That pretty much describes our division of labor as well
I used to garden before she and I met, but she went and took the Master Gardener class so I let her manage that now. And she's the better cook, so I mostly just do the grilling.
Garden fence build
- Thread starter drumminj
- Start date
- Views: 18731
-
- Tags
- fence project garden
That pretty much describes our division of labor as well
I used to garden before she and I met, but she went and took the Master Gardener class so I let her manage that now. And she's the better cook, so I mostly just do the grilling.
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
That Master Gardner thing just made thing worse with my wife. Once she finished it, she volunteered to work at the County Greenhouse. I didn't even know that the County had a Greenhouse!!! It turns out that the County, along with the cities in the County, all swap out their plants throughout the year, and the old plants are usually thrown away. Guess who has brought home hundreds of free plants?
Here is a picture of a cinder block raised garden bed that's similar to what I'm planning on doing. But I'm going to do the bottom two rows in 8x8x16 inch blocks like in the picture, but then do another row or two of 4x8x16 inch blocks to give a little more planting area. I'm also going to fill the blocks with concrete to lock them together.
Here is a picture of a cinder block raised garden bed that's similar to what I'm planning on doing. But I'm going to do the bottom two rows in 8x8x16 inch blocks like in the picture, but then do another row or two of 4x8x16 inch blocks to give a little more planting area. I'm also going to fill the blocks with concrete to lock them together.
Have you thought about building a 4 strand electric fence. Probably much cheaper.As we close in on the end of the growing season, it's time to build a permanent garden solution vs the t-posts and chicken wire we used this year while evaluating the site location. Looking for any feedback from folks on ways to improve or mistakes I may be making...
Looking to build a fence around our garden area similar to shown in the photos here:
View attachment 1264224 View attachment 1264225
I've worked up my own plans based on the photos, but haven't build anything like this before so may be making some bad assumptions. Here's what I'm planning:
I feel pretty good about the plan overall, but have a couple of concerns:
- Fenced area will be 35ft x 35ft (approx)
- Posts: 6x6 corners and either side of the door; 4x4 elsewhere, all buried 3' deep. Will fill bottom of hole with 3-4" of gravel and then use 2 50lb bags of quickrete to set the posts. Will backfill the rest with our clay dirt here in TN.
- All ground-contact rated pressure treated lumber (YellaWood SYP).
- Will use 5' tall 6 gauge livestock panels with 4x4 openings.
- 64" span between posts, so each panel will be 60"x64" and weigh 16 pounds.
- 2x4 top and bottom rails holding the panels, which will be toe-nailed into the posts (will use a framing nailer for the build)
- Will rip 2x4s in half for the trim pieces which hold the panels in place
- Rather than have the fence open at the bottom, I'll make a panel with 1/2" hardware cloth for the bottom 12" or so, again trimmed/framed with ripped 2x4s on three sides and buried in the ground on the bottom to protect against burrowing creatures.
- Will run 2x6s around both inside and outside of posts around the top to help with overall stability and resisting any twisting of the posts. Will face-nail to the 6x6 posts on the outside and toe-nail into the side of the 6x6s on the inside of the fence.
- Total height will be 8-9' above ground
- Never used a framing nailer before. Gotta practice to make sure I can keep the top and bottom rails in place when I toe nail them
- Bottom 2x4 rails supporting the weight of the panel. Online calculators tell me deflection shouldn't be an issue over a 64" span with evenly distributed weight, but experience tells me a 2x4 run horizontally like that is going to sag over time. I'm hoping/expecting that the 2x "trim" pieces will help add rigidity to the span and help resist any sagging, but these obviously will be mechanically fastened together rather than being a true 3" thick piece of lumber (does that matter?)
- Will the connection points of the bottom rail to the posts be strong enough?
- Are the 2x6s at the top of the fence too big a sail such that they'll to much force on the structure in high winds? At the least they will make it a little top-heavy. I"m wondering if 2x6s would be better, even though they'd be less rigid
Would love to hear any thoughts/feedback folks might have. I've been pricing out materials the past few days and it looks like it'll come in right around $2500. Yikes!
And after this I have to put together the Costco greenhouse we have on order...
Sure, much cheaper but not as nice to look out at, and doesn't meet the WAF threshold. Hopefully you realize the fence is already built at this point
That's a serious garden bed if you're using cinder blocks as the edging! Instead of filling them with concrete, my SO says you can fill with dirt and then put companion plants (like chives and marigolds) in those squares.
And at least your plants were free
. We instead buy plants at their annual plant sale that we don't really need!
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
My crazy wife just received 10 pounds of marigold seeds in the mail yesterday!!!!! I think she has twice that in zinnia seeds. It was 13 degrees this morning and she has way too much time to surf the internet and buy seeds.
My wife harvests those seeds every fall and uses them to replant in the spring.
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
She does that with some of her plants, but last year she discovered ETSY. That's been worse than Amazon or Chewy for online shopping!!!!! Now she can buy them by the pound or get a dozen of something that nobody has ever heard of before.
Even worse, they send more then she pays for and even add seeds that she didn't order. For her, those surprise seeds are better than Christmas!!!!! I get to hear everything about them.
Even worse, they send more then she pays for and even add seeds that she didn't order. For her, those surprise seeds are better than Christmas!!!!! I get to hear everything about them.
Finished cutting up the cedar today. Continuing the theme of underestimating the amount of effort involved - man that was a lot of cuts with the chop saw!
Assembly starts tomorrow hopefully. The weather is great here right now -- warmed up with highs in the 60s this week. Time to execute on all the outdoor projects!
Assembly starts tomorrow hopefully. The weather is great here right now -- warmed up with highs in the 60s this week. Time to execute on all the outdoor projects!
