March 24, 2011 - The Kennel Garden

I know somebody is going to ask "What is a kennel garden?"

The Kennel Garden

I've told the story of the kennel garden before, but for those who may not have heard about it, here I go once more. Annie and Otto are our two dachshunds. We bought them as ten week old puppies on April 5, 2008, and proceeded from there to make a puppy safe area in our back yard.

Our neighbor's fence, hidden from view by a row of tall arborvitae and our garden shed, was falling down. There were too many open spots where curious little pups could escape and be in danger. We felt the best solution was to enclose half our patio with wire fencing to make a play area, and buy a very large chain link kennel that would sit on the lawn next to the patio. We attached the two structures so the pups could easily go from patio to kennel. To make a long story short, those pups would not go in that kennel. It was as though unseen monsters lurked in that structure, and just the thought of going in there sent them into shivering fits. So I donned a long sleeved jacket, with jeans tucked into the tops of socks, and put a shower cap on my head. Armed with the staple gun and a roll of poultry wire, I crawled into that narrow, dirty area between fence and arborvitae, and stapled the chicken wire to the neighbor's rickety fence. It was a nasty job, but somebody had to do it.

With the fence puppy-proofed, the "kids" had free reign of the back yard, but the kennel was a pain in the backside to mow in and around, as well as being a useless structure, so I decided to move it to the back corner of the yard and incorporate it into the vegetable garden. I removed one side of the chain link to open it to the east garden, and part of another side to open it to the north garden, leaving the rest to use as trellising for climbing plants. The gate can be closed to keep the pups out of the gardens (the north and east gardens are fenced), but to allow me easy access.


The kennel garden 2010, waiting for the morning glories to bloom.

Fast forward to today: I haven't been showing you what a mess the garden was when we returned from Arizona last month. When we left, the morning glories were either still blooming or just ready to bloom, so I left them. You can imagine what a tangled dead mess we had! The neighbor's trees don't drop their leaves until after we leave in the fall, so there's that mess, as well as a few branches from their walnut tree, to clean up. Last week I pulled down most of the dead vines, and today I finished it off and cleaned up all the mess.


It's actually not looking as bad in this photo. I'd already been pulling down vines and raking up debris by the time I thought to go for the camera. Notice the post that is loose and leaning. Evidently the wind and the weight of the morning glory vines were too much for the bracket, and it popped it right off.


Here it is, all cleaned up, and the post repaired.


Next job will be to tackle the east garden, where I tore out the raised beds. All of those mounds of soil have to be flattened out and formed into probably four or five new beds, like the three way back at the other end. These beds will all be 8' long and range from 2' to 4' wide. My pathway will be on the left, bordered by the remaining boards and the neighbor's chain link fence. I sure wish I could find someone to fire up the old rototiller.


25 comments:

  1. I so admire what you are doing. I am just not able to do a garden this year, and it is killing me.

    I have a doxie/beagle who is wreaking havoc. No $ for a fence! Sure need one. She's a determined girl !

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  2. The one thing that amazed me is there is no weed growing around the fence! How do you manage to have a nice clean ground?

    b.t.w That's a lot of work for one person.

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  3. Kris, the plastic fencing I buy is $11.99 for 50 feet, and it's 3' high. I use that stuff for everything...so much better than bird netting. I just have to figure out how to keep Annie from pushing it up at the bottom, and going right under. Otto doesn't even try.

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    Random, I have this handy dandy tool. It's called a hoe! LOL

    "b.t.w That's a lot of work for one person."

    Tell me about it. Soon I'm going to own the company that makes Aleve.

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  4. I bet you'll tackle those mounds and whip them into shape in no time...that's why your you! We are partners in the Aleve company :o)...Those mounds are going to be lovely gardens when your done...

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  5. Ginny, you get your hot little hand out of my Aleve bottle!!!

    I already went out and whipped one of those beds into shape, right after I posted to the blog. Gotta empty the leaves and weeds out of my wheelbarrow and haul some cow poo over there to finish it up. Not tonight though, I'm plumb tuckered out.

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  6. I had a million sarcastic comments lauding your skills and being self depricating, but it took me three clicks to get it to recognize that I wanted to leave a comment and they all seem simplistic by now.

    All I'll say is I want to be you when I grow up.

    That's not a sarcastic comment, by the way. You're my hero.

