Mardi loves mulch. She likes to sniff it, eat it, and roll in it. The problem with that is that nice, fresh black mulch sticks to dogs, and those same dogs track forever mulch stains all over the house.
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| Who, me? |
We tried various types of garden fencing from Lowe's and Home Depot . The more attractive stuff wouldn't bend to conform to the curves of our beds. The more flexible fencing had holes big enough for a little dog to squeeze though. Plastic netting was just too ugly. I called several metal fabricators in Burlington and Camden Counties who weren't interested in the job. The two people who returned my phone calls explained that they would have to fabricate the fencing entirely on site in my backyard in order to accurately match the contours of the beds. They also said they would have to charge an astronomical sum.
It was during a trip to Pennsylvania that we discovered Bob Sims, owner of Steel Expressions. Bob has a background as a welder and a supervisor in the structural steel business. He started his own business in 2008. Instead of saying our job was too difficult, he said, "I can do that." All I had to do was roll out brown paper (lots of brown paper) and trace a template of the beds. Bob made the fencing to match my templates, and he did it at a fair price.
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| This thin, wire fencing was our former dog barrier. It wasn't pretty, but it was cheap, easy to poke into the ground, and it did the job. |
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This is the fence that Bob built. He made it in sections which we screwed together. It is powder coated, so the finish will look good for years to come. It's quite an improvement, don't you think?
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Bob has also made other items for us.
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| This solid shoe rack replaced a flimsy Wal-mart shoe rack. Upgrade! |
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| This plant stand won't blow over in the wind like its predecessor. |
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| This is my garden globe. I emailed Bob some pictures of various garden ornaments that I saw on the internet. We decided that he would make this. I wanted the biggest globe I could fit into the back of the car. We had one inch to spare. Perfect. There's no powder coating on this. We're going to let it rust. |
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| Bob makes all sorts of whimsical things. This flower is made from transmission gears. |
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