Trash Can Enclosure

For those of us who are not blessed with a garage in which to store our refuse until “garbage day,” there is the problem of how to hide, or disguise, these unattractive, utilitarian objects for the other six days of the week. Whether you call them trash cans, garbage cans, or dust bins, it’s not as if they can be placed in the center of the lawn with a flower pot on top and be made into a focal point.

Recently, I saw this simple, inexpensive, and elegant solution: The trash can enclosure is built in as a seamless extension of the fence. Stockade fencing runs the length of the common property line. A simple bumpout of shorter fencing (either purchased or trimmed down from the perimeter fence) is equipped with a latch and two hinges. Matching sides, barely deeper than the cans themselves, are fixed to two uprights already in place for the perimeter fence. The trash cans are placed on a bed of gravel, which if underlain by landscape cloth, will keep weeds at a minimum.

Many times I’ve seen enclosures like this stick out like a sore thumb, but that is because they are plunked down in the middle of nowhere, usually on the lawn. This one works because it is indistinguishable from the fence behind it. In fact, I had already walked past it twice and was just stepping out onto the sidewalk when I suddenly realized what it was.

Visual deception is a legitimate technique and is used in gardening all the time, such as when forced perspective of plants, ornaments, or structures is used to make a space read larger than it is. So, if you have something really ugly in your yard, try hiding it in plain sight --- just use a little camouflage.

Popular posts from this blog

Musings on the Relativity of Time and The Arithmetic of Overpopulation

Image
I celebrated my birthday recently. Beyond a certain age, birthdays become a double-edged sword. You’re glad you made it to the next one, but realize that there are far fewer years ahead of you than behind you. The list of absent friends grows ever longer. Colleagues grow grey; everyone else looks like they just graduated from middle school. I used to console myself by calculating that I still had at least 2 5 more years to go, which made the end point seem very far off. But, now that would mean I’d live to an unrealistically old age, a concept supported by neither family history nor actuarial tables. I’m reminded of Einstein’s summary of his Theory of Relativity: "When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour." I guess I’ve been having too much fun. But that can’t go on forever. My immortality would not be good for the planet. It’s not sustainable. At the same time that medical advances have
Keep reading

Please Garden Responsibly. Because What You Spray in Your Garden Doesn’t Stay in Your Garden

Image
American Lady caterpillar on licorice plant. Photo: Courtesy Missouri Botanical Garden Scores of their silky tents covered the licorice plant in the container on my porch. Inside the tents, something was gobbling up the leaves faster than I could pick them off. The plant must have been infested when I bought it. As I reached for my organic insecticide, I thought, “Wait, you don’t know what kind of caterpillars these are!” I recalled an article on pest management by a friend who cautioned: “Sometimes, the best treatment is no treatment at all.” It took the better part of the afternoon for me to identify the miniature mowing machines. In the meantime, half of them had started dropping from their perches and wriggling off into the underbrush. I hoped I had made the right decision. The licorice plant was devastated. But then I noticed that the caterpillars had not eaten the leaves all the way down to the stem. Possibly, secondary buds could sprout and still provide a silvery
Keep reading

Arbors: Style and Placement

Image
This is Dan’s first arbor, an earlier version of the one pictured in the previous post. While I’m not crazy about the use of twinkle lights in the garden, here they lent an ethereal air to the forest and served a practical purpose, as well: A night light for the doggy relief area during those late nocturnal and early morning runs. Choosing an arbor that is in harmony with the architectural style of the house and the landscape style of the garden, and siting it appropriately, are crucial to having it integrate well into its surroundings. While budget is an issue for many gardeners, as is not having a live-in arbor-artist, there are still many choices available ready made, or with only “some assembly required.” Smooth, unfussy surfaces and sleek styling go well with contemporary, modern, or mid-century homes; ornate curlicues and botanical themes with cottages, farmhouses, and Victorians. Unpeeled logs or rough-sawn boards are good choices for a rustic look. If you are fortunate
Keep reading