Whilst I have loved looking after Amy, the german wire haired pointer that belongs to the neighbours, I have realised that whenever we have a guest dog, they don't obey the boundaries of a veggie patch. In fact, they love to do midnight chases of possums or zoomies right through the fennel and garlic. One can't be mad at a dog. They are such delights.
However, I thought I'd do a fence - one I could see through, and thus less intrusive in the small garden, which I can view from the deck. I thought it'd also ad some interest, creating a visual demarcation between 'rest of garden' and the mid section where the sun hits the ground all year long. It'd have the added benefit of hosting climbing peas or beans, though only short, and even cucumbers or perhaps tomatoes to espalier along.
I'm sure some of you are thinking - damn, that's not going to keep out deers and squirrels, but I don't need to do that, and if the possum gets in it's welcome to a few and it's a major issue I'll net inside the area. This is really jsut to keep dogs out.
I did really like the rusty steel reo mesh which I find architectually pleasing, and the rusty orange blends into the background rather than the glint of a galvanised dog mesh. However, to get enough panels would cost me around $250, and Jamie would still have to cut the tops off as otherwise they'd be too high, but not high enough to cut in half.
I was pleased to find a roll of 600 high mesh that was 5 metres long - I bought two rolls, and they were $50 each. I had about seven metres to do, leaving me some for another purpose, perhaps ringing a fruit tree.
I also had some chunky hard wood stakes, and given the torrential rain that soaked the place the day before, the ground was soft enough to bash in the stake with a mallet, and secure with the wire used to bind the roll.
The 'gate' is a bit of reo mesh left over from another project, which most of the time will be left set aside, lest there be a dog doing zoomies.
Next week I'll be putting some round pavers through - but that's for another post, so I won't bore you with the idea now. It's pretty awesome having an aerial view of the garden from the deck where I spend a lot of time contemplating what it looks like from above!
Clearly, I have lots to do, but it's all happening organically as ideas come to us. We have decided to let the path naturally fill up with grass so that it keeps the heat down in the height of summer. WE bought an electric whipper snipper so it's super quick and easy to keep it 'mown'.
