So you want to hide something in the garden.......

We have clients who want to always hide something in, near or by the garden that detracts from it's surroundings. The answer almost every time........black paint! Black is the least visible color in nature. You would think green or brown would blend in, when in fact anything painted that color tends to jump out at you.

We have painted 4", white, septic field cleanout pipes, manhole covers, holding tank covers, large propane tanks (check with your propane vendor about that one and see what their regulations are) In fact in the previous entry, in the before picture you can clearly see the large white propane tank and in the after picture, it's not that the tank has moved or is hidden, the client has painted it black.

If you are going to install a chain link fence in your yard, use black vinyl coated fencing and posts. Not only does it blend in, it won't rust or require maintenance. We suggested this to a client who had several tennis courts in their yard and they were going to use green 15' tall fencing........whooooooooooo, that would have been ugly.

The deer fencing made by Benners Gardens, http://www.bennersgardens.com is 7' tall and black for the same reason. Once installed it is not visible in the woods and is why you need to tie white ribbons on it for awhile to keep the deer from running into it and condition them.

One of our clients installed deer fencing himself and much to his amazement, watched deer one morning, running into it, it would strectch a tiny bit and launch them back and they would get up again and do the same thing. This went on for awhile. They didn't ever do it again, so either they were having a party and this was their version of a bungee cord or they were riding the short bus for deer and didn't quite get the concept of the deer fencing.

So remember, when you want things to dissappear, paint it black....oh just fyi, this doesn't work on mother-in-laws or nasty neighbors!