Using Plants to Hide Unsightly Objects in the Garden

Garden designers often use plants to conceal unattractive elements within a landscape. By strategically placing different types of plants, we can hide eyesores with aesthetic features that blend seamlessly with the surrounding environment.

The Challenge of Concealment

Imagine a serene garden where every element, from the vibrant flowers to the lush foliage, is meticulously curated to evoke tranquillity and delight. Amidst this verdant haven, there lie drainage grates, manholes, and compost bins—necessary, yet jarring interruptions to the visual flow.

Raised services such as water tanks or HVAC units stand tall, casting unwelcome shadows over the carefully tended beds. Even the compacted roadbase areas near planting beds disrupt the seamless transition from one part of the garden to another.

Such elements are often unavoidable, their presence dictated by practical needs. However, their aesthetic impact need not be accepted as an inevitability. By employing strategic planting, designers can erase these eyesores from view, allowing the garden’s natural beauty to take centre stage.

Covering Horizontal Eyesores

Flat and sprawling objects can be particularly challenging to disguise. Manholes, unsightly patches of old construction, and drainage grates can break the visual continuity of a garden’s floor.

Yet, with the right selection of ground covers, these elements can vanish beneath a blanket of greenery, becoming virtually invisible to the casual observer.

Recommended Plants:

Pink Fusion™ Scaevola spp. ‘PFS200’  Intended

This scaevola just will not stop flowering. I like to call it a roadside cottage plant, because it’s a pretty perennial plant that can survive in the neglect of a roadside environment.

It’s survived over 12 years of testing, much longer than most wildflowers which you’re lucky to get 3 years out of. It outcompetes weeds and grows to 30cm high by 1.2m wide.

Blue Horizon™ Eremophila glabra prostrate ‘EREM1’ PBR

This emu bush has pretty yellow flowers that arrive in winter, but its real ornamental value comes from its striking blue foliage. It has a denser growth habit with less gaps than other eremophilas, and has been bred to tolerate climates beyond the dry sandy environments it’s native to in WA. This variety grows to 25cm high by 1m wide.

Groundswell Hibbertia scandens ‘HBS01’ PBR Intended:

This native creeper has been bred to spread far and wide covering ground. It’s ideal for coastal gardens, and can tolerate frost much better than common forms. It grows to 45cm high and 2m wide, hugging the ground until it finds a structure it can climb.

Lady Tanika® Lomandra longifolia ‘LM360’ PBR:

Lady Tanika® is a sterile female alternative to the classic Tanika™ Lomandra plant. It’s a bit shorter and wider, as the foliage gently bends more readily than Tanika™ leaves. It doesn’t attract ants and is well suited to wet and dry environments with phytophthora. It grows to 55cm high and 60cm wide.

Ground Hug Myoprorum insulare ‘MYIN01’ PBR Intended

This myoporum has shorter internodes and tighter foliage, meaning it can hide horizontal objects better than varieties with longer internodes, such as Yareena™ Myoporum. It’s also better at crowding out weeds than other varieties, and costs less to install as fewer plants are needed for total coverage. It grows to 10cm tall and 4m wide.

Masking Low to Medium Objects

Medium-sized objects such as compost bins, irrigation controllers and small raised services require a different approach. Medium shrubs and structured plants offer the perfect solution, their height and form providing the necessary coverage without overwhelming the space.

Recommended Plants:

Aussie Flat Bush™ Rhagodia spinescens ‘SAB01’ PBR:

Aussie Flat Bush™ is a low-growing and compact form of saltbush. It reaches a height of approximately 30-50 cm and spreads about 1 metre wide. This hardy and drought-tolerant shrub is perfect for covering low objects and providing a shrubby ground cover. Its dense, grey-green foliage adds a soft texture to the garden while effectively screening unsightly elements.

Grey Box™ Westringia fruticosa ‘WES04’ PBR:

Grey Box™ Westringia is a drought-tolerant native box hedge plant. It grows to a height and width of around 30-45 cm. Its tight, compact growth habit makes it ideal for low hedging and screening purposes.

This plant can be installed in positions lacking irrigation and drainage because it can tolerate both flooding and drought. Performs best as a short screen for small objects like water meters, especially when planted as a hedge along pathways and garden borders.

Red Alert™ Callistemon viminalis ‘KPS38’ PBR:

Red Alert™ Callistemon is an excellent native hedge alternative to Photinia. It can grow up to 2.4m in height and has a spreading habit of about 2m when unpruned. This shrub is known for its striking red new growth, which adds vibrant colour to the garden.

It doesn’t flower, making it suitable near playgrounds and other areas where European honeybees are unwelcome with their painful stings. Its dense foliage provides effective coverage for medium-height objects, making it a visually appealing and functional choice for screening.

