Dog proofing fence, and climbing plant advice.

[SecretSeven]

Hello

I have a garden up on top of a very exposed hill in Yorkshire.

I'd like to dog proof my existing open rail type fence. My dog is only a puppy, but I'd like to give her an area she can run around without her getting into next door's garden when she's full sized (she's a Rottweiler).

We have a lot of broken bricks and rubble left by the previous owner. As she has recently discovered the joys of digging, I was thinking digging a trench alongside my fence, and fixing chicken wire about 20cm below the ground. We have a lot of broken bricks that the previous owner left, so I thought I might also be able to "lose" some of them in the bottom of the trench.

So I've got three questions:

1. What sorts of plants could I get that would grow up the fence? It will be 1.8m tall, with chicken wire to 1.1 metres with wires running parralel to the ground at 1.5 and 1.8 metres. It's our first garden, so it needs to be something forgiving novices. It gets very windy up here, and there is no shade at all. The hill faces south if you are looking downhill.
   

1. Is 20cm enough to prevent a big dog from digging under the fence?
   

1. How deep should I bury the bricks and rubble to allow for roots of the climbers? I don't have to do this if you suggest it's not sensible.
   

Thanks!

[shovetheholly]

OK, I can't talk too much about dog solutions as I don't have a clue, but I've seen people use mesh effectively for that purpose.

I can talk more about the gardening stuff: firstly, I'd be cautious about burying a load of rubble. Plants don't tend to like it, and a rough soil combined with an exposed site is going to be quite a challenge. I would dig it out and dump it at the tip!

Secondly, if space permits, think about a line of shrubs or even a hedge that you can grow close to the fence, as these may help to act as a windbreak/shelterbelt for the rest of your garden! It doesn't necessarily have to be a continuous line. This site has a guide: www.burncoose.co.uk/site/page.cfm?page_ref=Planting_in_Coastal_and_Windswept_Locations

[LetThereBeCupcakes]

Are rotties particularly known for digging? Your plan would be fine for my labs. They only dig to bury chewies and eat cat poo though. Unless she's left alone in the garden or a very fast digger I'd be surprised if she dug under that.

Re: plants - how about honeysuckle?

[SecretSeven]

ShoveTheHolly some great advice there - thanks! I suspect you've saved me a lot of pain with those bricks. There's a lot to take to the tip, so I'll just dump a couple of bricks at the bottom of our bin every week. It will be gone in a couple of months.

Regarding your advice on windproofing, we don't have a lot of room. 4.4 metres from the fence to the side of our house (the garden runs alongside our house. Is this enough? I suppose the ideal would be to put a dry stone wall up, but that is a very expensive proposition.

LetThereBeCupcakes thank you - I love honeysuckle! It's going on my list.

[shovetheholly]

Yes, walls are sadly very expensive looks at metres of privet in back garden.

I think I might go for fence plus mesh then a kind of line of shrubs or even small trees (I mean really quite small) in front. That way you green up the area and your house gets some benefit from a bit of shelter. You also start to shield the area in front of the fence so that you can plant some things out of the wind.

I am in a semi, and I'm at a slight angle to the house that isn't joined to me next door (on a corner of the road). The effect is to create a wind tunnel, so when it's windy - and it's often windy - it shrieks down the side of the house and into the garden. I've plonked a couple of shrubs right where it hits the garden, and it really has made a difference to what I can grow in the rest of the space.

[SecretSeven]

We haven't got a lot of room. The garden is only 4 metres wide.

[SecretSeven]

Would we be able to do it?