Since completing the potting shed, I have been moving forward at pace in completing the basic layout for the garden. A fence now divides two main areas and both are in full swing!

As a child I spent many of my summer holidays in Yorkshire. We stayed in the same converted barns each year and visited all the antique stores, fairs, and waterfalls we could, as well as the trip to the Wensleydale Cheese factory. 

Through all of these wonderful experiences, the one thing that really stuck with me these many years later, are the fences and walls, specifically agricultural fencing and stone walls. I wanted to bring a part of this to my garden and after toying with the idea of some stone walling, opted to marry up the garden’s boundary fencing with an agricultural style fence. 

After some research I chose to build with larch timber as it has exceptional qualities for external use and knowing that I wanted to build some raised vegetable beds from matching wood, I ordered enough for both fence and beds, saving money on delivery costs.

The fence is post and rail, with two rails. I marked out the posts, dug deep holes and used postcrete to fill them which set in roughly 10 minutes. After a few days I added the rails and screwed each end of the rail to the garden’s boundary fence so we had a seamless line. 

I knew that the fence was going to transform the space as the design specifically required a division for the two main areas. By going with a post and rail fence we are able to see through and past the fence, making my small garden appear larger.

Raised Vegetable Beds

The raised vegetable beds were something I was improvising with a little. I knew I had enough space for some but I did not know how many, how large, or the layout. 

I put the fence in first so I had a real concept of the area I was working with and I opted for three small beds with two going along the fence and one opposite. 

The boards I used for making them were 15cm across so I made the beds at a depth of 30cm (two boards) however, I didn’t want to get stuck in the future if I needed deeper beds. To overcome this possible issue I cut the four corner stakes to 60cm in length which means, if needed, I can add a further two boards to each bed. 

I have not been able to prepare for successional growing of crops this year due to my work on the entire garden but next year I will plan ahead.

Andy Peasgood was a Principal Dancer with Scottish Ballet and is a keen gardener. His performance career was fast paced and he finds balance in the garden with particular interests in planting, wildlife and design. You can follow Andy’s progress as he builds ‘A Garden from Scratch’ in his regular column in Scotland Grows magazine and keep up to date with him on his Instagram feed.