I like celerygirl 's idea of a lattice enclosure, but make sure you have enough clearance for good air flow and maintenance.

Also, it needs to be openable/moveable so that the equipment can be accessed for servicing.

I would start by checking with the installer to see if the unit can be lowered a bit. Plan your enclosure, which may need to be more open than the one drawn and will definitely need good clearances, to allow access not just of a person, but of equipment as well. Or make it easy to dismantle for access. And plantings should allow for a wide enough pathway that when the equipment needs replacing, the entire planting won’t need replacement as well.

I doubt you'd want to lower the unit in New England. Looks to be elevated for snow clearance.

It can be lowered even to meet snow clearance but in the op's situation it can not be lowered due to the basement window beneath the compressor.

Yes, the location is a curious choice. Since the coolant lines are running along the outside of the exterior wall anyway, I wonder why it was sited to partially block the basement window (and be a source of noise there) and not farther down the wall near where the lumber is in the photo.

The unit had to go in this location due to where the attic is located and bedrooms. Thank you for the feedback! We actually found four 6’ Juniper Trees at the greenhouse and planted them. I’ll update photos tomorrow but it seemed to do the trick. Now I just need to deal with the exposed foundation, maybe some grasses and hedges?

This was the side of the house before installation just for reference. Those upper windows are the master bedroom and the spare rooms are located beneath. The door is to the garage so I think bringing the unit forward would have been more of an eyesore but I had no input in the location.

Those are planted MUCH too close to the unit and house both. The planting bed needs to be enlarged, and those need to be around 10’-15’ away from the unit. They’re going to rapidly grow out of that placement. As in, maybe next year.

The photo is prior to the unit being installed. We removed that bush but I was showing the side of the house for reference.

You might want to show a photo post-planting as well as telling us the cultivar or not of juniper. Straight species juniper are big trees. If they aren’t well sited you may need to move or remove them in 5 years. Doing that now, before they have settled in, will be far easier. Many folks tend to plant for the size that plants are now rather than the size they will be and then have to replant every few years.

Sorry for the delay! Finally back from vacation and work trips. Here’s what we ended up with. Hoping to spruce up the beds next year but would love some input!

Looks nice, but what is the anticipated mature size of these trees? Will they touch the equipment when they’re mature?

Looks like future trouble. Need a side view, but seems they are impeding airflow and maintainence.

There’s about 4 feet of clearance between the back of trees and the unit. They’re not supposed to get too much wider (maturing at 2-3 feet).

Go out and run your arms against those junipers. Unless there have been new varieties developed, junipers are nasty to brush up against. The meter readers and maintenance people will not think kindly of you when they push through those trees.

There’s a wide space to the left to enter behind the trees. No prickles to deal with.