Reclaimed wood in the Garden

  So Tuesday was my  more recent day in the shop.  On Wednesday I took off for a couple of days at the lake. Eva and I are trying to make good use of the fine weather, after all we waited for a long time for it to arrive.

  To get to Collingwood I always travel a scenic route that takes me through farm country and down the Beaver Valley.  It takes a bit longer but is so worth it, since the scenery is quite lovely.

  

   I got home yesterday afternoon and spent time watering our gardens.  We've had beautiful weather but....it has been very dry and so our gardens need on-going attention.

rock garden at the back of our house

east side of our house

roses in the front yard

  On the east side of the house are several roses, some of which grow to be tall and rangy.  To help one of these roses I used the rest of my reclaimed skid and most of a 2 x 8 that was left by contractors last summer.

  The 2 x 8 was about 16 feet long and had been used to frame concrete curbing on our street.  After the contractors left, part of the mess they left behind was this board. Never one to past up free lumber I gathered it up expecting to use it in a garden for a retaining wall or the like.

 It turned out we didn't need a wall we needed something to support our biggest rose. That wooden thing is six feet tall, as you can see the rose is taller.  Right now the thing is just standing where it belongs generally, my wife will decide its exact placement and tie the rose up solidly later.

  Building the 'thing' was really a circular saw job. There was no finesse and not much design. It is a good reminder of what you can do with a circular saw, a cordless drill and a square. I split the 2 x 8 to make a couple of legs and used some left over 2 x 4 for the frame that holds both sets of legs together.  If you want to make something like, the legs are splayed apart 3 degrees. And I will be putting a couple of stakes into the ground and attaching the 'thing' to the stakes with wire once the final location is decided.

  Working with a 2 x 8 six feet long reminds me that my shop is not really set up for pieces that long and my back is not set up for things that heavy and awkward.  However, it is nice to get this job done and checked off the list.

ianw