What do you visualize here???

I'm going to plant some kind of screen grouping here next year. I'd like for everything to be zone hardy and preferably with interest most of the year if not all of it. The utility box is about 24" tall. Sooooo.....what do you visualize here???

Oh, yes, it's a Full Sun exposure. Thanks! Happy dream designing!

Dontcha just hate when they locate that stuff in the middle of your yard? I mean WHAT were they thinking?

If that is the edge of a sidewak in the lower right corner of the photo, how about making a border bed all the way across from the side walk to the box. Then in the box area a trellis or two around 3 sides of the box. with some climbers.

An alternate idea is to build a bench arbor across the whole thing and a couple of strategically placed box planters.

Bamboo - got plenty

Ummmm....I might try a triangular lattice (with room for air circulation), about 4'-5' high with clematis or flowering vines growing all over it and an access-way in the back. Then in front of the lattice screen, a nice bed with colorful flowers, foliage - whatever suits your fancy.

Florabunda Rose with patches of poison ivy. You won't be going near it will you? :)

Oh yeah, also need to mention we have an HOA. No structures can be built around the thing. Lattices, benches, etc are automatically out for that reason :( I was wondering about some ornamental grasses mixed with winter interest perennials???) Can't be too awfully slow-growing. We're only going to be here about 7-8 more years. Thanks so much for your ideas!!! :) Any more dreamers out there???

Wouldn't it be nice if they let you paint them in garden colors? :)

Oooooh, yeah! Hot pink with white and lilac. Maybe a neato blue-green foliage plant to accent the whole thing. Wouldn't the poor guy from the electric company feel super macho working on that! :) lol.

That might have to send a woman to work on it....:) I still like the idea of poison ivy...serve them right for planting that right there for you to look at....:)

I found you! Great opportunity to build some height in your flat garden! But, who did they think they were dealing with? I would berm it and then put a fence following the curve of the patio on both sides. This fence should not be across the yard but should make people want to go to the next part of the garden. You said you wanted rooms. You can kill two birds with one stone here. Maybe behind the fence, you put that sand box I was talking about. Or you can use it for a special patio with a tree and a swing. You're going to need a big swing with three kids. And Congrats on your new one!

Anyway, you can grow evergreens, or decidious plants if the fence is "fun" enough. Vines are always an obvious but great idea for covering ugly sights. I don't know what is evergreen in your part of the world as you know.

I've seen gardens with a smaller door that is just the size for kids placed in the regular fence or gate. And the fence doesn't need to be all the same height - another way to create perspective and height. If you make it smaller at the far end, the illusion will be that your garden is much deeper than it actually is! Oh Joy, I'm just getting started. Let me know when you're tired of me or I have spent too much of your money. : )

Lol. Very funny. Again, HOA has fence rules and fences can only be from the back corner of the house on toward the back of the lot. No front yard fences. No privacy fences and the fences have to be approved! :) I know, you country dwellers are shaking your heads right now :) These HOAs are beneficial in some ways too. I guess I know that my neighbor isn't going to try and grow some eyesore in the same spot, right? I'll count my blessings, abide by the HOA as much as I can anyway, and have fun reading ya'lls suggestions!

Didn't guess it was in the front yard. Wonder why? Well, it is remarkable that they are willing to put that huge eyesore in your front yard but they won't let you fence it. The tree and shrub finder might have a suggestion. I love that book! I'll think about it in my dreams.

You can do tremenous things with grasses! Just make sure you check your heights when you pick your cultivars...

You could try daylily, iris, and delphinium all intermingled with baby's breath around it... the height would hide it a bit, and there would still be foliage even if there were no blooms.... just a thought... :)

I love the ornamental grass idea! Big shock huh? LOL What about building a berm, walled on the back side to give the plants more heighth? Have you considered making some large hypertufa boulders? They could be rolled away if need be. First thought was the trellis thing, but I see that can't work. Another idea would be a pot garden-the largest pots you can afford in the rear with other smaller pots in front of them. Hey, you could at least take those with you. :)

How far from me are you exactly? I could stand to part with some nice grass starts, but postage makes mailing them almost not worthwhile.

One more thing...I know you said on another post that you really did not have anything to trade yet. Go ahead and start a wanted list. You can make a have list when you have stuff. :)

I know now! My neighbor had the solution. One night a car without a driver (seriously) came down the hill and smashed into the cable box in her front yard. So there was the locked car, no driver, the alarm going like mad, and everyone in the street to find out what had happened. Don't know if it's better though. The cable company has left it there unfixed for over a year. It's a lot shorter than it used to be!

How about some kind of Privet around 3 sides, there are some very attractive ones with redish leaves, and can be kept trimmed square, We had that across the street from us, really hid an ugly box 6ftx8ftWx7ftH.

Be sure to trim them with Holiday lights this season!

OK, now I'll stop being silly.

You might be happy with a built up rock garden around the thing. Again, an opportunity to change grade and to create a focal point. You could start with that and move out to the lawn gradually. You might have to balance it with another two groupings of rocks somewhere else. I'm mighty fond of my rocks. It lets me show off my very favorite Iris, perennials, and some annuals to very good effect.

Now, The following grow in your Zone and are evergreen All come from a section of the American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers called "all year interest":

Ledum "groenlandicum" or Labrador Tea, 2' tall, bushy small white flowers from early spring to midsummer.

