Garden Fencing

     Over the last few months we have been working very hard on our new garden space in the side yard. In previous posts you saw how it went from a crab grass field to a ready garden bed. Well now it is time to see how the fence turned out. We wanted a fence to keep the dog out (or just deter him from wandering in) and to give some definition to the space.Below is a reminder of what the area looked like a couple months ago. (Yes, we do get some sun in Seattle during the winter.)

      This photo shows on the left where we have put the good dark compost for gardening and the light brown sandy dirt on the right where the path extension will be.

      Our first fence design consisted of 36" picket that would be hammered into the ground to make a 24" high fence with slats of wood running horizontally. We spaced the pickets out every 7" or so (a few inches smaller than the width of our dog) and then nailed the slats on. After that we took it over to hammer it into the ground...

      And it failed. The ground is uneven so when we started to hammer on in the slats started to bust and it didn't sit correctly. So we ripped the slats off and pondered what to do next. Somewhere at some point I must have seen something that inspired me but the idea of just putting rope or twine popped into my head.

      So here it is. I got some rolls of thick twine at Lowe's for about $6 each and used about 3 total. Matt got a staple gun and evenly spaced the twine out and stapled it to the pickets (only on the back side so the front facing side looks nice). The pickets themselves cost $24 for a packet and we used to packets. Plus the cost of a staple gun and staples and you have a dog deterrent fence for about $80 and some labor. We already had the rubber mallet that we used to hammer the stakes in. Oh yes, and the gallon of outdoor paint. But I only used about a fourth or less of the gallon so add a few dollars for that too.

      All in all we are very happy with our new fence. At two feet high both Matt and I can easily step over it but it does keep the dog out. And it creates a nice defined space for our garden. You can see the black bark chips that we put down between the fence and the walk way. First I put down special garden fabric that I got at Lowe's for about $15 (one roll was all I need for my entire project) which keeps weeds from growing through the bark chips. Then I spread out the bark chips. Black were the cheapest ones at $3.19 a bag or something like that. I think we used a total of 5 bags.

     In the shadows down the left side next to the original fence is a little walkway that we also bark chipped. We did this so we can walk down the back of the garden to get our veggies without having to walk in mud. And it looks nice.

    He is an example of what the process of mulching looks like. I made the area as flat as I could, put down the black fabric and then spread out the mulch. It really takes very little time and makes the space look finished. And now mud! A huge bonus for here in Seattle.

     Next post I will talk about our two next trees, the hanging basket you can see in an above photo and a couple other little garden projects we have going on.

     And Happy Birthday Banjo who is 2 years old today! At least we decided it is today. Someone found him on the street and the rescue society thinks he was born in early May.