Hiding the AC units

It's pretty hot out right now, but we still manage to head out into the backyard daily (outside might have been Little Man's first word after mama and dada!) We have a nice sized covered patio and several years ago extended the patio area with some pavers too. It's a great space except for one thing.... the view to the left of the porch is of our 2 massive AC units!

We have tried shrubbery and it just never took off enough to really hide them (probably because we did not want to drop several hundred dollars to buy the plants that were already more mature!)

So on a trip to our local Home Depot (aka the Man Store as Little Man likes to say!) I spied a piece of lattice panel for less than $15 and it got me thinking that this would the perfect way to cover our hideous AC units while still letting them function as needed!

Supplies:
1 sheet of lattice panel (ours is 4 foot by 8 foot)
2 fence posts (8 feet tall)
1 piece of Lattice cap molding
Level, Post digger, Screwdriver and screws

First, we (I supervised while hubby did the work!) removed all of the old shrubs, weeds, etc.

Next we measured the location where we wanted the posts. We made sure to keep the lattice 'fence' at least 2 feet away from the units to allow for proper circulation and for access if we need to get to them.

Once we liked the placement, hubby used a super nifty tool to dig the holes for the post. The post-digger (seen to the right of the shovel in the below pic) made this job super fast. We borrowed it from our neighbor but for $35 at Lowe's this would be a no brainer!

We dug the holes 4 feet deep to make sure that the posts were securely in the ground. As we opted to not use concrete, hubby just placed the posts in the holes and using his level made sure they were standing straight and then packed the dirt in around the post using a mallet. Repeat for the second post!

Next, the lattice panel was placed on the posts and screwed into place. Then the Lattice molding piece was placed on top and screwed in as well. What a cute little helper we had!

My husband actually commented that this was the easiest and fastest project I have ever asked him to complete! Thanks so much to him for braving the 100 degree heat in the middle of the day to get this finished!

Now we need to add some vines and plants to the lattice but it is such a huge improvement for less than an hour and $50! Here are the sort of after shots as we still need to get some greenery going on these!

PS. I have been scouring the internet looking for ideas of how to beautify this lattice and literally nothing.... maybe I am missing the brilliant search words or maybe this is uncharted territory! Here are 2 that are pushing me forward and they sparked an interesting idea!

Source: Apartment Therapy, Vertical Soda Bottle Garden

Source: Schoolhouse Mason Jar Spice Garden