Clifton Hill

Award winning garden designer Ross Uebergang, (also a good friend of mine) designed this garden in Clifton Hill. He needed 4 steel planter boxes and some sort of ‘invisible’ fence to grow espaliered fruit trees along. 

The steel boxes proved to be a bigger challenge than just making boxes.  2.4m by 1.2m meant they could potentially bow in the middle and there was the extra challenge of delivering four 120kg painted boxes without damaging or scratching them. The solution was to make them in pieces and design hidden fixings to screw them together on site. Bracing to stop the bowing added to the weight but worked well. 

The fence proved more of a challenge. Not only did it need to be ‘invisible’, it also needed to keep three dogs securely. The fence is made from marine grade stainless steel cables. I spaced the cables so that they get closer together towards the ground, ensuring even the small feisty dog is kept safe. The gates received the same treatment with the cables threading through the custom letterboxes.  

Ultimately the cables will support the espaliered fruit trees, as part of Ross’s design for the garden. The fence will slowly disappear and still keep the dogs safe.