Dress up unsightly fixtures in your yard such as chain link fence, storage building, above ground pools, retaining walls, dog pens or trampolines. These items can be made to look like part of the landscape with a few simple ideas. Take for instance a storage building. Treat it like a house and use taller plants at the corner such as Nellie R. Stevens Holly, Emerald Arborvitae or Fosteri Holly; for smaller buildings use Cleyera, Anise, Tea Olive, Gardenia, Camellia or Sasanqua. At the entrance to the building, use accent plants on each side, like Boxwood, Steeds Holly or Dwarf Sasanqua. Between the corner and entry plants install foundations plants such as Compacta Holly, Soft Touch Holly, Dwarf Yaupon Holly, Dwarf Burfordi Holly, Helleri Holly, Frost Proof Gardenia, and maybe add seasonal color also. These ideas will work for almost any structure, whether it is a green house, horse barn, dairy barn or second garage.

For chain link fencing, you can plant small trees like Dogwoods, Crape Myrtle, Red Buds, or Cherry trees with plenty of shrubs such as Cleyera, Gardenia, Anise, Lorapetalum, Needle Point Holly or Knockout Roses amongst the trees. This will soften the appearance of the chain link fence. For above-ground pools you can add a deck and plant groups of plants around it using some of the plants listed above. Some retaining walls can be unsightly but can be easily softened by using many varieties of plants. The selection of plants to use will be determined by the height of the wall. The most common plants to use are Cleyera, Needle Point Holly, Lorapetalum, Camellia, and Anise. By using plant materials to soften structures that detract from the pleasing look of your property, you can turn an eye-sore into a beautiful part of your landscape.

Happy Gardening.