Eeking out 40 sq. ft. of additional planting space

In a small garden like ours, every square foot counts. I constantly look for ways to maximize the space available for planting, and I jump at every chance to squeeze out a few more square feet. Just such an opportunity presented itself when it came time to fix some broken fence sections in the front yard.

Take a look:

In the photo below, the 6 ft. section outlined in yellow was leaning precariously. This was the only remaining section from when the house was built; the rest of the fence had been replaced about 15 years ago. The 4 ft. section outlined in orange was still good, but it had come loose from the 6 ft. fence next to it.

Inside the fence, an L-shaped raised bed occupied the corner where the 4 ft. fence meets the 6 ft. fence which encloses the backyard:

Originally, we used this raised bed for tropicals like elephant ears, bananas, and gingers (see this post). However, when we switched to more water-wise plants, it became difficult to keep the tropicals happy. In 2013, I planted a hardy tapioca seedling (Manihot grahamii) given to me by a friend. By 2017, it had grown into a 15 ft. tree. I loved the leaves silhouetted against the sky (here), but the shade it cast from early spring to early winter made it impossible to grow succulents in the raised bed.

Last summer, we had the manihot removed because it had simply become too big. This left the raised bed looking even more sad, its only remaining denizens being a few banana cannas (Canna ‘Musaefolia’) in a large pot and a large clump of Hippeastrum papilio (on the left in the photo below).

The only serviceable thing in this corner was a rack with cacti and other succulents against the south side of the house:

After years of complaining about this corner of the front yard and doing very little about it, I finally decided that it was time for a radical change: The L-shaped raised bed had to go. At the same time, we would fix the leaning 6 ft. fence section and move the 4 ft. section closer to the house so it would align with the rest of the 4 ft. fence.

The first step was to remove the remaining plants from the bed, i.e. the banana cannas and the Hippeastrum papilio:

I ended up with dozens of individual Hippeastrum papilio bulbs. Some I planted in the backyard, others I gave away to friends, and the rest will go to the UC Davis Arboretum Nursery for future plant sales.

I may be good with plants, but I’m crap when it comes to fixing things, so we hired a local handyman team to do the actual work. It didn’t take them long to remove the existing fence sections and dismantle the raised bed. The soil that had been in the raised bed was carefully distributed along the 6 ft. backyard fence.

By the end of day 1, the 4 ft. fence section had been moved (fortunately, the crew was able to reuse most of the old boards, which were still perfectly good), and half of the 6 ft. section had been rebuilt:

The final step was to build a new gate leading into the backyard. This is something we’ve wanted for many years. There is a gate on the far side of the house, but we wanted to be able to access the backyard from the street side as well.

The succulent rack you saw earlier is now next to the greenhouse in the backyard.

Having a solid new fence is nice, but the biggest benefit for me is the extra planting space created by moving the 4 ft. section closer to the house:

It may not be much, roughly 40 sq. ft., but for me, that’s huge.

Newly recovered planting space is a precious gift!

Next steps: Add some rocks and soil, and then plant. Or, more likely, overplant.

Stay tuned for an update, coming very soon.

Shout-out: A big shout-out to Dream Homes Handyman. Maddie, Matt and their helper did a fantastic job. They worked quickly and efficiently and gave us exactly what we wanted. We couldn’t be more satisfied. They’re a local company and provide a range of services in Davis and Yolo County. It’s such a relief having found somebody you can trust. I can’t recommend them highly enough!

© Gerhard Bock, 2025. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.