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The Fence The front-yard "fence garden" uses this fence as a backdrop for the flowers. The garden outside the fence is two feet wide, and the garden inside the fence is four feet wide. Installing the front fence (facing the street) was routine, but the side fence (facing the neighbor's driveway) had a BIG problem. |
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The Problem Rock This HUGE underground rock delayed the installation of the side fence. The intersection of two strings marks where a fence post was supposed to go. Only the tip of the rock is visible here, and it comes to within an inch of the ground surface. Judging from the sloping sides of the rock, it may be the size of an automobile or larger. It spans the property line at the edge of the garden. After learning how very expensive it would be to remove the rock, we decided on a custom-size fence span that shifts the post position. The middle section of the side fence now stretches over this rock. |
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Cute Garden Helper Since we can't plant anything in the shallow soil over the Problem Rock, we put this statue on the spot. She is anchored on the rock, in fact. Sometimes she holds flowers or garden tools in her hands. This photo was taken about two years after the fence was installed. Zinnias grow along the fence, now that the iris and daffodils are not blooming. Morning glories climb over the fence, and sometimes reach out to hug a zinnia — until I weave them back onto the fence. |
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Inside View of Fence Here's a view of the fence from the inside, shortly after it was built. The bare dirt in the middle of the lawn is where the sidewalk used to be — straight out to the street. |
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Another View of Fence The new sidewalk is made of paving blocks, and angles toward the driveway, then runs alongside the driveway toward the street. |
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Day Lilies We bought 50 varieties of day lilies for the garden inside the fence. While waiting for the problem section of the fence to be installed, many of the day lilies had to stay in pots temporarily, which we lined up on one side of the front sidewalk. |
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I made this scale drawing of the fence garden layout using Turbocad, and embedded it in a Word document, which I try to keep up-to-date with lists of the flowers, at least the perennials. Inside the fence are about 35 varieties of Day Lillies (originally 50), Black-eyed Susan, Columbine, Astilbe, and Hollyhocks. Outside the fence are 8 varieties of Tulips, 5 varieties of Hyacinth, various Daffodils, and about 10 varieties of Iris. Various annuals are also planted from year to year. |