Does anyone, like an employee of a utility company ever need access to the boxes? If so, they won't hesitate to cut down any plants that get in their way.

donn_,

I know that they will cut the stuff down and I don't have a problem with that. That's why I am looking to use some easy care plants that will grow back well after being sheared down.

How many zebras would you use there? Thanks.

Meig

I'd use 6. One on each end, and two on each side.

Another concern is digging them up in the future, without cutting into buried utilities. Do you know how deep the lines are? Eventually, virtually any OG will have to be dug for either replacement or division.

Hello Meig:

I suggest that you consider what perspective you are most likely to be viewing the area of the utility boxes from and plant your grass in between with enough buffer from the boxes so that no one will whack them unless it be you in the late winter/early spring. Zebra gets big and is attractive and have you considered 'Strictus' or Porcupine grass as a possibility?

How about you add some dimension to that landscape and have a big boulder or two brought in and set about halfway between the boxes and where the photo is shot from and then a few choice grasses on either side and in front or behind the boulders. What a blank slate in that neighborhood! Feather Reed Grass makes an excellent screen as well and takes hot sun with perhaps less water than Zebra. A lot of options!

A lot of options is the key phrase. Remember that you will be looking at these boxes for a few months (2-3 months while the grasses grow back to their glory) begining each spring.

Is that okay with you?

I like part of pezheads idea of placing rocks, boulders to give depth to the site. I would consider placing plant material between your house and the boxes more so than covering the boxes entirely.

These boxes are now part of the landscape throughout the residential communities across the country. Trying to hide them is more of a mistake than a benefit.

People mess up their yards in their efforts to hide the boxes. Soften the sight of the boxes as opposed to hiding them. More plant material to hide isn't always better. In most cases it's just more.

A few plants to soften the sight of the boxes creates a more pleasing view and is less maintenance. Remember these boxes are common everywhere.

You don't have to like them but you do have to live with them.

Just my thoughts.

Jake

I agree with Jake! These days you see so many of these boxes with planting 'around them' Rather than hiding the boxes it almost looks like they are suppose to be a feature.
At the moment you have what looks like a very new landscape and the boxes are one of the biggest things there. Either follow Jakes plan of making a bed that just 'includes' the boxes rather than surrounding them or ...
Plant a striking garden somewhere else to carry the eye away and eventually the boxes will vanish into a more mature landscape. Look at older subdivisions with full grown trees and these boxes are hardly visible.

If you must stick to your original hiding idea, make it one grass that will be large and full. That way the grass, planted to one side will grow up and gracefully droop over the boxes, masking them rather than hiding them AND the utility guys will still be able to access the boxes with the least damage to your grass.
IMHO
A.

Zebra grass is all but impossible to dig up after a few years..we needed to remove two batches of it..very over grown....we dug around the base and then hooked a chain underneith it and my son used his truck to pull it out..it raised his truck wheels off the ground and lowered it onto my curbing, which we had just had put down...yes, it broke the curbing. So wherever you plant it, make sure you don't need to move it!

Point here that novice gardeners never read, review or study is the plant material that they want to place in a particular spot.

Do you buy a vehicle w/o reviewing it's worth ??? Do the same with your plant material.

Ornamental grasses need to be cut back annually and then thinned out or split on a regular basis according to that particular grass.

If you let your grasses grow beyond that time they need to be split then you will suffer for your laziness or your inattentiveness.

That's gardening. That's landscaping. That's part of the bargin you signed up for when you chose to do your own planting and maitenance.

jake