What can I say? The peacocks had devastated my Potager garden.. Not a tomato, pepper or watermelon plant survived the onslaught of 4 hungry, mischievous, vegetarian scavengers . I was at my wits end. Many of those plants I had grown from wee seedlings in my own little trays, watered and babied them from "birth"...only to have them devoured in a matter of days.
That is when I decided to completely ENCLOSE my entire potager with a lethal, pointy topped fence.
I used the spindles from our old porch railing as my pickets, cut the tops into sharp spears and created 8 ft sections of fencing to cover 57 feet. .
James sunk all the posts for me and together we created, a wonderful new garden area. (James has dug 16 post holes this season, he has gone through 3 post hole diggers in the last few years. He says he never wants to dig another hole.)
Where there once was an open kitchen garden, now we have a tidy, enclosed and very cottage-y Potager.
I will explain to you soon, why peacocks and chickens will not challenge this short fence.
Instead of topping each post with a finial, I used what I had, clay pots. The pots mimic the color of the brick walkways, and can be filled with just about anything. At the moment, they have newly potted succulents in plastic pots inserted inside the clay pot. But I think in the fall, I will fill the pots with tulip bulbs!
I only had 100 spindles and that covered the footage for the fencing, but not enough for the two gates I needed. What to do......???
Well, years ago I purchased one 8 ft section of antique cast iron fence. I've moved it here and there over the years... it hasn't ever really had much of a purpose until now.
James cut it into two pieces.... one for a large gate and the other a very small gate.
I "welded" these metal bird silhouettes I had purchased from a garden show 3 years ago.
This made a fantastically sweet, but simple gate!
TWO GATES!
I used old rakes as gate stoppers...
On the big gate...
and On the small gate.
I was able to put my old cast iron teapot to use at last! I found this years ago, after seeing on at the Museum of Appalachia used as a gate weight.
This pulls the gate closed using gravity.
Jolly good!
I did not paint the posts because I wanted to break up the monotony of the pickets.
Now, some will ask, can't peacocks fly right over those pickets? YES and NO.... they can, but they won't. My birds do not like "barricades" on top of a fence. If the edges were smooth enough to perch upon, that would be a different story, such as a straight edged ranch gate; but obstacles such as pickets make them nervous. They have never flown over my various fences here on the property.
It may be too late for my vegetables, but tomorrow is another day, and one can always plan the next crop anytime of the year.
Hopalong Hollow Cottage Garden
The elements that tie this garden design together are:
Old rusty metal: trellis, metal bedsteads used as trellis, iron fencing, the old rakes, the wheelbarrow, the cast iron teapot used as a gate weight.
Stone and brick; Used in the walkways, used as garden borders, the clay pots repeat the color of the brick.
Timbers and woven branch fencing; Used to enclosed garden beds
Concrete statuary used through-out the garden.
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