Crimson Villea™ Grevillea rosmarinifolia ‘H16’ PBR:

Crimson Villea™ is a compact and dense native shrub that grows up to 80cm in height and width. Its vibrant crimson flowers and fine, needle-like foliage make it an attractive addition to any garden, especially as it’s one of the most impressive winter-flowering plants ever bred.

Katie Belles™ Lomandra hystrix ‘LHBYF’ PBR:

Katie Belles™ Lomandra is a hardy, strappy-leaf plant that can grow up to 1.8m tall and 1.5m wide when left unpruned in ideal conditions. Its graceful, arching leaves and fragrant yellow flower spikes add movement and interest to the garden. This Lomandra is perfect for screening lower objects while adding a soft, natural texture to the landscape.

King Alfred® Dianella caerulea ‘JOHN316’ PBR:

King Alfred™ Dianella is a robust strappy-leaf plant known for its upright growth habit, reaching heights of 70 cm and spreading up to 70 cm wide. Its vibrant blue-green foliage and occasional blue flowers make it an excellent choice for low to medium screening.

This Dianella provides a vertical element to the garden and is suitable for various conditions, including drought. It’s one of the most impress erosion controlling plants ever, with a 752% improvement compared with bare soil (2007 Paananen, Layt study). However, it does need pruning to the base every couple of years or it may not live as long as it can.

Concealing Tall Structures

Taller objects, such as small buildings or large raised services, call for a more vertical strategy. Climbers, tall shrubs, and columnar trees reach upward, cloaking the structures in living greenery.

Recommended Plants:

Sweeper® Waterhousea floribunda ‘DOW20’ PBR:

Sweeper® Waterhousea is a heavily weeping form of Waterhousea, boasting a dense foliage with elegant rippled leaves. In summer, it produces large clusters of white flowers, adding a touch of brightness to the garden.

This tree is ideal for creating large dense screens up to 10m tall and 8m wide, perfect for hiding tall structures. This lilly pilly is highly resistant to myrtle rust

Straight and Narrow™ Syzygium australe ‘SAN01’ PBR Intended:

Straight and Narrow™ is a slender variety of Syzygium australe, perfect for tight planting areas. It has a dense growth habit (up to 8m tall x 1.5m wide), making it an excellent choice for screening tall, narrow objects without taking up much horizontal space. It’s also resistant to psyllids.

Naringa™ Westringia hybrid ‘WES01’ PBR:

Naringa™ Westringia is one of the best medium-tall hedging plants available. It can grow up to 2 metres in height and has dense vegetation which responds well to pruning. Growing to 2.2m tall and 1.5m when unpruned, this native shrub looks great pruned a couple of times per year or left to express its natural shape.

Slim™Callistemon viminalis ‘CV01’ PBR:

Slim™ Callistemon is a narrow-growing variety of Callistemon, reaching heights of 3m and a width of 1.3m when pruned every couple of years. It is perfect for tight planting areas, offering a dense foliage that can effectively conceal tall objects.

Additionally, it produces vibrant red bottlebrush flowers, adding a splash of colour to the landscape while providing excellent coverage. It’s extremely myrtle rust and phytopthora resistant.

Ozbreed Flat White™ Pandorea jasminoides ‘PJ01’ PBR:

Ozbreed® Flat White™ Pandorea is a compact, dense Australian native climber. Reaching heights of 2-3 metres and widths of up to 2 metres unpruned, this climber is ideal for covering fences and trellises, perfect for concealing tall structures in narrow spaces.

It holds its foliage and hugs structures and the ground much better than other varieties, with less frequent pruning required to stay tidy. This variety works well as a climber or a ground cover on slopes, retaining walls and rocky areas.

Coastal Pink™ Correa alba ‘COR10’ PBR:

Coastal Pink™ Correa is an adaptable and hardy native shrub that thrives in coastal environments, coping well with winds and salt spray. This plant produces charming pink flowers and has a dense growth habit of 2m x 2m, making it perfect for screening unsightly tall objects.

Its resilience and beauty ensure that it not only hides these structures but also enhances the overall aesthetic of the garden.

Quick Fence™ Viburnum odoratissimum ‘VOQ1’ PBR Intended:

Quick Fence™ Viburnum is known for its rapid establishment and dense foliage, making it particularly effective for creating tall and efficient screens swiftly. This shrub is ideal for quickly covering and concealing large, tall structures, growing up to 4m high x 2.5m wide.

In addition to its functional benefits, Quick Fence™ Viburnum also produces fragrant white flowers, adding an extra layer of sensory appeal to the garden. Its vigorous growth makes it perfect for covering extensive areas in a relatively short period.

Daniel’s Wrap

By thoughtfully selecting and placing plants, garden designers can turn unsightly elements into harmonious parts of the landscape, ensuring both functionality and beauty in every corner of the garden.

Image Attribution: 1