If you can’t use climbing plants and wall shrubs to beautify your fence, that leaves either painting / staining it, or fixing a covering onto it.

Painting or Staining a Fence Black

Cheap and easy to DIY.

Filmmaker Mark Spencer has the world’s best video introduction to staining a fence black, which gives a dark charcoal grey finish.
This dark, natural colour of burnt wood is a winner that works with pretty much any planting scheme because it goes so well with most plants: both green leaves, and really any of the common ornamental bark colours, from grey to orange-red.
Mark left his concrete posts unpainted, which looks great contrasted with the black; from the corner of your eye, they are like tree trunks.

Mark speaks so clearly you can play his videos on 1.5x speed

Covering an Ugly Fence with a Nice Fence!

Cladding the existing fence with nicer material is more expensive, and more transformative!

Horizontal Roofing Slats

Simply, effective, a tidy modern look at a DIY level most people can manage:

Or an even smarter professional job with a hip light strip on top:

Faux greenery panels

If you like plastic plants, we are not here to judge your taste: you’ve heard it all before.

It’s great for renters, who can put it up for their lease, then take it down and move it to their next home. Plastic leaves aren’t meant to be inspected and admired like a crisp hosta, they are for a green “natural texture” backdrop as you focus on your favourite meal, book, or person. Green is scientifically soothing, and we all know how nice a sooth is.