Thursday, April 18, 2013

It's so great to be Back in business!

I have spent the last two months working 
in a tax office during tax season!!

No time for building, no time for sewing, no time for digging,
no time for painting.
All work and no fun work 

via outstanding

All I've had time for is dreaming,
 planning,
 and scheming.

The weather is just starting to get nice
with sunny days, birds singing, and the first
blush of spring.  It's all pulling me outside.

via forever redwood

What better time to begin an outdoor project.

I've been wanting a fence to hide the
 driveway full of cars.  
It's in plain view when sitting on our deck.

The only thing stopping me has been
the thought of digging the fence
post holes.

Two feet down
for each post.


 via outstanding



So I got to thinking about how to get
around digging those holes to install
a permanent fence.


Wouldn't it be great to have a movable
structure so we can move deliveries
 of mulch, stone, or perhaps large equipment.

Ya know, just in case I decide
to dig my own swimming pool
some day!


 via outstanding

I put on my thinking cap and 
have determined that my system will have to
be anchored by large planter boxes.
24" square.
The math works.  
I can get 4 cuts of 24" from each piece
of 1 x 6 x 8 pressure treated wood.






Commercial applications can be great for
inspiration, especially
when trying to figure out sizing.
I really like these and considered making
my boxes longer but I'm working
the budget again so 24" it is.






hmmm, wonder if I could cut boxwoods like this??





via outstanding








Seems like the commercial boxes are lined in metal. 

  I don't think I'll go that far, but I may try to
figure out some kind of plastic liner
 (at least on the bottom)to make
the boxes last longer.





  via The Garden Trellis Company, UK

step 2!

How to build the trellis.

This one is quite involved and would 
go way over budget. boo hoo.





 via The Garden Trellis Company, UK

curved top, probably not.





via archiexpo 


What a great system
with the opening in the middle.




 this old house

There are lots of plans for building planter
boxes with trellises sssss (sp?)
Can you say that? trellises?

Reminds me of when my daughter was
younger and had a slight lisp.

For fun I would prompt her
 brother or father to say the
name of the star wars movie
The Revenge of the Sith, and
then whisper to her
"see everyone has a lisp"

Go ahead, say it.
I know you just did



this old house

Back to the trellis!
What I've found is that most are
made via the sandwich method,
criss crossed in between two frames.




via this old house

This one has a combination of diagonal 
and horizontal lattice.


via bhg

I really, really, love the look of this brattle fence.
I suppose I like it because it's brown 
like my all brown house.






Now for the work, Yay!
After all those taxes I really enjoyed
hauling these giant bluestones.
The blue stones help define the entryway.

To anchor my movable system near the house
I built a potting bench following these plans
from Ana White.






A great place to put groceries when
fumbling for the keys.

Thanks Ana!






Here's the view looking towards the house.  
On the left another trellis will define
 the opening.





Oh back to the trellis design....
After much hemming and hawing over
plans, I kind of just winged it.


I'll be adding a cap (possibly finial) 
 and a little more  trim work.  
You can see that I ran out of cross
 pieces at the bottom
 and need to add one more.




 To make everything more uniform,
 classy, and upscale
I'll flank the door with square planters as well. 

Maybe I could get some ivy to grow 
on my wire obelisks.




I think scale will class it all up and
bump it up a notch from 
flea market style.
Maybe just some wood obelisks
standing on either side of the door.
Brown, of course.







Those square slates to the right are place
holders  for the oversize planter boxes. 

I'll continue the brattle screen right across
 from the potting bench screen to create
 an entry opening.  

Then it will turn to the area behind the planter
boxes creating an "L".  



This kind of project is the best fun!
 I'm off to buy wood for the boxes tonight.
I can't wait!


Linking up!


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