I love how garden inspiration can come from the most mundane things. Especially in the middle of winter, when there's not a whole lot of inspiration to be found. The last couple of years have been busy ones for me, so I've not had as much time, or desire, to spend in my yard. It doesn't look bad, it just isn't as neat and cleaned up as I like it. The beds are looking tired and in need of a definite refresh of plants and mulch, and a few trees had been taken out in the last two years, turning a once very shady garden into a very sunny garden. The biggest eyesore, though, was the 80' span of 30-year-old termite-ridden fence that was wobbly from the posts rotting out. The winds in October caused two sections of the fence to fall, so it was definitely time to have it replaced.
The new fence finally went up last month, and what a difference! It's taller, so the neighbor's all-night porch light no longer shines directly into my bedroom window. The top of the new fence boards are not broken from all the tree limbs that had fallen on it over the years. The sections that had slightly leaned against plants, pushing them to grow towards the lawn as they creaked back and forth, are no longer there. Now, I look outside, and I feel inspired to clean up the beds and plant them with new sun-loving shrubs and flowers. I spent the past weekend moving along some of the garden 'art' and knick-knacks I have curated over the years that have been slowly falling apart from exposure without my noticing. I think I might have a load of mulch delivered this weekend to give it a more polished look until I decide what to plant. Moving the BBQ from its usual spot so it wasn't in the way made my husband realize that the brick patio it sits on needs to be redone.
All of this inspiration, because of a fence.