Budget Garden Fence

Here's a quick little project that can dress up the garden and give the kiddos a place to make their mark. Plus, it's easy on the pocketbook!

Materials:  Bundles of 18" landscape stakes (you can choose shorter or taller, depending on your preferences, they often stock 2-3 choices at your local HomeDepot or Lowe's); bundle of 4' lathe material (look for this in the masonry supply area, they come in bundles of 50 and are very inexpensive); wood glue, 3/4" staples; primer/paint if desired

Since I had more than a dozen of these to make, I made a layout board that made assembly a snap.  I made most of my fences 3' wide, designed to be placed at the end of a raised bed in a vegetable garden that we put in at the church.  Design yours for your space.

The stakes were laid on the jig, then glue was applied to each.  The glue really helps firm the whole thing up and I wouldn't recommend going without it.  Lay the horizontal members across the back, staple  and set aside for the glue to dry.  You can also add two stakes facing down on the back so you can plunk these guys right into the ground.

Hit them with a sander if you like, then cover with a good primer/sealer (I used Kilz).  You can leave them whitewashed, give them a finish color, or even get creative (we let the kids add their handprints, then sealed that up with a spray varnish so the rain wouldn't wash their work away).