Lovely Lattice

So, you may wonder what’s with all the around-the-yard projects that I’ve been packing into the last two months… We’ve built a fence, enlarged a planting bed, bought some flowers, built a rock path and a cute flower bed, painted the swing and made new cushions, and put up a hammock.  Whew!  We’ve been busy sprucing up the yard and it’s all because of this…

…which went down on Monday afternoon.  It was our Second Annual Memorial Day Kickoff to Summer Cookout!  We began this tradition last year with our first Memorial Day cookout.   And it rained.  So we had to have the party inside and we didn’t get to enjoy the backyard like I’d planned.  So this year, I was determined to fancify the outdoors anyway, and if it rained, we could admire it through the windows!  Lucky for me, the weather was perfect!  Not a drop of precipitation for two days prior, the yard had time to de-sog itself, and the sun was shining. 

In preparation for our big soiree, my parents and I pretty much spruced every surface on the property.  We added more hostas along the driveway, installed new sconces on the deck (posts coming soon!), and brought in tons of flower baskets from my Mama’s house, as well as all the party seating.  We decided to have tables and chairs set up on the lawn for maximum garden enjoyment.  And in our planning, we discovered the lackluster view of our deck that would greet guests from the yard.  I told you before how we were hesitant to landscape around our deck because of future plans to tear it down and rebuild it.  Well, that lack of landscaping was quite apparent.  Here’s the view of the deck from last summer:

At least we had some lush green grass. :) 

But that view of the black hole under the deck just wasn’t cutting it for my big party on the lawn!  So, we decided to finish off the little retaining wall at the edge of the yard, as well as enhance the view of the deck by adding lattice underneath.  Yeah!  Our deck shall have an underpinning, instead of a look of neglect!

We picked up four sheets of premium lattice at the hardware store as well as three two by fours for framing strips.  First we cut the two by fours into 1 1/2” strips and cut them to length for each section of underpinning.  We screwed them on with a 5/8” recess so the lattice would fit over top and be flush with the posts.  This framing gave us something to nail our lattice into.

 

I’m sure I just lost half of my readers who are now scrolling to the end for the after shots. 

But for those of you still reading…

Next, we cut each piece of lattice to fit inside the sections.  This was the tricky part, as my deck is 20 years old and has fallen out of square.  See:

So basically, we had to cut the length of each panel to a close measurement, and then fit in one side and draw off the next cut in order to make the lattice fit perfectly in the not-square holes.  Lucky for me, I had my handy Papa to help me (or rather, I helped him, as he did most of the work!).

He also kept reminding me to take pictures of the entire process for my blog. :) hehe

      

And the best part was, eventually he got tired of the nail gun and let me use it! :) Whooo!  And he even took a picture of me with the nail gun for your viewing pleasure.  Love that thing, I gotta get me one of those!

 

And finally we reached the last section and the lattice was done.  Last but not least, we let Mama work her landscaping magic and finish off the little retaining wall with two and a half more 6x6’s.  She filled in the area behind the wall with dirt and mulch.  And to give it a finished look, we added a few shrubs and plants.  Two hydrangeas, two azaleas (from the great hammock landscaping project) and some irises completed the scene.  And voila!  A view to be proud of:

  

The lattice project was a success, just in time for our party on Monday.  And it meant that our guests didn’t have to sit in the yard and stare up under the deck at all the mud, leaves, and all the other debris that Riley has yet to unearth from her favorite treasure spot.  Sorry, Riley, this excavation site is closed. 

Here’s your before and after shot:

 

A great deck makes for a great party.  And a happy hostess. :)