• A block wall fence is not very attractive in a garden.block wall image by Irina Kodentseva from Fotolia.com
  
  Concrete walls are necessary to define property lines, provide privacy and keep children and pets in your yard and intruders out. Gray blocks are a boring sight, but covering them with stucco and paint adds interest. Adding even more interest is growing vines up the walls, turning the walls into a hanging garden or letting plants tumble down the walls from the top.
  
  

Planters Attached

• Break up the monotony with half baskets and planters made expressly for walls. Line the baskets with coconut fiber, fill with soil and then plants. Tuberous begonias work well on a shaded wall and come in orange, pink, yellow, red and white. Petunias do well on sunny walls and come in nearly every color. Both begonias and petunias cascade, so they will eventually hide the basket with blooms.
  
  

Focal Point

• Turn the walls into a focal point for the yard. Section off a corner of the yard and cover the cement wall with bamboo reed fencing. Plant a specimen tree in the corner with flowers surrounding. Lay a flagstone patio on the ground with baby's tears or sweet alyssum to grow between the stones. Add a bench and you have changed that boring block wall corner into a cozy, relaxing nook.
  
  

Vines

• Vines will quickly cover bare cement walls with green leaves. When selecting vines, choose the kind that attach themselves without any other support. Ivy is a good choice for dappled shade and so is ficus vine. Cat's-claw grows well in the sun. Rose will smother the wall in blooms, but needs sturdy support. Climbing roses throw out long canes, but have no way to cling to walls. Tie them to a strong trellis placed in front of the walls.
  
  

Planters Atop

• Vines tumbling down the walls gives a completely different look than vines climbing up the walls. Sturdy planters on top also increase the height of the walls. Bolt the planters to the tops of the walls so they cannot fall down or blow off. Zinnias come in lots of colors and grow up to three feet tall. Sweet potato vine comes in a vivid lime green and dark purple. Mix both colors to cascade down.