So Darn Exciting!

I'll be doing a post on the changes to the veg garden in the new year but there is one big change happening as we speak that I am SO darn excited about.  After 10 years of dealing with rickety, makeshift fencing supported by u-posts and a plywood "gate", we are finally ditching the lousy chicken wire and having an honest to goodness fence put in!

These openings are for two 8' double gates that will swing completely open
giving me easy access when dealing with compost, mulch, etc.

If the garden was in our backyard, I would have likely gone with rectangular panels with some sort of mesh such as hardware cloth.  But since it's in our side yard which faces both the street and our neighbours driveway, aesthetics was just as important as functionality.  I wanted something classic so decided to go with picket fencing.

The gap between the pickets will be 2", which is good for keeping adult rabbits out, but babies would still be able to get through so I'll be lining the bottom 12" or so on the inside with 1" welded wire mesh which will be painted the same colour as the fencing (black) so it should blend right in.  I'll also be doing some plantings at the bottom of the fence which will further obscure this added layer of protection.  I did consider doing a smaller gap between the pickets, but I wanted an airier feeling, instead of one that's too "solid" & busy. 

There will be a standard 4' gate at the "front" main entrance

The one thing that I didn't realize when we started this project was just how uneven the ground was - the overall area slopes down towards the street but the fence line also has a number of high and low spots aside from that.  In the end we decided to do a gentle slope that ensures we take into account the highest bits, while still keeping the sections around the gates level.  There will be some pretty big gaps under the fence in certain areas, but those will be easy enough to fill in come spring.  In fact, this may actually be of benefit as I want to sink the wire mesh a few inches into the ground and it's a lot easier to build up the soil level to cover the bottom of it rather than having to dig down.

There are a few more cross beams to go in on the back section of the fence, but after that, it will be time for the pickets & gates.  I'm just so thrilled to finally be at this point - it was definitely a long time coming.