Help - wall of fence?

[mothhawk]

...Today's suggestion was a narrow flower bed backed by a fence/trellis, height to be determined later

Like this?

[veggiechicken]

Yes!!! That's it exactly, except the base will probably be brickwork

[Mikey]

Make sure they give you drainage through the slabs VC, wouldn't want to create a pond.

[RedThorn]

Mikey, don't give her ideas, next thing we'll find out she's lined it with pond liner and got koi in it!

[veggiechicken]

You're too late - I already have a "pond" there

See the semicircular bed under the tree? There's a small water tank in there and there used to be a pump - just enough to make a bubble thingy through pebbles. I took the pump out as I never sit out there now.
How much room do Koi need?

[Bren In Pots]

VC it looks like you've got a wishing well there so that should make you some money with the right advertising

[BUFFS]

i would make a railing,3 x 2 treated wood along the bottom,cut to length,another piece the same for the top and put chamfered edges on it,and some one and a half squared lengths to use as uprights,drill holes thru both top and bottoms at the width you want,open up the top piece holes half depth(to take dowels to cover screws),screw all together,insert dowels and cut to size and sand down,paint the required colour and enjoy your summer...

[veggiechicken]

Can I do something similar with old pallets, Buffs

[veggiechicken]

An update - sort of!! They've finished the paving next door and the fence goes up tomorrow. The fence supports are on my side of their fence and the gap between them and my wall/patio slab is about 8" with about 12" to the back of the fence.
One small problem - I think my purple tree is falling over
First pic is as it was; 2nd one is today.

I can't see the base of it without clearing some shrubs out but the leaves are definitely lower onto the "fence" than they were a couple of weeks ago.
Tomorrow, stand by your beds, I will be picking your brains again - you have been warned

[mothhawk]

Ooh er. Does it rock in the wind, or can you rock it by hand? It would be awful if it fell over and knocked down the new fence What breed of tree is it? Can't really tell from the pics.

[veggiechicken]

I can't rock it by hand and the way its leaning it would probably fall onto my patio.
Its some sort of ornamental cherry. Flowers very early in the year and the bullfinches love it!! There's a bamboo growing through it - the long green leaves
Its been there for 30 years that I know of, and has lost branches and bits have died off and been cut out. I suspect that some of its roots have been cut through while the builders have been digging out the laurel that was alongside the wall.
I can cut back some of the top growth but the trunk would be too much for me to tackle.

[RedThorn]

Is this a game of spot the difference or is it because I'm lolling on a lil screen?

[veggiechicken]

Bit of both RT!! I thought the tree was leaning over but it was only when I looked back at the earlier photo I realised how much

[mothhawk]

If you can't rock it maybe it will settle down and re-anchor itself - cherries are great at chucking out roots (and suckers) all over the place. I'd be inclined to wait and see if any bits die off naturally before top pruning it, although if severe winds were predicted I might change my mind...

[veggiechicken]

I'll probably take out the overhanging bits (once the fence is up), maybe thin it out a bit and hope for the best. The positives of it coming down would be more light/view in that corner. The negative is that the birds like to sit in it and survey the garden