Working on the Back Yard - Part 7 of X

Three whole yard blogs in a row!  Call the authorities - we're obviously having too much fun over here!

Okay, so last week, I blogged about our cute little leafcutter bees, and in that post, I dropped in a "spoiler" picture of another project we worked on earlier this summer, adding planters on the west side of the yard to mirror those along the back wall and eastern border.  Much like the other borders, we set things up with pressure treated wood beams, securing each to the ground by hammering a small piece of rebar through each end.  Unlike the other planter areas, Chris also took the time to connect the beams together on this project, using 2-3" deck screws; this way, if the beams warped over time, they wouldn't separate from each other as much (one of the top beams on our back wall is doing this, and it has become a teeter-totter for the dog and myself - we enjoy it).

After the beams were fastened down, it was time to fill the area with mulch.  Back to the mulch yard it was, attempting to avoid the Weird Guy (yes, that's his proper name, hence the capital letters):

Check out who is wearing real shoes!

I'm as amazed as you are!

Shots of the finished west-side planter.

We've got some hibiscus planted in here,

as well as our lemon and lime trees.

As you can see in the shot below, one of the other projects we've been handling on this side of the yard is adding planks to the back of the existing fence line.  Check out this shot from October 2016:

See the fence back there?  It was obviously pretty old, and the overactive dog that permanently lives in this neighbor's back/side yard was rapidly helping Kaylee put holes in certain sections of it, as they continued their never ending quest of trying to destroy each other (Kaylee's not the calmest dog either, but she and this dog together are really something.  Thank goodness they've never actually met for reals).  To stop this, every few weeks or so, we'd head to Home Depot and buy another 20 slats of fencing, after which Chris would use the nail gun (that's right, we now own a nail gun.  SO MUCH SAFETY) to mount the new slats.  

Even though the finished fence effectively patched the older holes, Kaylee and the neighbor dog were still routinely barking at each other, so we sought out another level of deterrent for our monster, albeit one that would hopefully look nice as well.  As you can see in the above shots of the finished planter, there are some smaller plants just past the hibiscus, which are jasmine or jessamine or something like that - they're creeping vines, they have tiny white flowers, and they smell amazing.  We originally rigged up some hanging trellis action for these guys, but when the new fence slats went up, they came down (they kept getting knocked down by the Great Dog War of 2017 anyway), so we planned out a new option.

Ta da!

Those are some redwood 2x4s, cut at an angle, so they sit (well, they're affixed) flush with the fence.  The next step was adding some wire fencing, which Chris didn't let me near:

Which was quite obviously the proper call.

Next, it was time to train the vines up the wire:

Done!

Because our dog has never been called a quitter a day in her life, Kaylee continued to attempt to befriend the neighbor dog, even through the wire mesh, the existence of which seemed to catch her off guard the first time (have you ever seen a dog get hit in the chest by a barrier she didn't expect?  She looked rather surprised).  Eventually, we also added pieces of garden fencing to the ends of the structures, to keep her out of each, and the vines have now taken those over as well.  Come next spring, these things should be super lush!

It's all because we love you,

you maniac.

Next week, more back yard shenanigans - rebar and concrete and patios, oh my!

Later!

Amy