This Week in the Garden: January 19, 2025
In progress: redwood and cedar privacy screen / shade / structure for climbers
The weather has been cold but quite sunny this week. Aside from anything that requires digging (although I still do it as often as the ground allows), I find that winter is usually a great window of opportunity to work on building projects: sheds, screening structures, obelisks, pergolas, the list goes on.
One of the main projects right now is the redwood and cedar privacy screen (picture above and in progress). I’m using redwood for the posts, top rails, raised bed boxes, and bracing. I’m using simple cedar fence pickets and alternating two different widths for the horizontal and 45 degree ‘chevron’ boards. They’re relatively cheap, easy to come by, and easy to replace when needed. The sections of horizontal boards will have small raised bed boxes at the bottom and climbers trained up each. The smaller sections in between with the 45 degree ‘chevron’ boards will only extend half way down to allow the green of the arborvitaes behind the screen to show through and get some sunlight from the east. The gaps will also allow me to use the hedge trimmer on the arborvitaes behind the screen as needed.
In progress: small tool shed just off of the raised bed garden
Another project underway is the small shed for garden tools just off the raised bed garden. I had a general idea of the design in my head before starting but it has had to be built on the fly to fit into its space - which is between the privacy screen, one of the raised bed garden paths, another path behind, and a small raised bed box for a white ‘Lady Banks’ climbing rose. It also had to fit under a long pergola that is roughly 8’ tall.
It’s a fairly standard build with concrete block and pressure treated wood ‘foundation’, 2x4s, and sheets of OSB and standard vertical groove siding. I’m planning to use cedar shingles for the roofing so that the ‘Lady Banks’ rose can grow over it and sprawl on wood rather than hot asphalt shingles in the summer.
A beautiful (but definitely cold) winter day. The dry weather has made project work much easier.
Weedy Pete
