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I'm not sure this is in the right spot, so feel free to move if need be.. in my garden i have 3 trees quite close together. There's a washing line strung between them which i use to dry laundry. The fence between the garden and the pavement on the other side is a bit built up with brickwork etc., then it falls away towards the trees and the rest of the garden.
because of the trees, trying to grow anything there will be difficult, both because of the partial shade and because of the root systems. However, most of the area gets sun both very early in the morning, and again from about 2pm onwards (depending on the time of year) which i think is enough for some things.
[There's a wee map/garden plan here that might help show what i mean]
So I'm hoping to take advantage of the slope and put a retaining barrier in, a bendy one, that will loop around the trees, then i can fill it in with a mix of compost and soil and grow things in there. said retaining barrier will probably need to be between 12 and 18 inches high at the deepest point. The retaining barrier will also need to be around 9 meters long.
The problem is: 1) i'm on benefits so don't have a lot of money to throw at this. very very little, in fact. 2) because it has to loop around trees i can't use straight wooden planks (which i have a few of already). 3) because of the roots i can't dig a trench and fill in with bricks and build a wall ontop of that. I can only hammer in stakes or similar to keep something back, and weave material between the stakes.
The question is.. what. I've been looking around, considered lawn edging materials, willow, canes edging materials from wilkos.. either they're not tall enough or would be prohibitively expensive... i think i can get some pallets (The kind that allotmenteers use for building compost bins!) to break down if necessary, but i'm not a woodworker (although willing to learn). In conversation with a friend we cobbled together the idea of turning said pallets into a series of sticks, held together with plastic strips nailed in to the back of it or something, woven between stakes (the plastic greenhouse got wrecked in storms at the beginning of Jan so going to use the metal poles from that, cut into pieces with a hacksaw)..
Anyway. thoughts on this? anything i've missed? other ideas? I can provide a photo of the area if it would help.
thanks!!
keth
xx
because of the trees, trying to grow anything there will be difficult, both because of the partial shade and because of the root systems. However, most of the area gets sun both very early in the morning, and again from about 2pm onwards (depending on the time of year) which i think is enough for some things.
[There's a wee map/garden plan here that might help show what i mean]
So I'm hoping to take advantage of the slope and put a retaining barrier in, a bendy one, that will loop around the trees, then i can fill it in with a mix of compost and soil and grow things in there. said retaining barrier will probably need to be between 12 and 18 inches high at the deepest point. The retaining barrier will also need to be around 9 meters long.
The problem is: 1) i'm on benefits so don't have a lot of money to throw at this. very very little, in fact. 2) because it has to loop around trees i can't use straight wooden planks (which i have a few of already). 3) because of the roots i can't dig a trench and fill in with bricks and build a wall ontop of that. I can only hammer in stakes or similar to keep something back, and weave material between the stakes.
The question is.. what. I've been looking around, considered lawn edging materials, willow, canes edging materials from wilkos.. either they're not tall enough or would be prohibitively expensive... i think i can get some pallets (The kind that allotmenteers use for building compost bins!) to break down if necessary, but i'm not a woodworker (although willing to learn). In conversation with a friend we cobbled together the idea of turning said pallets into a series of sticks, held together with plastic strips nailed in to the back of it or something, woven between stakes (the plastic greenhouse got wrecked in storms at the beginning of Jan so going to use the metal poles from that, cut into pieces with a hacksaw)..
Anyway. thoughts on this? anything i've missed? other ideas? I can provide a photo of the area if it would help.
thanks!!
keth
xx
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