Acuba japonica "crotonifolia," 5 feet, dark green leaves mottled yellow, small purplish spring flowers, followed by bright red berries.

Nandina domestica "Firepower". Evergreen or semi evergreen. Purplish- red leaflets when young and in fall. 5 feet.

Euonymus japonicus "latifolius marginata". Dense, leaves edged with white. About 10 feet.

Euonymus fortunei "Silver Queen". Bushy, leaves edged with white.

Acuba japonica. 8 feet. glossy green foliage

Arctostaphylos Patula: 5 feet Urn shaped white or pale pink flowers from mid summer to late spring.

You go girl. There are shrubs here by color, by height, with zone, descriptions etc.

For the next two months, I'd set up an lighted tree behind it, and gift wrap them with big bows on top!

Brilliant idea! Just make sure you use oil cloth. Paper seems to run in the rain. : ( They are even the right size. In fact, you could add more boxes if you felt like it. Oh, I forgot about the Homeowners Association. Is there a rule against decorating for the holidays? Bah humbug?

Michele, thanks for the trade suggestion. Could you help me understand those lists better? Silly question, I know, but what good does it do to list my "wanted"s when I have nothing to trade in order to get them? I can buy cheap packets of seeds and trade them for gorgeuous, well-established divisions of expensive plants :) LOL. Just kidding. :) But could you tell me more about how those wish lists are supposed to work for us? Thanks! -- Hugs (Jacci)

Jacci I have utility boxes in my front yard too. :(

8 years ago I planted scotch heather. The little shrubs have now grown together to make a perfect 'half ring' around the box. This plant is also evergreen.

Here is a link with info:

http://www.daytonnursery.com/Encyclopedia/Trees_Shrubs/Calluna.htm


I will try to post a picture later if you would like to see. :)

I picture something like this http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_3/601-0944936-2293704?%5Fencoding=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B00019FOB0 with a nice bed of ornamental grasses arranged around it. :)

Hey, I can get a 10% discount on that one! :)

Dear Hugahosta: Here's what I mean when I say rock, berm and garden: This is Statice, Davis myoporum (the flat ground cover - too cold for you.) Lavendar, Iris (when they are blooming and some color you could add with plants from your Zone. There are grasses here on all sides (Yes, Garden Wife!). This garden is next to my sidewalk in the front of my house and one of the best things about it is that neighbors very often stop and ask what things are or talk about the garden. So I actually get to see them!!

Very pretty, doss. Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions. Neat to see how different gardeners envision a space. I'm pretty sure I've atleast settled on some type of ornamental grass. I'll add some other plants, too, but the grasses will give interest all but 1-2 months in early, early Spring just after they get cut down.

Hugahosta - finally found myself working your journal. I think that I will organize mine the same way. Following the instructions was beyond me. Thanks.

Oh good, doss! Glad you got it :) I really found it to be a great way to organize. I had tons of plans written out on paper, but this is so helpful and I can add pictures so easily, which is nice. Hope it works for you! :) Beware, though, it IS time-consuming to get going. But now that I have my basics set up I don't think it'll need as much time. Happy journaling!

I'll let you know how it grows!

I've used my DG journal for just about everything except plant stuff, LOL! Dogs, house pictures, renovation shots, you name it...And just a few categories with plants.

I like Doss' rock garden and planter idea. I've seen someone else in my area (also very HOA controlled/not complaining).

You really need to be carefull about digging near these thihngs. I believe this is why the tell you not to plant anything withing a certain distance from them. The wires that run to and from these things between them and your house and neighbor's house carry lots of juice. It would be disasterous to cut through one of these while you were digging your bed out. Good luck.

Thanks for the warning, Bugfreak. I have called the "call before you dig" # and they've spray painted where the lines go. The box specifies no planting w/i 3 ft. Safety first!!! :)

One thing about grasses when they're close to the lawn - you need to put some ground cover (like the ajuga in the picture) so that the grass isn't too close to your lawn and then use pre-emergent between the grass and the lawn or you get happy little grass seedlings in your lawn. This method has worked very well for me. Another possibility , and a more fail-safe way, is to bare your teeth and cut off those beautiful flower heads before they go to seed or when they emerge. You can find wonderful grasses that will be beautiful without their flowers. Then, like tending vines in July or August, you just have to make sure that you pay attention to them on your "dead-heading rounds" every week or so.

Thanks, doss. Not all grasses reseed here, though. The easier route for me may be to just be certain to select grasses that won't seed themselves. It's all in choosing the right plant, right? :)

Great - non-reseeding grasses and no runner grasses and you are in good shape. And that's right about the right plant. You know that saying about "Bloom where you're planted"? Well, I tell my kids "If you put a camellia in Death Valley it's just never going to bloom!"

Here, my zones travel in my yard. I can put two dahlia's 3 feet apart and one will be fine and the other wilts every day until evening. I've finally come to terms with it and if something isn't happy where it is I pull it and plant it somewhere else or give it to someone. Then I find a plant that is happy there. It makes all the difference in my garden. I think that it is a huge secret of garden success - that is unless you are satisfied with staying with the tried and trues (I call boring). I never want to see another Agapanthus again!!!!!

A nice horse shoe shaped berm, planted up nicely with some low shrubs, med size grasses, a few Spring bulbs, a daylily or three, and some drift wood and rocks for a bit of breakup.
Something like the attached picture (stolen from the WEB) :-)

Marc

Pampas grass would not be invasive for you. And it really is pretty when it blooms.