Above are photos of 3 units, 1 on each side is a Rheem from 5 years ago and the one in the middle is a Goodman we are about to replace. The significance of these photos is to show how this homeowner carefully selected a plant to draw your eye away from the units without blocking air flow.
The idea is to have 2-3 feet clear around your outdoor coils/fins and 4-6' clearance above your outdoor unit. This type of plant in the picture is cone shaped and approximately 3-4' away angled so you cannot see the units from the street. Other than planted to close together creating a wall or too close to the units, plants pollen can coat the outdoor coils. Certain arborvitae or evergreens can have a short pollination time or pollinate early spring before using ac so you can have your system checked and coils cleaned before turning the ac on.
Other items used to hide outdoor unit are decorative fencing or lattice but same applies as to distance from unit for proper airflow