The project
We had a dead area in our backyard that was always too wet for anything to grow. With that in mind we decided to build a trellis fence out of recycled hardwood floor joists, with Corten (Corten Steel) planter boxes in between. The planter boxes kept the new plants off the ground and instead of dying, are now flourishing. The sketchy grass was also removed and replaced with paving. It finished up totally transforming our back yard and we couldn't be any happier with the result.
Tools and materials
Steps
Step 1
Like all fence type jobs, setting out the job and digging the holes was the first cab off the rank. I came across a lot of dead tree roots so the reciprocating saw was amazing at easily cutting through those.
Step 2
Concrete the post stirrups in place. I've used high wind anchor posts as this is a free-standing trellis fence and l don't want to have the posts in the ground as that will make them last longer. Since this is free standing, normal post stirrups don't have enough rigidity to hold the trellis straight over time.
Step 3
Cut the posts and bolt them into the post stirrups. Make sure you take the edge off the posts to remove any splinters.
Step 4
Cut the frames for between the posts and attach the mesh to the frames using galvanised staples.
Step 5
After a coat of oil, we left it like that for a while hoping that the creepers would grow but unfortunately that failed, which led us to the next step of removing the grass, adding some paving and placing in the Corten planter boxes which you will see in the next step.
Step 6
The job finished, complete with pavers and Corten planter boxes made to order.
Before and after
