Fence Ideas, Tips & Guides

What has this rambler been brandishing her secateurs over this week, I wonder? Not these sunflowers, certainly, as they are probably over 3 metres or 10ft tall, and I would need a ladder to cut any blooms. I usually grow coppery-coloured ‘Velvet Queen’, but this year have also sown ‘Earth Walker’, another dark variety, neither of which would be expected to grow above a more manageable 2m or so, and I don’t know where the yellow blooms have come from. Perhaps I could manage to reach some blooms for a Monday vase…?

With its scaly armor, pointy ears, elongated snout, and curved claws, the armadillo is undeniably odd-looking. Belonging to the same group of mammals as sloths and anteaters, armadillos are voracious insectivores that eat large numbers of beetles, grubs, ants, termites, and other insects, grabbing them with their sticky tongues. Occasionally, they also eat small amphibians, reptiles, and their eggs.

Boxwood shrubs are simply the best for garden borders, hedges, and fences. Evergreen, adaptable, and lending solid design and symmetry—what could go wrong? With time and neglect, these plants can grow too huge for you to handle! So, what do you do with overgrown boxwood? Relax, we’ve got you!

Whether you call them woodchucks, whistle pigs, ground pigs, or groundhogs, these large ground squirrels can be a real nuisance in your yard and garden. “Groundhogs eat whatever is available and most nutritious,” says Sheldon Owen, PhD, wildlife extension specialist at West Virginia University. “They consume large quantities of herbaceous vegetation, especially fruits and vegetables. But they’ll also eat clover, bark, and landscape plants.”

A good fence can enhance the look of your garden while also providing a secure boundary and an opportunity to grow more plants. A fence that’s installed properly and then well-cared for will last for many years, and is therefore a good investment. However, you may be put off by the initial cost of new fence panels and look for cheaper alternatives. What’s more, traditional wooden fence panels require regular staining or painting if they are to last as long as possible, and are prone to wind damage. Many gardeners are looking for cheaper, more durable options that require far less ongoing maintenance.

Garden furniture can be a big investment – with sofas, tables, umbrellas and the like often taking up a large chunk of your overall garden budget.

Hi GPODers!

Saturday has come around again ridiculously quickly, meaning it is time for another contribution to Jim’s weekly meme at Garden Ruminations; also coming round quickly is a new month, with an end-of-month post noticeably lacking…hey ho!

From manicured flower beds to soggy ditches, daylilies are hardy stunners that lend their beauty to versatile settings in your garden. Emerging in many colors, these typically bloom in the mornings and recur with little care. Let’s check out some delicious landscaping ideas with daylilies!

There's perhaps no flower that's inspired more poetry, art, and prose than a rose. From formal rose gardens surrounded by boxwood hedges to cottage gardens overflowing with roses, foxglove, and native flowers, these layered blooms are held up as the star of the garden. They're carefully pruned into formal arrangements and allowed to climb and cascade over charming trellises.

There are many ways to upgrade your home, whether refurnishing your basement or simply changing the lighting in your kitchen. But if you're lost on which ones to invest in, look no further.

Vines and climbers do wonders in sprucing up dull walls, empty fences, bare pathways, and barren entrances. Hence, we’ve curated a selection of plants that produce beautiful blooms and the sweetest scents while climbing up. Check out our list of the best fragrant vines for your garden!

When the rewilded garden by Urquhart & Hunt won ‘Best in Show’ at RHS Chelsea in 2002, it triggered a debate about whether rewilding could be called gardening at all.

Trellis can be an easy way to increase privacy in your garden, as it provides support for climbers such as clematis, roses, jasmine and sweet peas. Choose evergreen climbers and you can enjoy added privacy year round. Adding a trellis topper to an existing fence or wall is a simple way to create more room for climbers but there are many other trellis options, including fan-shaped panels that can be attached to house walls, trellis for containers and free-standing trellis, which can be used as a screen in your garden.

Hi GPODers! Today we’ve got an incredible garden story from a frequent GPOD contributor that is a demonstration of how magically small our big world can be. Bas Suharto has previously shown off gardens he has designed and built (check out some of those submissions: Building a Garden With Bas and Building a Japanese-Inspired Garden) as well as his own incredible home gardens (Parterre Garden in Ottawa and A Japanese-Style Garden in Ottawa). But the garden in this most recent submission caught Bas’ eye long before he was asked to lend a helping hand the space.

When creating a beautiful outdoor space, you often start with an empty space. Expansive backyards, empty decks, and beautiful front porches are easy to fill with plants, lighting, and furniture.

Is your patio currently a cluttered mess? It’s time for a makeover that won’t blow your budget. To optimize patio time, you’ll want to create a clean, comfortable spot.    We turned to Heather Knight-Willcock, an interior designer based in Long Beach, California, for her advice on redecorating a patio without dropping a ton of cash. As an expert for ShopGoodwill.com, Knight-Willcock is well-versed in seeking the best deals, and shopping with an eye for budget-friendly and second-hand options.  Here’s how Knight-Willcock would decorate a patio for under $200—and how you can, too. 

