BUILDING BOXES

Debra's dog, Koda, ate some leaves from one of our trumpet vines the other day and got sick.  Not only did the little canine suffer from nausea and vomiting, but he became lethargic and Debra became concerned.  A brief google search revealed that trumpet vines are among the most toxic plants for animals.

Therefore, I was dispatched to protect our three trumpet vines from the dog.  Or to protect the dog from the trumpet vines.  One of those.

So, I stopped by The Home Depot and picked up seventeen eight-foot long pressure-treated 2x4's, one box of deck screws, a few lag screws, and got to work in my role as Protector.

The completion of the project resulted in three benefits: (1) Koda can't get to the leaves anymore, (2) humans can't trip over the base of the trumpet vines, and (3) it looks better.



Cutting lengths for boxes.

Assembling the boxes with deck screws.

Since the boxes had to be wrapped around existing posts and trumpet vines, I had to build them in two parts:  A three-sided part and a one-sided part.

Wrapping the two parts together.

Once each box was properly placed, I secured them to the posts with lag screws, which were recessed into the boxes to provide aesthetic pleasure to any would-be box-watchers.



Before and after (View 1).

Before and after (View 2).

Before and after (View 3).

Before, during and after (View 4).

The third and final box, before and after (View 1).

Third box, before and after (View 2).  Now that the project is done, the boxes actually draw attention to the beauty of the flowers instead of to the ugliness of the cement base.