~~ A Flea Market Gardening ‘My Big Garden Project’~~
A Birdhouse Trellis with Flea Market Style
A trellis for the birds! Kirk Willis was winging it when he came up with this idea for a trellis screening off one area of his garden.The magic happened when he added birdhouses and glass. Feel free to tweet!
Kirk’s rustic bird house trellis
Kirk explains all the steps he took to accomplish this summer project in an area of rocks and weeds and iris long worn out. Kirk lives and gardens in Washington State and has a beautiful woodsy setting for his project.
A before photo…need to weed, weed, weed
Work begins on the area for the birdhouse trellis. Kirk says, “I have a vision and often fall asleep thinking about it! I’ll be moving or removing all of the Iris plants and eliminating all the weeds! I’ll power wash the rocks now and level the soil.’
First comes Inspiration!
‘My trellis idea was inspired by this trellis that was made by Lori Murphy‘s husband. Lori posted this photo awhile back here on Flea Market Gardening. Thank you for the inspiration, Lori! My summer project!’
Lori Murphy provided inspirati on
And perspiration…
Weeded and the rocks replaced
He says, “It took a week and a lot of hard work but I’ve weeded the garden where I am going to place the tri-fold trellis. I plan on cementing in cedar posts for support, attaching the trellis to the posts.”
Pieces all laid out
“This is the first section of the recycled ladder trellis. One thing about working with old ladders is that nothing is straight! I just noticed the top “shelf” looks a bit off. I may have to do a bit of sawing and straightening…but it does add to the character! I need to place and cement in the second cedar post on the the left today. Then, I’ll add the side panels, coming out at an angle. Placing the stained glass window will be next, followed by some plants… A slow, fun, summer project!”
$9.99 as one of the glass pieces had a crack. SCORE!
Kirk updates us, “Worked on my trellis project today…kept rearranging the birdhouses on the new panel! I’ll work on and add the right panel later this evening. Then, I’ll insert the stained glass window tomorrow… Should I leave the frame for the window natural or paint it white and distress it?”
Cut, placed and cemented in the second cedar post today..
“… a slooow process but very rewarding. I’ll attach the side panels with more birdhouses tomorrow.I need to play around with the birdhouses plus a few others I have… The big one is too big. I have some smaller ones that will work better there. Part of the fun, arranging and planning.
Tomorrow I’ll add the stained glass window after we do some repairs with it. I think we will let the wood weather…no paint…fits into our natural setting. ”
The stained glass piece up close shows the construction
The brilliant bird house trellis, finished!
“My July Project Challenge, finished September 1st! The old ladders were free, and the birdhouses were all thrift store/garage sale finds! A fun project! I can’t wait to plant up the garden around the trellis!
Kirk Willis’s trellis creates a focal point in his garden now
“My trellis I posted earlier at a different angle…with the bird feeders attached. I’m going to balance it out with a bottle tree on the left side as well. I’ll plant vines on the trellis…pondering other plants.”
Another view of the trellis…
You should ‘tweet’ this!
More from Kirk:
How to build a vintage style potting bench