Growing vines is a fun way to add foliage and colorful flowers to archways, fences, posts, and trellises in your yard. Vines add depth, dimension, and texture to a landscape and create a visually appealing space. Choosing fast-growing vines means enjoying the beauty of the season quickly and often longer, whether it's the pretty leaves, blooms, or both. Plus, many vines attract important pollinators, such as butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. Garden experts recommend their favorite vines to grow that will quickly transform your garden.

Geese are beautiful in their natural setting. But they’re not so great when congregating on your lawn, damaging your turf, honking loudly, and leaving behind droppings. “Geese can be destructive,” says Robert Pierce, PhD, state extension fisheries and wildlife specialist at theUniversity of Missouri. “Once they have a nest, it’s difficult to get them to leave. It’s easier to move them off your property in the winter before they start breeding.”

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I have chosen roses to go in my Monday vase this week because they are the most floriferous blooms in the garden at this point in mid-June. There are two varieties, growing together in the gallery border, and both seem to have done better this year than before – behind the gallery fence is the woodland which blocks sun from the south, so the roses only get the morning and late afternoon sun. However, our neighbours cut some of the lower branches from their huge mature beech over the winter and perhaps this allows more light to filter through.

Hi GPODers,

Making the most of your boundaries enhances your garden and can really show off your plants, as well as fulfilling practical needs such as securing your plot, creating privacy, filtering wind, containing pets or simply demarcating the edges. A good-looking fence adds immeasurably to the look of a garden, so consider a wealth of creative ideas that can really personalise and boost your garden’s boundary.

With its natural beauty and warmth, it’s no wonder that timber is such a highly sought-after material for home improvement projects, so much so that other materials today mimic the appearance of wood, from ceramic and high-pressure laminate to vinyl. But beyond wood species and grain patterns, stain color and finish can dramatically affect the outcome of any home design project.

Sure, Bambi is cute. But what’s not so cute is when she’s chowing down on yourvegetable garden or devouring yourhostas anddaylilies. Even if you’ve never had deer visiting your yard before, there’s always a first time. And no plant—even those said to be “deer resistant”—is truly safe from their voracious appetites.

June has some of the finest weather we experience in the UK. The nights are at their shortest, which means that those in the most northerly parts of the country may never get full darkness, and even at the most southerly points, the evenings are drawn out, long and balmy. This is lovely for us gardeners and crucial to many of our plants. These short nights influence flowering in summer flowering plants, helping fill our gardens with colour and the buzz of pollinators.

Ever planted a row of cheerful sunflowers, only to find them looking a bit..errr, munched on? You might have some furry visitors! Deer love a good garden snack, and sunflowers can be on the menu. Let’s see if these tall, bright beauties are a deer delicacy.

This plan represents a bed along a property fence between the west side of a house and a large canopy tree. The edge of the border is curved because I find that adds visual interest. This plan includes many plants that are adaptable to sun and shade as well as some supporting players that add interesting textures and forms to the design and that provide repetition and rhythm. The plants are placed according to their needs:

Making a Trellis for Potted Plants isn’t exactly rocket science but you do need to create a structure that can take the weight of the plant without breaking.

For years, Foxglove (Digitalis species) has been a quintessential cottage garden flower. It is native to Europe and is a member of the plantain (Plantaginaceae) family. Foxglove adds height and color to the garden. Grow foxglove with other perennials along a fence or in front of large evergreen shrubs. Plant a large group for an eye-catching display.

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Averting my eyes from the tulips which were shouting “Pick me! Pick me!” as I walked past, I headed towards the bottom end of the garden to pick some of the marauding Spanish bluebells that have sneaked their way in under/over/round the fence. The impact of bluebells in the garden has really registered in recent days, with the uninvited guests and the more local residents joining forces to provide by far and away the biggest splash of blue in the garden out of all the seasons. There may be little patches of blue from spring bulbs and isolated spots in the summer months, but bluebell season is something else and the splashes will only get larger and more widespread as time goes on, with even the English bluebells popping up in other parts of the garden than the woodland. By picking the Spanish bluebells, however, I can at least try and restrict their desire for dominance!

This week’s Q&A has prompted me to sing the praises of wall shrubs, that group of plants that usefully straddle the common ground between true climbers (plants with lax stems that twist and weave their way upwards, using walls or the branches of other plants as a scaffold) and traditional woody ornamental shrubs.

The biggest advantage that you have with annuals that grow vertically is you can assign them to any small corner of the house and garden, then they will continue to thrive there for an year!

If you love to adorn your home and garden with large and showy flowers that don’t need heavy maintenance and come in tons of colors and patterns, there’s nothing better than these Orchid Arrangement Ideas!

Whether or not to wear shoes inside has always been a hot debate. Some enjoy wearing shoes in their homes for comfort and convenience, while others choose to remove them immediately. Citing a knack for hygiene or a penchant for keeping floors clean, those who are fans of a «no shoes in the house» policy have a variety of valid reasons, especially personal preference and cultural practice.