Our modern homes have service and utility equipment that takes up space outdoors. This includes housings for electrical and cable service, air conditioning units, backup generators, and pool equipment. Particularly with newly constructed homes there are often curbside service units that are not part of front yard design. You know, the ugly green box near the driveway entrance.
Most of us are vaguely aware of these service units when we are outdoors. But we don’t really “see” them because we tune them out. However, when we begin to think about investing in landscape design, that’s when we want to do something about them.
Although we need this equipment to be comfortable in our houses we don’t necessarily want to see it or hear the noise it makes when we are trying to enjoy being outdoors.
Fortunately, service equipment can be hidden with a creative landscape design that effectively makes it vanish. Or it can be moved.
Dealing with Utility Equipment in Your Front Yard Landscape
A benefit of construction in newer housing developments is that electrical service is buried underground rather than on poles. The drawback is that each homesite is marked by one of those light green utility boxes down by the curb. Although the front yard location is convenient for service providers, you may find that it interferes with the aesthetic statement you are trying to achieve with your front yard design.
While equipment that is privately owned can be easily relocated, moving equipment owned by the power company can be prohibitively expensive. A creative landscape architect can develop a front yard design that introduces attractive features that de-emphasize the effect of the undesirable ones. They can accomplish this by screening out unwanted items, creating focal points that pull attention away from them, and by highlighting desirable features.
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Depending on the situation, this can be accomplished with plantings, stonework, fencing or a combination of these. If it works with the style of the home and the neighborhood, constructing a driveway entry gate with masonry pillars and low walls is a dramatic way to completely hide a utility box.
Disguising Service Equipment with Smart Front Yard Design
It is possible to subdue or soften the effect of that chunky green utility box by making it part of the landscaping. Installing groupings of various sized trees or shrubs and groundcovers in front of and around it can mask it with an attractive, eye-catching feature. It is important however that the planting area looks natural where it is and contributes to the overall composition.
Sometimes homeowners will simply plant a hedge in front of a utility box. But that may not work aesthetically if the hedge doesn’t make sense where they’ve placed it. It sticks out in the same way the utility box it’s attempting to hide sticks out.
Landscape features used to hide a service box should relate gracefully to other elements in the overall composition. So, if the utility box is on the left of the driveway, you’ve got to add a similar grouping on the right so it balances or fills in as a continuation of a theme that has been established elsewhere in the front yard design.
Your landscape architect will take care to plant in front of and around equipment but not right up against it as you must preserve access for service techs.
Dealing with Service Equipment in the Back Yard
The purpose of landscape design is to create a serene environment, a space that welcomes you and invites you to linger. This holds true for both front yard and backyard landscapes. So, although the focus of this article is about dealing with utility equipment that interferes with your experience of the front yard design, it merits a brief detour into the backyard to complete the discussion.
Air Conditioning Units and Back-Up Generators
Imagine you are planning to invest in an outdoor kitchen and dining patio. You might suddenly become aware that an air conditioning unit or a backup generator is in the way.
Fortunately, this type of service equipment can be easily moved farther away and hidden behind a fence, retaining wall, or screening plants. So you can enjoy your newly created outdoor living space without the noise and incongruous look of the utility equipment sharing the space.
Drainage and Water Retention Units
Many Northern Virginia properties must adhere to strict rules of storm water management. Often these require the construction of permeable surface areas that collect rainwater and allow it to seep into underground retaining tanks. This functional requirement always provides a great opportunity to create a garden feature for moisture loving plants. Effectively, a beautiful aesthetic accent is borne of the necessity to control water.
Pool Equipment
Pool equipment is the most common ambiance wrecker in backyard landscapes. When homeowners contract directly with a pool builder without consulting a landscape architect, they may find themselves sharing the pool deck and being serenaded by the sound of the pool pumping station.
That’s because a pool builder generally takes the most straight-forward approach to provide easy access for servicing the equipment and to avoid the cost of running additional lengths of pipe.
A landscape architect is interested in creating ambiance and character in outdoor environments. So their first thought is about how people will be using the pool area and how they want to feel when they are out there. The architect’s intention is always to maximize enjoyment by minimizing intrusive visual elements and noise.
When possible, it makes sense to consult with a landscape architect in advance to plan the location of service equipment so it doesn’t draw attention to itself or get in the way of future projects. If you are past that point, there are always things that can be done to “disguise” the equipment.
While backyard landscapes are set up for privacy, front yard designs are all about presentation and sharing. This is the essential difference between the front and backyard landscaping.
On the street-facing side of the house, the primary goal is to enhance the setting of the home, to showcase its attractiveness as viewed from the street. And there are always ways to use landscape design to maximize the effect.
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