Covers to turn your yard into the sanctuary you deserve

By replacing plants and moving pots around, you can continually come up with new combinations and surprising accents that make for beautiful yard covers.

Your yard should be a refuge in which you can unwind. But in order to maintain such a private space, you'll need visual cover, whether it's a fence made of wood or an artfully placed planting. Visual cover can add beauty and practicality to your yard.

Apart from sheltering you from prying eyes, cover can be used to hide unattractive garbage cans or compost piles. Fences come in a variety of materals, styles and colours. Planting hedges is a more permanent cover option, and using potted plants as visual cover allows you to maintain maximum flexibility in your space. By replacing plants and moving pots around, you can continually come up with new combinations and surprising accents.

• Natural materials such as wood, willow or bamboo are fine for nearly every yard. Attach bamboo matting or visual screens made from woven willow to a newly-erected fence for added privacy.
• Green up an existing or a new wood fence with climbing plants and hanging baskets.

 Planted trellises

When planning visual cover in the form of a trellis, take into account the prevailing wind direction and angle of the sun; they will play a role in determining whether the climbing plants will thrive. Excessively tall trellises sometimes cast unwelcome shadows.

• Wooden trellises or pergolas should be made from weatherproof, pressure-treated wood so that you don't have to use toxic wood preservatives to maintain them.
• Annual runner beans grow especially quickly on trellises; in just a few weeks they produce a green wall with attractive red flowers. In the fall, you can eat the beans.
• Trellises provide perfect visual cover — even in the winter — with hardy climbing plants such as ivy and some varieties of honeysuckle.
• Make a trellis out of bamboo poles for annual climbing plants that are not too heavy. Place the poles on top of one another in a grid pattern and tie them together at each intersection with garden wire, then attach your trellis to the wall.
• A trellis thick with climbing roses produces abundant blooms and, depending on the variety of rose, a wonderfully fragrant privacy screen.
• Cut back trellis plants regularly so they retain their shape and don't become too heavy — maybe even breaking the trellis with their weight.
• Fragrant plants, including honeysuckle and jasmine can do double duty. When trained on a trellis around the compost pile or in front of a trash can, they can cover up the view and simultaneously mask the smell.

Many plants grow well in planters, though they may not get as tall as in the garden.

• Opt for hydrangea, cornelian cherry and weigela. They produce abundant flowers and have thick foliage.
• Plant boxwood or arborvitae in buckets for an evergreen visual cover.
• Elevate the plants by putting them onto a flat stone, a block of wood or an old, low bench.