The Doggy Garden Fence

Welcome,

UPDATE: 22 June 2008 I have added the most recent photos of the garden the plants have filled out and provided the first bumper crop. The fence has effectively worked and kept the dogs out. Although one did a couple swipe at the garden but failed. Enjoy the photos below.

Here you will find my Instructable The Doggy Garden Fence. This fence cost me around $7 out of new materails, a small price when growing organic food. Take a look and if you enjoy it please give me a plus.

History
If you have seen my other Instructables then you may have looked at my Raised Tomato Garden. It came out pretty nice, but my dogs kept getting into it and digging it apart. I tried different fencing ideas but never had the time to build complete a nice fenced area.

So here it is. I hope you enjoy this Instructable, learn something from it, add suggestions to it, or at the least will generate some other ideas of your own because of it.

Read on and enjoy.

F.Y.I - This Instructable goes along with another one of my instructables The Doggy Retreat you will see it in the corner of the final step photos.

I created the picture below with Google's Sketchup software.

This Instructable updated 4-30-2008
New pictures added that show plant growth (step 5) and adding in the creeping vine for shade coverage.

Step 1 Safety, Tools, and Materials

Safety
Number one safety protocol: don't be stupid, respect your tools because they can maim or kill you.

I used
Safety glasses
Ear plugs
Work gloves
Intelligence (The wife argues this point)

Tools
Air compressor
Staple/Nail gun
10 inch Table saw with a 40 tooth blade
Measuring tape and square
A Pencil

Materials
(2) 10ft 2x4 studs
Pack of staples, but I didn't use the whole pack
Gallon of oil stain.

Comments

[meowtigora]

if you use coconut coir finely ground like the pet bedding (pet bedding bricks will expand to about 5x the size of the brick) it acts as a rooting agent and retains moisture very well. I have never seen anything not grow well in it. It soaks up the moisture and retains it will keep you from having to worry about how much you are watering too cause it drains well but also retains enough moisture for your plants, it works exceptionally well for raised planters but it can be somewhat expensive. if you are resourceful you can find it wholesale in large quantities. just be careful that you arent getting chunks cause they take forever to break up.

[wgoble]

Looks great! I was confused at first... as I read as "dodgy".

[theproles]

If you want to grow larger bell peppers there is one simple, but vital change you'll need to make. Without going into too much detail I'll say this:

Bell peppers originate from a hot climate. In hot climates the dirt is substantially warmer than is naturally available in most U.S. climates. Simply put, to grow larger bell peppers you'll need to create warmer dirt. There are two easy ways to remedy this. Either plant your peppers in a planter, or you can build a raised bed in your garden.

Raising the dirt enables the sun to heat it much more efficiently. But be careful, warm dirt = greater evaporation = you'll need to water more frequently.

Happy gardening!

[chickchoc]

Another idea is to cover the soil with black plastic (recycled, of course). This raises soil temperature and inhibits evaporation. I have also used layers of newspapers topped with bark nuggets from my chipper/shredder. Both of these virtually eliminate weeds and seem to keep insects down as well. Happy gardening!

[awang8]

Another method is to not use mulch. The soil is already very black so it will absorb plenty of heat, and there's nothing to stop the soil getting direct sunlight. The result? Hot soil! Happy gardening!

[Full Frontal Graphic]

Very nice way to give your dog cool place to lie down 'in the bushes' without disrupting your pepper plants. Nice look overall, much better than a little dirt corner next to the house like it used to be. Good choice of color too, very festive with the green of your plants.

[Mr. Rig It]

Thank you! You are right it does look better than the little dirt corner it use to be, it came out better than I expected. The dogs really like it also. I am now working on the walking area again and I am going to add another raised bed. I just pulled out all of the dirt and rock again. i will post the update when I am finsihed. Thanks again.

[thekidthatcant]

don't tomato plants like full sun?

[Mr. Rig It]

Not in 115-120 degree heat.

[LinuxH4x0r]

Great job! simple and effective. (really though, you should have done it with scraps or salvaged wood)

[Mr. Rig It]

Thanks Linuxh4x0r. Yes it gets the job done effectively for a very small price. Being the cheapster that I am, I prbably would have made it out of scrap. However, this time I didn't have any though and it was cost effective to use fresh lumber. Plus I had to get the fence up really quick.

[LinuxH4x0r]

I'm not criticizing it, I just mean thats how I do stuff. If I do use new wood I get it from the scrap bin at home depot.

[Mr. Rig It]

LOL. Oh no, I didn't thnk you were criticizing. I just meant I didn't have any scrap and I had to get the fence up quickly, so I had to go with new. I actually look in Home Depots scrap bin every now an then. I started doing that since I heard you say that before. Good habit to pas on. :)

[Danielfish]

This is brilliant - especially with the Doggy retreat. Where I live, I'd give the retreat some sort of waterproof roof and closed walls, more like a kennel, as the weather is not so good. Still, great job! Looks fantastic, and I'm sure it'll only get better with the vines. :)

[Mr. Rig It]

Thank you very much! True, more inclament weather would require walls and a roof. Here that would just turn it into an oven. Thanks again.