Useful AND decorative

book/daddy likes to think of himself in those terms. And so he unveils his latest home project: The world's first security fence/trellis.

Our new tankless water heater, installed on the side of the house, uses a lot of copper piping -- i.e., theft bait. So during the past week and a half, book/daddy has built himself a fence. The trellis was already in place -- intended as an attractive sun protector/privacy shield for the dining room window (i.e., so we wouldn't have to look out on the nearby pastureland, made up of our neighbor's handsome driveway, strewn with tools and rusting car parts). But rather than tear the trellis down, I took the missus' suggestion and incorporated it into the fence.

Yes, that compromises security a bit, but when the vine fills out, the crazed junkies won't be able to see anything, anyway. They're not very perceptive, the local crazed junkies.
New%20security%20fence.JPG

August 8, 2007 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

3 Comments

By Heather on August 9, 2007 5:33 AM

Well I admire your will to tame them, sir. We have (*does quick calculation*) more than 10 rose bushes, I think. I surrender. At least, until I can pull out a shovel and best them entirely.

Our triffid-equivalent is a wild raspberry bush. Every time it grows long enough to touch down to the ground it takes root and sprouts 5-10 new spiny tendrils. We're in the process of ripping it out now.

By book.daddy on August 8, 2007 12:36 PM

This website is in danger of becoming Gardening Tips for the Rose-Averse. Because of the torrential June and July we experienced, a gangly rose bush on t'other side of the house has taken off, and without benefit of trellis, the damned thing has sent tentacles up 20 feet to the roofline. No flowers, mind you, just thorny arms reaching for the sky.

They have now become so long that they are starting to lean over. I will have to trim them, train them to a trellis and perhaps, suitably admonished, they will start to sprout some buds -- only after they stab me repeatedly during the trimming and training. But for now, triffid-like, they threaten anyone stepping out of a car inconveniently parked close by on the driveway. Indeed, they look like some cheap effect from Dr. WhoDr. Who

By Heather on August 8, 2007 11:54 AM

Clever and attractive. You and the missus have my compliments. I'm still struggling with the [censored] rose bushes the last owner of this house left behind---I hate the blasted high-maintenance things no matter how pretty they look. One of these years I'm going to rip 'em right out, I swear.

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