Gotta love a large backyard

[Tony Raine]

Hey I'm Tony, got here from the Ecomodder Forum.

This year, I spend one heck of a lot of money putting up a privacy fence around my back yard (about 3/4 of an acre).

Why? To keep out the neighbors, trash, dogs, etc.... plus i like the privacy. so now i have a blank slate to start working on.


here's what i started out with, this pic was taken at the back corner of my property looking toward the house



I'll skip all the "in progress" of the fence building, and go straight to the finish. i still have some little things to take care of, latches and stuff, but its 99.9999% done. I saved a lot of money by hauling all materials myself, and doing all the work. i was even to cheap to rent a digger, so all holes were dug by hand with a $20 post-hole digger.

lets begin the tour, shall we?

out front


open the 4' gate


not enough room? throw that 10 footer open for 14 total feet


just inside the gate, check out the distance to the back


a little turn towards that far left corner


turn around about halfway back, damn thats a long walk! and check out that hand-me-down pool! 18' x 4'


lets resume our trek toward the back of the property and take a trip behind the fence


back here, i still have around 20' x 150' of usable space


got a buddy that does tree work thats going to trim this back about 15' and up around 12'. this will be where my scrap metal and compost piles will be located. eventually i will fence this in with a cheaper form of fence :laugh:


heres the view looking back toward the house from the gate i just went through




now i need to mow it again..............

[Daox]

That is quite the fence. Can I ask around how much it cost?

Now you need to fill it up with trees, garden, flowers, solar panels...

[truckncycle]

Can you say 'lawn tractor'? That's huge and amazingly flat. You have a lot of options. Your soil must be better than ours. I would still be digging the first couple of holes.

[dremd]

Welcome!

I missed what part of the world you live in.

You need some trees man.

Very nice fence.
I'm sure that it cost a pretty penny even with you doing all of the labor.

[insaneintenti0n]

I definitely don't wanna know that cost. I spent $250 just on a gate that my father an law and I put up that only spans my driveway (two cars wide)

definitely a nice size amount of property you got there. I wouldn't want to mow it.

[Tony Raine]

Thanks everyone!

trees, garden, etc..., is all in the plan. gotta save back up, though

the pickets cost $1.70 each, i think i used 4 or 5 pallets of 250. i don't want to think about the other costs (posts, 2x4's, gate hardware, nails, screws, concrete). I spread the cost/build over the course of 6 months. each paycheck i bought a little more.

my tools






i used to mow it with a push mower (took 6 hours total, split up over a couple days, including the front yard) until i got a hand-me-down riding mower............


i tried to time digging right after a good rain (or during).

I live in NE Arkansas, outside of Jonesboro.



this winter i'll be working on the area behind the back of the fence. lots of poison ivy, need to wait until it dies back. then I'll continue the sides about 15-20 feet back, either with more pickets or welded wire topped with barb wire. the very back property line is a drainage ditch with nothing but woods/fields behind it, so i'll think of something to close that off too. i'm thinking about laying gravel in that back area for ease of maintenance, but thats pretty far off. basically i'll use it for a compost heap, soda/beer can bins, scrap metal, spare auto part storage, etc.... basically all the stuff i dont want in the yard.


I'll probably only live here for about 2 more years, but everything i'm doing will help resale. I'm the only one in the neighborhood with the FULL backyard enclosed.



oh yeah, digging about 75, 2' deep holes by hand is EXCELLENT exercise!

[dentprone]

Nice place, Tony - Glad to see you here too.

Welcome to the boards Tony! I agree, that is a great clean slate you have there! The possibilities are endless for you. Your backyard is quite large, too. Should give you plenty of room for solar panels, gardens, tree groves, or whatever you're planning You'll defiantly have to keep us updated with the progress you make with the house! I'm excited to see what you do with it

Woody

[toyobug]

Tony, I fenced in my backyard, and it's only 150 linear feet of fencing. I know what you mean about digging those post holes. I had half a dozen that were near a huge water oak, NOT FUN! A buddy gave me the idea of using a saws all with a long blade to cut the roots in the hole. Talk about a time (and back, shoulder, arm, etc, etc.) saver! So if anyone is planning to put up a fence and you run into root problems, get a saws all! You can thank me later.
Nice backyard by the way! There are so many things you can do back there. I hope you'll continue to take pictures as you complete your projects.

[Tony Raine]

coming soon, a 12x16 shed/workshop......