Whether you have a small or large outdoor space the addition of a fence to define the border can enhance the feel of the surroundings. Today I want to share with you a unique garden fence and garden gate that showcase how this can be done with a small space.
There was more planning involved with this design. This often happens when you are creating something unique for the client and their space. I worked out some general ratios of height and width on paper, but it really took building a full scale model section to dial in the design. We modified it a few times to get it just right. With the design finalized I was ready to begin the first phase: getting the posts in.
The post used on this garden fence project were 6×6. This increase in size really makes a difference in the overall design. After each post was set in concrete I was able to to get the measurements for each section as well as the two garden gates. The build for the individual sections and gates would take place offsite in my woodworking studio.
I started by building a simple form for making the sections. It allowed me to keep the height and width constant so I could layout the main pattern of each section. The square window was built in a different form and then the two were put together using a half lap joint. To say there were a lot of angle cuts would be a gross understatement! Interesting designs often take time. It can’t be rushed. I’m a big believer that the quality of made things comes from the mindset of the individual maker during the process of arriving at the outcome.
Once each section was completed I took the same approach to building the garden gates for this project. With everything completed it was time to go back to the site to begin the installation process. The final touch was adding solid wood ornamental caps to the 6×6 posts. The last step was installing the gates and hardware. The client found the latch they liked and I feel it went well with the gates. Little details like this really make a project your own.
One of the challenges with installing the gates was how to handle transition points. These are usually small sections where the fence meets a structure. In this case it was both the house and garage. The space was too small to use the same design we had for the rest of the garden fence and an alternate solution needed to be used. I opted to fill the sections in with boards oriented horizontally. The goals was to fill the gaps in a manner that would compliment the overall design. You can see how it turned out in the photos.
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