5 Tips for How to Landscape Around Your AC Unit
Should You Landscape Around Your HVAC?
Before getting into how to landscape around your AC unit, it's important to understand the benefits of it. It's more than just visually appealing with a number of advantages that can increase your system's lifespan and performance.
Once you've decided that cultivating the area around your outside AC is worth it, the next step is learning how best to go about it. To ensure the job is done correctly, there are seven great steps we recommend considering first.
5 Steps on How to Landscape Around Your AC Unit...
Proper Spacing
Setting plants, fixtures, or other features around your AC can provide a number of benefits, but should be done with a few things in mind. Crowding the unit could have some harmful results and be counterproductive.
Maintain Room to Work
Over the years, your outside air conditioner will require maintenance, repairs, and eventually replacement. If you've completely boxed it in with fencing, lattice work, or large plants, you risk making it difficult for an HVAC technician to get to it without removing your landscaping. Be sure to keep plants and other features at least three feet away from your AC condenser, and consider not putting features on every side of it.
Moveable Pots
If you're interested in decorative plants around your AC to either hide it or just make great use of the space, consider using potted plants. Plants in pots or other containers can be easily moved when you need to access the unit for maintenance or repairs.
Trim Regularly
Even if you plant three feet away, allowing plants to become overgrown can cause issues. When your plants overtake the unit it becomes difficult to get near it for work and risks the plants encroaching on the unit in a harmful way. Letting your plants grow into the unit can potentially damage it or reduce efficiency.
The Right Kind of Plants
Not every plant is beneficial to your outside HVAC unit, even if it looks nice. When considering how to landscape around your AC unit, be sure to select plants that compliment your AC in every way.
Avoid Seed Pods or Fruits
Plants that produce excessive amounts of seeds or fruits add to the risk of these dropping down inside your unit. This can lead to moisture problems and clogging or damaging components inside of your air conditioner.
Grow Up, Not Out
Maintaining the landscaped area around your HVAC will be easier if you select plants that grow vertically, not horizontally. Additionally, avoid creepers, like vines, that will try to entangle your system.
Keeping It Cool in the Shade
People aren't the only ones who like shade during the summer heat. One of the benefits to landscaping around your air conditioner is providing great shade for it. When deciding what features to include in your project, keep in mind things that can produce shade.
Shade Screens
There are prefabricated shade screens you can purchase to provide the necessary shading your outside AC needs. Picking one that you find aesthetically pleasing and getting it installed can be relatively simple and cheap.
Tall Plants
Selecting plants that ultimately get to a pretty decent height and fill out at the top is a great thing to consider in how to landscape around your AC unit.
Make It Pretty
Selecting the right plants, fencing, or other features does not have to be just about what is practical. There are a number of varieties of plants that look great and won't harm your unit even if they won't help much in terms of shade or wind protection.
Ornamental Grasses
Ornamental grasses, like pampas grass and muhly, don't provide much benefit to your unit but are great to look at and easy to maintain.
A Nice Mulch Bed with Annuals
There's nothing wrong with doing a little simply mulching around your system and planting annuals. If your unit is readily visible to you or others and you want it to stand out and shine, pick a complimentary color of mulch and plant a few annuals.
Have Fun With It
There are so many great options on how to landscape around your AC unit. Picking something fun and interesting to you is definitely the way to go.
Hanging Herb Gardens
Latticework or fencing around your AC provides an opportunity for hanging containers. Taking advantage of this and planting some herbs can be both functional and fun.
A Raised Bed for Vegetables
Making use of all of your outdoor space is a great move when considering how to landscape around your AC unit. Incorporating into the area a raised bed for vegetables can be both a fun and practical project.
Need Help Landscaping?
If you're still wondering how to landscape around your AC unit, our team has you covered. With free estimates, we can discuss design and practical benefits to find the right option for your personal taste and your budget. Contact us today to schedule a meeting with one of our master landscapers!