Best Landscaping Ideas to Hide Utility Boxes

Ornamental grasses, container vines climbing on lattices, privacy screens, and repurposed old cabinets are just a few of the best landscaping ideas for hiding utility boxes in your yard. 

Pad-mounted transformers are the biggest and most disturbing utility boxes to scar a yard. Still, you can also have smaller power pedestals on your property and meter boxes mounted on your house walls. This article gives you the best landscaping ideas to hide them with style.

1. Surround the pad-mounted transformer with planter borders 

If you’re a fan of growing container plants, this project is right up your alley. Choose large containers of your favorite shapes and colors, fill them with vertically growing plants, and place them around the green box to form a beautiful natural wall. 

You can grow only one species or mix annuals and perennials for a more interesting look. The plant choices are endless. Here are just a few you can consider:

• Gladiolus (Gladiolus spp.)
• Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)
• Elephant ears (Colocasia esculenta)
• Canna lily (Canna indica)
• Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
• Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla)

Small evergreen shrubs are also popular choices. “Woody ornamentals can add height, screening ability, structure, and unique foliage and bark textures to a mixed container,” explains Bodie Pennisi and Matthew Chapel from the University of Georgia Extension. 

On the more technical side, these planters have two important advantages: they can be moved if needed and are a no-dig landscaping solution in areas with buried power lines where digging is risky.

Note: To allow proper airflow and easy access, place any container, plants, or structures at least 4 feet away from the sides and back of an electrical transformer and 10 feet from its front side. With a power pedestal, you’ll typically need to keep a clearance zone of 2 feet on each of its sides.

2. Plant ornamental grasses 

Ornamental grasses add pizzas to any landscape, ranging from delicate green additions that bring volume and texture to showy, colorful focal points. They’re also hardy and easy to care for.

When choosing varieties for your project, remember that most pad-mount transformers and power pedestals are about 2 feet tall. To hide them properly, look for ornamental grasses that grow roughly the same height, such as:

• Hameln dwarf hardy fountain grass (Panisetum alopecuroides) – has bottlebrush-like white flowers and grows 2-3 feet tall and wide.
• Tufted hair grass (Deschampsia cespitosa) – forms tiny clouds of tiny flowers and grows 2 to 3 feet tall and 1.5 to 2 feet wide.
• Fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides) – dwarf varieties grow 1 to 2 feet tall.
• Purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea) – it’s green during summer, turns golden yellow in autumn, and grows up to 3 feet tall.

“Don’t try to hide the utility but rather try to make it blend in with the plant bed,” the University of Florida recommends. 

It’s not the height but the colors and shape that help blend the utility box. Choose species that fit your yard landscaping style and grow well in your USDA hardiness zone.

Here are a few guides to help you choose the best ornamental grasses for your yard and care for them properly:

• “9 Best Drought-Tolerant Ornamental Grasses”
• “How and When to Cut Ornamental Grasses”
• “Why is Pampas Grass Bad?”

3. Use a lattice or a trellis wall

If you want a solution that doesn’t involve planting, consider installing one or more lattices or trellises around the utility box. Their delicate criss-crossed pattern with large open spaces makes them excellent for this job: the structure makes the utility box less obvious while also allowing utility workers to locate it rather easily when necessary.

The color matters a lot. Green, tan, and brown typically blend the best with the plants in the yard and the main fence, but this varies for each property.  

4. Add evergreen vines in containers

The lattice (trellis) wall solution has an upgrade for the green thumb homeowners: add climbing vines. Plant them in large rectangular containers instead of directly into the soil. This planting style ensures the vine roots steer clear of buried cable lines and the plant doesn’t take over the clearance zone and the utility box.

If you want to enjoy this natural camouflage year-round, choose evergreen vines that keep their foliage during winter, such as:

• Ivy (Hedera helix)
• Star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides)
• Evergreen clematis (Clematis armandii)
• Trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)

Cover the clearance zone with low-growing plants such as turfgrasses, clover, moss, or other suitable groundcovers to complete a green area around the box.

5. Install a privacy or decorative fence

Installing a fence around the green box is an elegant way to hide the intruder. Privacy, semi-privacy, and decorative fences are the most common options. To keep a consistent style and help the design blend better in the landscape, choose a structure similar to the main fence you have around the yard.

Take a pick at these guides to help you decide the best type of fence for your project:

• “Privacy Fence vs. Semi-Privacy Fence”
• “How Much Does a Privacy Fence Cost?”

