Plantings to hide utility boxes

What should I plant to hide utility boxes that are two and three feet tall?

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##FULL QUESTION## Dear *Gardening Life*, I have two utility boxes (phone and cable, two and three feet tall, respectively) at the tip of my reverse-pie-shaped front yard. How can I mask these yet retain access to them? *—Emma Parkinson, Burlington, ON*

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##FULL ANSWER## Emma, Distracting the eye is the ticket. An evergreen surround of boxwood plus a small clematis such as *Clematis integrifolia* or *C. recta* ‘Purpurea’, which will scramble around and over both plants and boxes, would do the trick. I don’t normally recommend maiden grass (*Miscanthus sinensis*) but this is a case where it would work well. Try the fine-textured *M. s.* ‘Morning Light’ and somewhat taller ‘Gracillimus’ for an effective screen. Just keep an access opening on the street side. *—Marjorie Harris, Editor at Large* Other questions recently answered by the GL team: Vine types to grow on a new pergola Maintaining purple fountain grass Keeping bougainvilllea healthy throughout the winer How to rid invasive green goutweed Good garden uses for fireplace ashes Growing grape hyacinth indoors The best way to convert a lawn into a meadow The proper way to grow rhododendrons Eliminating beetle damage to spruce trees Annual resembling Japanese maple Planting ivy near cedar trees In search of the 'Sundance Kid' sunflower Caring for canna bulbs A supplier for barren strawberry ground cover Winter care for roses Cutting back mauna loa The best time to harvest curly-leaf lettuce Eliminating invasive trumpet Caring for double-flowering hibiscus trees Eliminating white aphids from honeysuckle vine Where to purchase Japanese blood grass An alternative to rhododendrons Growing a vegetable garden over a septic field Dividing and replanting daylilies Proper care for oakleaf hydrangea The best care for shrub roses 'The Fairy' Pest eating purple leaf sand cherry Preventing lawn brown spots Keeping plants sturdy Preventing suckers from a cut-down serviceberry tree Best tomato seeds to sow Preventing wind damage to grasses Plants to highlight a pool Reshaping yew tree The best way to replace a lawn Best screening plants for privacy Buying snowberries in Montreal Keeping 'Endless Summer' hydrangea growing strong The proper way to fill planters The proper way to grow hyacinths Boston ivy and rough winters Fast growing shade tree Using black walnut chips under a cedar tree Compatible plants with bell peppers Beneficial plants for roses Growing berries on a firethorn Improving asparagus garden Medium-height planting suggestions Safe allergy-friendly flowers Salt- and drought-tolerant flowering plants

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