landscape Around Campers

Landscaping the parking area for a camper beautifies the surroundings, making the area seem less like a temporary home. Choose plants that provide shade, and plan out garden spaces so they help create privacy between campers. Native plants will keep irrigation needs to a minimum, so include those in your overall design for a low-maintenance landscape. Well-done landscaping, especially in a trailer park, has the added benefit of increasing the property value, making it more attractive for returning or long-term visitors.

Landscaping in a trailer park can help mask the often unsightly look of campers, as well as necessary amenities like trash areas. For this type of area -- one that will have different tenants over periods of time -- choose plants that provide value year after year, such as flowering shrubs or evergreens. The Himalayan cedar (Cedrus deodora), hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture zones 7 through 9, provides deep green foliage all year. The flowering shrub "Golden Lights" (Rhododendron canescens "Golden Lights") offers a spot of color. In addition, it's hardy in USDA zones 4 through 9, making it a versatile plant for large parts of the United States. Shrubs and evergreens not only provide color but they also act as sun and wind blocks. Planted in a single line between lots, they help create a sense of privacy and personal space.

If the camper is to be in place for the long term, creating more permanent areas -- such as a patio or in-ground garden -- can lend a sense of permanence to the living quarters. Situate the patio or garden close enough to the camper to make the two seem linked. Place a camper patio much like you would for a home -- close enough for easy access, but a little set off so you don't feel crowded. "Weston's Lollipops" (Rhododendron canescens "Weston's Lollipops," USDA zones 4 through 9) produces bright pink flowers and a sweet scent, which can provide welcome relief to the large boxy shape of a camper and would work well for the border of a patio as well as in a raised bed. To provide privacy between the camper and other live-in buildings on the property, such as a house, plant shrubs to create hedges. The "Mandarin Lights" rhododendron (rhododendron canescens "Mandarin Lights," USDA zones 4 through 8) grows 6 to 8 feet high and can create a vibrantly colored border hedge.

Because campers tend to be fairly uniform in size and shape, use height to create variety in the landscape. Add height with trellised vining plants, such as fiddle leaf morning glory (Ipomoea stolonifera, USDA zones 8 through 11), a fast-growing plant that also produces showy blooms. As the vine matures, it covers the trellis, providing shade and privacy. Ornamental grasses are low-maintenance plants that don't require much irrigation. The Pink Muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris, USDA zones 6 through 9), which grows up to 3 feet tall, adds low to medium height to a garden, and its pink, fuzzy tops add needed color. Although mature trees provide an attractive addition to a camper landscape, stick with evergreens as they will provide color, shade and foliage all year.

Container gardens, which offer growing space for flowers as well as vegetables and herbs, allows landlords to provide landscaping without making severe material changes to the land. Container gardens can also be established by tenants who will be in a place for only a season or two, allowing them to give the new location an instant sense of "home." So the hard work of creating a perfect herb garden is not just a short-term investment because campers can potentially enjoy their garden for years and move it with them.