Garden Gate

This was a small project for Kathryn's Garden. A couple of years ago Jake and I put in a wire fence to keep the rabbits and squirrels out of the garden. We cut a hole in the fence so Kathryn could step in. Unfortunately, both the rabbits and the squirrels (with a running start) figured out how to jump through the opening. Also, it was kind of a pain to step in and out.

The design was simple. I talked to Keith because he had done a similar project for Lorri's garden. So I used some of his ideas. The only thing I had to think through was how to attach the posts. Really did not want to sink footings for such a small project. I decided the 4x4 posts would be half lapped and lag bolted to the side of the garden wall. I did a six inch half lap. In hindsight, I probably should have used a longer length post and driven them into the ground some because the weight of the posts wants to pull the not so very sturdy wall. I did drive green metal fench posts to brace the posts.

The build was easy and went fine. The problem was, when I looked at the wall where I was going to attach the gate the timbers were very rotted. So, back to Menards to replace three timbers for that section of the wall and one additional next to those that was badly rotted.

Once I got the new timbers put in place and secured to the ground with rebar (note: when drilling the hole for the rebar make it slightly oversized otherwise you will have to pound and pound to get the rebar through the timbers). I then secured the gate to the wall with lag bolts, restapled the fence to the wall and used the old section of the fence I removed to cover the door. Done!