Clever Landscaping Tricks to Disguise Your Home Standby Generator
You’ve got a beautiful backyard garden.
However, you’re worried that a blocky, industrial generator will detract from it.
With creative use of resources and planning, you can mask your generator while enhancing your garden’s aesthetics.
Importance of Generators
Generators provide a reliable power source during outages, ensuring uninterrupted daily activities. They power essential appliances, ensuring comfort and safety.
Their presence is crucial but doesn’t have to compromise your yard’s beauty.
You can integrate these practical machines into your outdoor spaces without sacrificing aesthetic appeal.
The Aesthetic Challenge
Generators are bulky and industrial in appearance, clashing with the natural beauty of a garden. (You don’t see them at Longwood Gardens for a reason.)
They also have to be level on your property.
The challenge lies in concealing them effectively without hindering their functionality.
This requires a blend of creativity regarding resources, practical landscaping techniques, and a keen eye for design.
Planning Your Landscaping
Assessing the Location
Accessibility: Ensure the generator is easily accessible for maintenance. The path to your generator should be easy to navigate and simple enough for routine checks and emergency repairs.
Generator Exhaust: Keep the generator away from windows and doors to prevent exhaust fumes from entering the house. Also, ensure it’s positioned away from areas where children and pets play.
Noise Considerations: In the same vein, position the generator where its noise will least disturb your household and neighbors—away from windows. Treat it like you might an air conditioning unit.
Landscaping Ideas to Mask Your Generator
Fencing with Flair
Lattice Fencing: Lattice fencing allows for ventilation and supports climbing plants like Clematis or Ivy, creating a living wall that can effectively conceal the generator.
Decorative Panels: Choose panels with designs that reflect your home’s style—these range from sleek, modern patterns to more traditional, ornate ones.
Plant-Based Solutions
Shrubs and Bushes: Bushes like Spirea, Hydrangea, or Rhododendrons create a natural screen around the generator, adding color and texture to your garden.
Ornamental Grasses: Feather Reed Grass or Zebra Grass provide a soft, flowing screen that hides the generator while adding movement and depth to your garden landscape.
Evergreens: Evergreens like Boxwood, Holly, and Spruce provide year-round coverage, ensuring the generator remains hidden even in winter. They also add a constant green backdrop to your garden and won’t drop leaves, leaving you less of a mess to clean up.
Perennials: Plants such as Hostas or Daylilies offer long-lasting appeal with minimal maintenance. They return every year, reducing the need for replanting. Note: these plants only fill out in the warmer months, so you’ll have to find an alternative solution during the winter.
Root Systems: Select plants with shallow roots like Ferns and Salvia to avoid damaging underground utility lines and the foundation of your house.
Creative Structures
Garden Trellis: A garden trellis, supporting climbers like Roses or Wisteria is a beautiful way to mask the generator. This also adds a vertical element to your garden design.
Decorative Rocks or Boulders: Placing rocks or boulders of varying sizes around the generator helps it blend into the landscape, especially in rock gardens or xeriscaped areas.
Final Touches for Aesthetic Appeal
Mulching
Aesthetic and Functional: Mulch not only adds a polished look to the garden but also helps retain moisture for plants and suppresses weeds.
Color Coordination: Select a mulch color that complements both the plants in your garden and your home’s exterior to create a cohesive look.
Decorative Stone
Choose decorative stones that vary in size, color, and texture to add depth and interest to your landscape design.
Use them to create pathways or accent areas around plants, water features, or garden sculptures.
Select natural stones that are durable and low maintenance that blend well with the natural surroundings of your garden’s theme.
Decorative Elements
Garden Art: Incorporate sculptures or decorative stakes near the generator to draw the eye away from it, adding an artistic touch to your garden.
Lighting: Strategically placed soft landscape lighting highlights garden features while detracting attention from the generator, especially at night.
Safety and Maintenance Considerations
Clearance: Maintain enough space around the generator to prevent overheating and allow air circulation. This is crucial for the generator’s longevity and safe operation.
Plant Placement: Avoid planting too close to the generator. Plants should not block exhaust areas or impede air intake.
Removable Solutions: Consider using planters on casters or easily movable trellises for flexibility. This allows you to move plants when necessary, providing unobstructed access to the generator.
Call Before You Dig - 811: Before any digging, contact your local utility companies to mark any underground lines. This prevents accidental damage and ensures safety.
Winter Care
Regularly clear snow and ice around the generator to keep vents and exhaust areas unobstructed.
Summer Upkeep
Trim plants regularly to prevent overgrowth and ensure they don’t encroach on the generator’s space.
Maintain a consistent watering schedule, especially in summer heat, to keep plants healthy and lush.
Get Your Generac Generator with New London Electric
Concealing a generator doesn’t have to compromise the beauty of your landscape.
With thoughtful planning, appropriate plant selection, and creative landscaping solutions, your generator can be effectively masked, maintaining your outdoor space’s functionality and aesthetic appeal.
If the aesthetics of a generator have been holding you back from purchasing one—worry not! Landscaping is your best friend and so is your local Generac-certified dealer.
Contact New London Electric today to request an estimate for your Generac generator.