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  7. Ribbit I love you! I love you for your other two comments, too. I'll just thank you here....'cause I'm too tired to click on them ;-) And it's hard to type with a fork in one hand.

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  8. You make such good use of an item that just did not live up to it's intended use. I am pretty sure that I must be the majority owner of the Aleve brand as I too go through an awful lot of it!

    It's a good thing there was so much tidying up for you to do.... I think you were in some real need of things to do by the end of your time in your Southwest winter home! You do not strike me as someone who thrives with too much leisure time.

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  9. "You do not strike me as someone who thrives with too much leisure time"

    Ah, you know me well, Grasshopper....er, Kitsap ;-)

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  10. LOTS of work flattening those raised beds out, but I'm sure it will be spectacular! Please take it easy, Gran, my back was killing me just thinking about it!

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  11. Erin, I got one flattened out when John came by and said he'd be over Sunday to get the rototiller started for me. He hurt his back and can't run it, but if he can just get it going, I can till. That will flatten them out and pull up those pesky roots that come over from the neighbor's tree. Then all I have to do will be rake the pathways out and up into the beds.

    I "rest" tomorrow...Friday is my day with Alicyn.

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  12. That'd make a great chicken run, hehe. Ok, I've got chickens on the brain. Your work is looking great!

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  13. It looks like you had another very productive day in the garden Granny! You must get some fierce winds there to do damage like that!!

    Enjoy your day with Alicyn and get some rest...if that is possible with a little one around :)

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  14. It looks like you have a lot of work ahead. And I have to laugh at the bench. It looks like it is a human kennel. A place where you can get away from the dogs. But I can't imagine that. They are such cute dogs. Even if they do get into the garden.

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  15. You have your work cut out for you Granny. Can you rent a tiller?

    I can't wait to see the new beds come together.

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  16. Sinfonian, Mr. Granny says absolutely no chickens. I'd put them behind the shed if I had some, though.

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    Robin, some days she's very, very good. Some days not so much ;-)

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    Daphne, it was supposed to be my little quiet spot, but the dead branches from the neighbor's walnut tree kept falling on my head! After getting hit with them a couple of times, it kind of takes the joy out of it. I've had a squirrel throw walnuts at me, too.

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    Kelly, I have a tiller, I just need someone to get it started for me. I don't manage those rope pulleys well. They shouldn't make equipment that isn't started by the turn of a key!

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  17. This place came with an old kennel when we bought it, but it isn't as tall as yours. I've been thinking about selling it, since we don't have dogs, but I might rethink that after seeing what you did with yours. I'd like chickens too but my wife has (wisely) said no!

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  18. Hey, Villager, what say we ditch our spouses and run off to grow chickens together? Bad idea?

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  19. Looks like lots of work. I hear you on the tiller. Ours has been neglected since "I" put in my raised beds. Before that, hubby had to run to catch it many times. I'm pretty strong, but it killed my back. (Out comes the Advil) I'm liking this setup much better. My chickens are in a movable run. I love them. A few months ago, I convinced hubby we could keep the 4 new babies I rescued. My total is 5 hens, 2 roosters.
    ~~Lori

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  20. Lori, my rototiller is about 30 years old! It got used a lot at our previous house, with the big garden, but very few times in the past twenty years. John dug up this east garden with it in 2008, when I built the beds. It worked fine then, and he borrowed it once after that to dig a friend's garden, so I'm keeping fingers crossed it still runs. With no vegetation there, and the soil being so loose, I don't expect it to be difficult tilling.

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  21. It's so funny that I came across your site for the first time today. I have a large dog kennel outside that we do not put our dogs in anymore and I came up with the idea a few weeks ago to plant our garden in there to keep it safe. Great minds think alike, eh? :) Anyway, I love your blog here- great job! Thanks for sharing.

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  22. Shawna, welcome! I love my kennel garden. I plant pole beans on both sides of one section, and usually have a pot or two of cucumbers on another side, as well as a cherry tomato in a corner. Last year I covered two sides with morning glories, and they were so pretty!

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  23. I was wondering why none of your posts were showing up in my follow list and that's because....I wasn't following you!!!! I thought I followed you a couple of years ago but apparently I was wrong. YAY! I'm following you now!

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  24. Kalena Michelle, welcome to my blog!! LOL

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  25. The kennel garden is such a neat idea! My daughter already has a fish pond in ours, why not add some greenery!

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