Looking for Ideas for Hiding an Eyesore

[BizBuzz]

Hello!

I introduced myself yesterday, and I spent most of the rest of the day after that, and a lot of today just pouring over the forum.

Wow, what a community you have here!!!

As explained in my intro, I finally have my own place, and although it's in a trailer park, I intend on making this my home for many years to come, so I would like to start making my lot my own.

I live with my 93 year old Mom, and I am trying to make her as comfortable as I can, and one thing she enjoys is plants. Her desk is right next to her window, but her view has a bit of an eyesore that I am looking to help hide.

Here is her view from the left window of a double:



Here is her view from the right window of a double:



I know we are not going into a great growing season, but I am needing to do something so that she has a better view.

BTW ... the beige thing on the left is my shed, eventually, I am going to do a trellis with jasmine there.

I want to keep everything in pots, so please keep that in mind. Also, I was recommended to use plumbagos and loropetalum from a friend that has these two growing in her yard in the same area. She said get about four of those, and two trellis' and start the process. She also recommended putting some dark bark down to hide the mess that is the yard.

I am looking for ideas beyond or instead of those?

Any thoughts? Thanks!

[imafan26]

Welcome to the forum.

Coastal Panhandle so probably zone 9. You have a lot of choices there.

There are a lot of weeds on the ground so before you put down ground cover you will have to get rid of those. You can dig them out but if they are very aggressive weeds and you are not totally organic, an herbicide should be used for good measure and non-woven weedcloth before you put down mulch. Bark mulch is o.k. it is decorative.
The utility pole will still need access but you can put some tall potted plants in front of it on the side of the window view. I am partial to italian cypress because of it columnar form and it won't need much to keep it in shape. Eventually it will outgrow the pots, but will work for now until you can find a more permanent solution.

A small tree or shrub will also work if you can build a surround for the legs of the utlility box and paint it a neutral color like brown or green.

Since it is your mother's view I'd make a list of her favorite plants and check out which ones might be suitable for the space. Since it is a small space, less is more. Keep to a simple color scheme only a couple of colors and look for plants which will bloom for a very long time. Work with her to measure the space and draw a plan Look up the plants, she can help with the research. Then go out with some flour to measure the mature plant circles and some cans and stakes to stand in for the real plant heights and work out the kinks in the plan. You need to make sure there is enough sun, air, and space around the plants for walking and maintenance.

[BizBuzz]

Thank you so much imafan26 ... that was clear and helpful!

Incidentally, we are from Hawaii, my Mother and I were both born and raised there. I moved away in 89, and have lived in Florida since 2009. We had to bring my mother over because she could no longer live on her own, and I wasn't moving back to Hawaii. ::giggle::

You have definitely given me something to start with!

[imafan26]

I have been to only a few places on the mainland. I did visit a friend one Christmas in Spring Hill about 40 miles from Tampa. It was nice an quiet retirement community. It was really nice to go to the orchards and get fresh fruit and even in the tourist traps the prices were a lot less than they are here. That is where I learned that oranges turn orange because of the cold. No wonder Kau oranges look like they have the measles. It was in the 70's in the day time but would still freeze overnight and killed a banana they had in the yard. It is a lot cheaper to retire there than here, but that is the price of paradise right! The people were really nice there but we did not get to see that much since we stayed mostly in the residential areas. We were visiting my friend's mom and she liked to go fishing and the ocean is just a couple of miles away. Strange they have all these ulua swimming around and they only catch them for sport.