Agenda - Council Work Session - 02/28/2017

Home

TO DO/Create fences and trellises: To make them, lay out the pieces of wood on your driveway or sidewalk, arranging them in a pattern you like (SEE FIGURES 1 AND 2). Sometimes the wood is hard to work with and difficult to nail into easily. An alternative is to tie the branches together using wire from a floral or craft store (#16 or #18 gauge). To make them look more finished, tie raffia or twine over the wire. This will hide the wire (in case it rusts!) and still keep that rustic look. These creations will last several years. The wooden footings will begin to decompose from being in direct contact with the soil, so it's a good idea to lengthen the life of the fence or trellis by protecting them with a plastic pipe, such as PVC. Drill 3 or 4 small drain holes in an endcap and glue it to a piece of pipe. Sink it into the ground so the top of the pipe is just above the soil line. Then just insert the wooden footing of the fence or trellis into the pipe. The plastic pipe will protect the wooden footing and make it last much longer (SEE FIGURE 3). FIGURE 2: Rustic Fence REUSE YARD WASTE 6 FIGURE 1: An attractive trellis can be made from woody yard waste. FIGURE 3: Wooden footings can be protected from rotting in the soil by using capped PVC pipe. TO DO/Use small branches for plant support: Small to medium branches (about 1/2"-1 1/2" in diameter) can be used as plant sup- ports. This works well for holding up taller perennials. Take four similar sized branches and secure them into the ground in the shape of a square around a plant (SEE FIGURE 3). Fasten smaller branches in a criss-cross pattern across the four supports. These should be 6-8 inches above the soil line. As the plant grows, continue adding small, criss-cross branches at 6-10 inch intervals until the plant reaches mature height. At maturity, the plant should hide the supports.