We live in a lovely neighborhood of townhouses in a large city. Every owner takes special pride in the exterior appearance of their home, and we are no exception. When we purchased the townhouse a few years ago, we had central air conditioning installed. Naturally we’ve been very happy with the results – on the inside of the home, that is. Outside there was an ugly air conditioning unit that stood out like a sore thumb in the small yard between the building and the sidewalk. I quickly looked into creative ways to hide the unit, and found some really great ideas. One option was to purchase large pottery, plant tall grasses inside, and place them in front of the unit. Or a picket fence could block the unit, and there are so many things to accessorize a fence to make an appealing appearance. Different colors of paint, plants, lights, and ornaments would accents the fence itself. There are also portable privacy screens made of weather-resistant resin that come in a variety of colors. Similarly, there are iron trellises that can make a lovely screen when vines and plants grow on them, giving an appearance of a vertical garden. With each of the ideas comes a caveat – be sure to leave enough space for air circulation of the a/c compressor. Also, be sure that whatever the choice of cover, you should make provision for easy access for an HVAC technician in case of the need for service. In the end, I chose the iron trellis option, since it would require the least amount of installation work and also had longevity. And down the road when we call our HVAC contractor for service, the trellis is extremely portable – and attractive!