Guest Blogger: Sarah Hileman

If you’re a homeowner or renter with yard space, and you’re considering a minimalist approach to constructing a garden plot (especially if you have dogs who might love to romp through said plot) I’ve got a solution. I generally have an unkempt pile of sticks somewhere in my yard, and I’ve found them to be useful in such gardening situations. Recently, I’ve started to created garden space in the shared area that my dogs use. They certainly are not mindful of where they execute their zoomies, but I’ve found that creating some barriers is effective in keeping them out of unwanted spaces. In lieu of building raised beds (which would require the purchase of additional soil), I’ve opted for a less intensive, cost effective approach.

This is the method I’ve adopted in my garden creating:

1. Find the space you need

If you’re constructing a fence, make sure the area within the fence is accessible (i.e. can you bend over and reach your plants?). I opted to only make my plot a few feet deep so that I can still access the area. I measured uniformly out from the fence, dug a furrow marking the boundary, and then turned over the topsoil with a shovel (the dogs were of no help).

2. Gather Sticks

I wasn’t very picky about this, and you can create a more curated fence by selecting straight, non-branched specimens. I recommend finding ones that are bigger than the diameter of your thumb, or about an inch thick. These should be at least two-three feet tall depending on how high you want your fence. Placing the sticks in the ground is easier with soft earth, so if you have the luxury of doing this after a rainstorm, that will help. Additionally, you can use trimmers to clip the bottoms of the sticks into points. Using a screwdriver or dandelion tool to make an initial hole in the ground may also improve this step. Push or twist your sticks into the ground so that they are firmly in place—the spacing is up to you. This is probably the most important step. Now the main foundation for your garden fence is complete!

3. Weave-in smaller sticks to the base of the fence

This is called wattle. Weaving the wattle was the trickiest part of all. I recommend much smaller in diameter, greener (bendy) sticks of three feet or less in length. Basically you brace the larger end of a wattle stick against one of the fence post sticks, and you work the rest of the wattle in front of and behind (in this pattern) the next sticks. Then move to the next fence post stick, and repeat the same pattern. The next picture illustrates what this will look like:

I continued with this for only a few inches of height. This also provided stability for the base of the fence, although it was time consuming. Again, for a more curated look, make sure your wattle sticks are straight and devoid of small branches. You can experiment with weaving through multiple sticks at the same time or skipping fence post sticks to create a different weaving pattern.

Ok, now comes the fun part! I like to top off my fences with yarn for a nice personalized spin. I chose to use rainbow colors to add an artistic touch. Generally I try to use cotton or other natural yarn, so that it can eventually end up in my compost pile. Microplastics are a huge issue right now, and I try to avoid acrylic yarn, but use whatever you have available! To weave the yarn, I recommend tying one end to the end of your stick fence, and then I twist the yarn around each stick instead of weaving it in front and behind as done with the wattle. This can help the yarn to stay anchored better.

Here is my final product:

You can follow Sarah Hileman on Instagram @CurbsideCollective. To shop Sarah’s up-cycled goods, check out her Etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/MadelineHatterCo.