The New Fence
My house is
surrounded by hedges on three sides. Since
the association would not allow me to have the hedges I wanted (ficus), I had to go with something called Viburnum. It’s just as nice as ficus but doesn’t kill
the water systems. It also doesn’t grow as think or as low to the ground which
is what I wanted in the first place.
My back
yard faces other homes back yards and I rather have my privacy, plus I couldn’t
afford the $40,000 for the only type of fence that the home owners association
would allow. Someone remind me if I ever move never ever to get
into a house that has a home owner association in it. For the few good things they provide are not
worth the headache and condo commando mentality the rest of it causes.
Anyway, It
took six years for the viburnum hedge to grow in thick. The only problem is it
didn’t stay very short to the ground there are holes and large pockets that the
dogs just run through, but I can’t fit
through to follow (note to self – start a diet soon!).
Buckeye never runs away
– always comes back after removing the squirrels from his yard (Mr. Protector).
So I come up
with the brilliant idea of what about one of those critter fences. The little
green ones that are more of a mesh, that blend in with the hedges so they are undetectable
yet would keep my dogs from running full speed through the hedge to chase the
squirrels and bunnies. Not to mention they are much more affordable (not cheap
but affordable).
It takes me
three days, with lots of help to meticulously install the 3 foot mesh through
the entire hedges and yard. The mesh is
pulled very tight and adhered with zip ties to stakes in the ground and set
back into the hedges so they are practically invisible. I am hot, sweaty, my back is killing me and I’m
totally exhausted. But I am proud of the
accomplishment and know this will stop the neighbors from complaining about the
dogs running through to the other side (although I am sure they will find
something else to complain about).
So, now
comes the big test. I let Buckeye out. He spots the invasive squirrel and runs
after it. The squirrel, apparently watching me the entire weekend install the
fence, knows about it, so he goes up and scrambles over the hedge. Buck who
also had been watching me all weekend obviously didn’t make the connection and
ran head first, full force into the fence. The poor dog
bounced off the fence and rolled backwards.
I would have felt really bad because he let out a yelp and actually was
about to laugh when he shook his head (I guess to shake himself back some
composure). He then took three steps backwards and ran as fast as he could
towards the hedges again – I winced thinking oh no he is going to get hurt
trying to bulldoze the fence (which never budged) and then he sprang into the
air like a deer and sailed through the hedges about six inches over where the
three foot fence ended.
I was both
impressed and really ticked off that all my work didn’t stop him.
On a side
note I think he was just trying to show me that he was once again smarter than
I am, because he only went over the new fence that one time and now respects it
as a boundary and doesn’t cross it.
Now he just
runs around to the front of the house, where there isn’t a fence and gave the
neighbors something new to complain about……….I am trying to save for the
association specific gates to enclose the front of the house.