Keep the fence out of the clearance zone. Install it at least 3 to 4 feet away from the sides and back of the transformer and 10 feet away from its front side (read the instructions on the transformer label). If you want to hide the front side, install an outward swinging gate that utility workers can easily open and ensure shrubs, trees, or rocks do not block it.

Note: Digging around electrical transformers is highly risky. Look for no-dig fences, and always call 811 and have the buried lines marked if you need to disturb the soil, even by pushing posts or pipes into the ground.

Learn more about safely working around utility lines from our guide, “How to Landscape Around Buried Cable Lines.”

6. Work with privacy screens

Bamboo, wood, or vinyl privacy screens are as effective as fences in hiding utility boxes. They can successfully mask pad-mounted transformers, power pedestals, outdoor AC units, and garbage cans. 

You can buy a set with three panels to cover three sides of the utility box or just one for the most visible side and plant ornamental grasses or flowering plants on the other sides.

Note: If you need to dig post holes or install stakes into the ground, call 811 and get the buried utility lines marked first.

7. Plant small shrubs at a safe distance

“It’s important not to plant trees or shrubs around transformers because we always need 3 feet on each side and 9 feet in the front to work our sticks and to work safely,” says Jeremy Hatem, first-class underground lineman for the Fayetteville (N.C.) Public Works Commission.

Remember this when landscaping around utility boxes. While you shouldn’t plant shrubs close to the boxes or above buried utility lines, growing them 10 feet away from these installations is safe. Evergreen shrubs can do an excellent job of making utility boxes disappear from sight. They grow tall and dense and keep their foliage green throughout the winter.

Consider hiding only three sides of the utility box, so it is visible from the street and easily accessible for repairs.

Note: Call 811 before digging to install any plants. Read our guide, ”What to Plant Above Utility Lines in Your Yard,” to learn how to landscape the areas above and near service lines detected by the utility locator.

8. Repurpose an old cabinet to hide wall-mounted utility boxes

It’s not only the transformer and power pedestals that can ruin the look of carefully designed yards. Electric boxes mounted on exterior walls look just as bad. Fortunately, there are plenty of creative ideas to hide them.

A repurposed wood cabinet with an empty back is a good example. The cabinet doors make the space easy to access and protect the installation from the weather. Mount it on the wall to encase the boxes; the electrical boxes are no longer visible.

Are you wondering how an old cabinet would fit your house’s exterior? The solution is simple: Paint the cabinet the same color as your exterior walls. It will blend seamlessly with your home’s look. 

9. Install a shelf with trailing plants

Handy with tools? Build a sturdy shelf above the electric boxes on your house wall and use it to grow trailing plants. These cascading beauties create a dense cover when they grow, hiding the house wall and utility boxes. Here are some stunning plants to consider for your design project:

• Lobelia (Lobelia erinus)
• Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia)
• Ivy (Hedera helix)
• Dichondra Silver falls (Dichondra argentea)
• Million bells (Calibrachoa spp.)
• Begonia (Begonia spp.)
• Fuchsia (Fuchsia spp.)
• Water hyssop (Bacopa monnieri)

If you’re keen on perfectly crafted exteriors, you can also request permission from the utility company to paint the boxes the color of your wall. This simple trick has an amazing effect!

FAQ about hiding utility boxes

How do you plant around a utility box?

To plant around a utility box:

• Call 811 and have utility locators mark the utility lines buried in that area.
• Spread a good-quality topsoil layer (ensure not to cover the utility markings).
• Dig the planting holes carefully with insulated blunt hand tools.
• Install the seedlings or bulbs and cover them with soil.

Can I paint utility boxes in my yard?

Technically, you can, but you must ask permission since they’re the utility company’s property.  Before painting any utility box in your yard, call the utility company and ask if it’s okay and how to do it safely. 

What are the utility boxes in my backyard?

The large green boxes about 2 feet tall and wider are called pad-mounted transformers. They convert high-voltage energy into lower voltage that electric devices can safely use in your home. Smaller green boxes taller than wide are typically power pedestals but can be pedestals with cable, phone, or internet wires.

Let a landscaping professional do the hard work!

It can be tricky to hide utility boxes while keeping the clearance zone, allowing enough visibility for utility workers and fitting your yard’s design style. You don’t need to juggle all that. Find a local landscaping company with Lawn Love, and let the pros do their magic: They can make the ugly green box disappear into an amazing garden design.

• Main Photo Credit: Amy Stenglein | Lawn Love