Garden Fence

Saturday March 8th

Sometimes we are lucky. At least, I was as well as the man who had to place a new fence at the back of my garden. For the sun was shining, and although it is still pretty cool, the back faces south and is sheltered. The old fence had collapsed, due to old age and a strong climber, a hydrangea, which like a boa constrictor had indeed strangled my fence in its embrace with its ever thickening and winding branches. It was a sorry sight. 

 The old fence, provisionally repaired in places where it had fallen down int the back path

Since we have a public path at the back of the houses, and burglars have frequently used this because there are escape routes on four sides, a fence is a must. Originally the back was marked by a wall of open, decorative concrete blocks, which are easy to climb and did not provide much privacy. 

The concrete blocks of the original garden wall. Not very protective. The border Looks a bit messy because of all the rubbish which came from the old fence

Students of the high school on the corner used this path as a short cut when they had to run around the block, taking a break for a quick smoke, and emerging on the other side faking they were breathless, hoping the instructor hadn’t noticed the deceit They would throw all kinds of stuff into my garden. Originally there was no gate either to this path and anyone could just walk into the back garden. With a garden pond and small children around, this was just no option so we had a door made. Most house owners followed when burglaries became the order of the day.

Before all my shrubs and plants are in full leaf, the new fence had to be in place. Fortunately, I found a man who could do this. Taking the old fence down was more work than putting up the new one. The hydrangea had grown very thick and strong, had climbed over the fence, worked its way through the wooden planks and had grown into the concrete blocks at the back with tiny suckers. And the plant was extremely strong, its original stem now as thick as a tree trunk. But all is well that ends well. The brand-new fence is standing. It still looks rather bare. In fact, I do not particularly like wooden fences – but the shrubs and trees in front of it will soon be in full leaf and hide most of the fence - and the windows of the house opposite! Also colourful perennials which are still hibernating, will all of a sudden pop up. I may plant some more gentle climbers, perhaps clematis or a special kind of ivy used regularly for hedges. The trouble with ivy is that it tends to go wild, so it has to be kept under control before things get out of hand.

 

 The new fence The whole garden looks very bare as last year several evergreens, eg a huge holly bush, had to be taken out and a majestic magnolia trees pruned drastically. But my border will be an amazing riot of clour from early summer on, and the three different acers will add some interesting hues to the garden.