Before we bought our house, a downed tree took out part of the back fence line. So when we moved in, we dug up the broken posts, hauled away the fallen fencing, and did what any resourceful Southerner would—we got creative.

It wasn’t exactly pretty, but with a little redneck ingenuity, we patched up the gaps at the corners well enough to keep the dogs in. #teamnoshame

With all the other projects we’ve tackled over the years, that quick fix faded from memory—out of sight, out of mind.

But when we lost Binx and laid him to rest behind the storage building, right near one of those patched-up corners, we took a hard look at the area. The makeshift repair stood out more than ever, and we knew it was time for an upgrade.

Something a little less redneck, with a lot more Southern charm.

We considered installing a new fence, but our area has fencing setback regulations. The rules require homeowners to leave a gap between fences, creating a strip of no-man’s land where brush quickly takes over. With no access point to that dead space, we’d have no way to keep the weeds, bushes, and trees from running wild.

Due to those same regulations, we can’t construct a permanent structure that seals the fence gap.

What to do?

We cleared the fence line, took some measurements, and headed to Lowe’s. We browsed the options—most of which were too permanent to meet code—until we were about to call it quits.

Then, tucked away in the garden section, we found them: simple wooden trellises. Not the sturdiest, but neither of our dogs are fence jumpers. We figured if we placed something in front of them, they’d mostly ignore it.

Enter: a big, beautiful Boston fern.

We walked out of Lowe’s for under $100, and the result? It’s been a few days and neither of our dogs has shown any interest in the trellis. If it doesn’t hold up, we’ll replace it with a metal version. But so far it’s doing exactly what we wanted.

Not too shabby for a cheap fence fix.