Any ideas on how to cover this UGLY culvert we have in yard

Hi we have this ugly culvert in our front yard and wondered if anyone had a good idea on how to make it pretty? :)
We thought about possibly adding decking to the top but it may be too wide and too expensive?

Thanks in advance!

Here it is with the most water we have seen http://lh4.google.com/denise.dresbach/Rc5z34auVII/AAAAAAAAAe0/Ps2l341vfDM/DSCN2688.JPG?imgmax=576

Usually dry...

http://lh3.google.com/denise.dresbach/Rz-CMOifrnI/AAAAAAAAB8c/3G-aClaX7zE/DSCN3153.JPG?imgmax=800

My first question would be how much are you allowed to do? If you (or a previous owner of your house) installed it then you can do whatever you want, but if it was something the city put in they may have some very specific ideas about what you can and can't do, so I'd check with them first.

As far as a deck--would that be an area where a deck would look right? Without knowing the overall layout of your yard and where exactly the culvert is relative to everything else, it's hard to tell whether a deck would look appropriate there or not. But if it's down near the street and away from your house it could look sort of out of place. I'd also be concerned about putting a deck there if there's any chance you might need to ever get down into the culvert to clear out clogs, etc. You wouldn't want to have to take the deck apart to get down there!

If it were my yard, I would either put landscaping around it that was tall enough that you couldn't really see the culvert easily, or try to turn it into a feature by putting a decorative bridge across it, planting bog plants down in the culvert, and then putting some grasses and other things that look like they might grow around a pond/water feature around it.

Maybe lay some boards over the top then a large piece of good plywood then set some potted plants on top of it or put dirt on top of the piece of plywood like people do on top of buildings sometimes and plant small sedums or something like that on top of it. You could put an edging around the top of the plywood to hold the dirt in. Is it too wide of an area to do something like that?

Well, it is there so might as well make the most of it. #1 Idea I think it is kind of neat to have a little stream in the back yard. I would not cover it. I think planting some ivy such as English Ivy around and let it grow to cover the concrete block. You will need to hide that black pipe somehow - maybe letting the ivy grow over it. And I am envisioning some kind of tall metal or concrete, work of art, or ???? standing in the middle of the culvert something that will let the water run around and through. Maybe something you could put lighted candle on at night. #2 Idea Also, you might consider putting a concrete wall over near the house (where the water looks like it is going under the house) almost as high the the wall around the culvert to form a dam. This would make a pond in your yard. The water would flow over the short wall which would be as close to the house as possible to hide the other pipe. Let me know what you think. t1turner24@gmail.com

Wow thanks everyone for the replies!

As far as who put the culvert in it was the last owner.
It would be a good area to put a deck. It is away from the street and between our house and garage (that is the little house that is in the pic). Next to the culvert is a flat concrete area.

We thought about putting some river rock ($$$) in it and doing some ivy like t1turner mentioned. and other plants.
I guess I dont have good pics but here is another one which you can see next to it is the cement area.
on the other side is dirt with some plants.

http://lh6.google.com/denise.dresbach/RuWefzF5gcI/AAAAAAAABls/pyC1JrWcjE0/DSCN3123.JPG?imgmax=800
http://lh3.google.com/denise.dresbach/Rz-CMOifrnI/AAAAAAAAB8c/3G-aClaX7zE/DSCN3153.JPG?imgmax=800
http://lh4.google.com/denise.dresbach/RuWdvTF5gbI/AAAAAAAABlc/mw0Y5BA2s3Y/DSCN3122.JPG?imgmax=800

In the spring up until fall the dirt side fills in really nicely so you cant see it but I would like to make use of that area.
Like so: http://lh4.google.com/denise.dresbach/RolqiTFJrbI/AAAAAAAABPs/dRR5Pk7HkCc/DSCN3003.JPG?imgmax=800

Oh yea and the bog plants is a great idea all though the culvert hardly has water in it.....It only has water when it rains and the rest of the year it is dry as a bone

Remember this - everything you put IN this culvert you will have to maintain.

At the request of one of our clients we changed the direction of the swale in the back of his house. Here in Central PA the terrain is high hills and deep valleys. All of our water feeds into the Chesapeake Bay. This swale only filled with water when it rained. This client felt things were to unsuited to his wants and had us move the swale more towards his property line. We recommended not to move the swale. That month it rained hard and long on 2 different days (close to each other). The water was so forceful that it decided to cut over the swale embankment and flow down it's original path.

Their finished basement was flooded, a planting bed was completely washed out, and their driveway / garage was completely submerged.

Be very careful putting anything into that culvert. A deck over top is a good idea. Make sure you only put the deck over half the culvert and not the whole thing so you can keep an eye on level of debris that will build-up over time. Plant creepers like Juniper or Periwinkle to creep over the edge of the wall.

Hope this helps.

And let me guess...they probably called and yelled at you like it was your fault they had problems!

Actually they were so upset about their basement that they just wondered how soon we could come out. We were out the next day. It was my co-workers job so he and my boss handled everything. Never heard anything after we went back and they are still our clients (at least last season) so I think this one was okay. I just finished a job where the client actually sat in a lawn chair and watched us complete our work. But they feed us.