The grid

buttaflie143 4/21/2011, 9:30 pm

So I made the mistake of nailing part of the grid down to my boxes before putting it all together. Now I can't figure out how to attach the boards that will cross to create the boxes. Please help. I tried hammering the nail lightly, but with no support underneath it was like The grid 178156

.

missmarie 4/21/2011, 9:37 pm

You could use a scrap piece of wood held underneath the joints while you hammer...

michellet 4/21/2011, 10:00 pm

I secured screws every 12" along the outside of the box and then when back and forth with the "Miracle Garden Tie" pictured above as string to create my grids on the boxes. It's lasted a long time, whereas the regular string I used the first year disintegrated in the Texas sun pretty quickly. I found the green vinyl at Home Depot.

The grid Miracl12

dizzygardener 4/21/2011, 10:01 pm

Why not just pry the boards off and start over?

buttaflie143 4/21/2011, 10:16 pm

dizzygardener wrote:Why not just pry the boards off and start over?

Believe me, I thought about doing just that, but I'm afraid to because the lath board splits so easy and it wasn't cheap.

jazzymaddy 4/21/2011, 10:29 pm

Maybe lay down the cross pieces, drill holes through both pieces, and then secure with nuts and bolts?

boffer 4/21/2011, 10:37 pm

What are the rough dimensions of your boxes? It may be distortion of the picture, but I'm having trouble visualizing the perspective. Do you have two boxes that are 2x4 or two boxes that are 4x8? Sorry, can't tell.

Pam Hazelwood 4/21/2011, 10:51 pm

I just used string. Hammered a nail every 12" and zig zagged the string to make 12" squares. I figured I could replace the string fairly cheaply and the string is smaller than the wood lath.

buttaflie143 4/21/2011, 10:55 pm

boffer wrote:What are the rough dimensions of your boxes? It may be distortion of the picture, but I'm having trouble visualizing the perspective. Do you have two boxes that are 2x4 or two boxes that are 4x8? Sorry, can't tell.

Its two 4x4 boxes placed side by side, so its a 4x8.

boffer 4/21/2011, 11:05 pm

LOL, OK, even knowing the dimensions, the boxes look longer than they are wide!

Do you feel it won't work nailing the remainder of the grid to the box, just like you have done so far? If not, a nut and bolt, as suggested, at each intersection is a good idea. Or just use string or zip ties to tie the intersections.

Or just use string for the remaining grid. (The plants don't care if the grids don't match!)

jazzymaddy 4/21/2011, 11:12 pm

Oh, I hadn't considered that you might be trying to nail it right to the box. You might want to add a spacer (washer, nut, something?) that's the height of the pieces you already have down. That way, you're not pressing down on them at all when you nail the new ones in.

Did that make sense? It might be too late to make my brain thinkies come out in type wordies.

westie42 4/21/2011, 11:17 pm

How about weaving the next direction lathes over and under the ones already there and let friction hold place for you. You could then also use a battery operated screwdriver to insert some screws at the cross points however way you string the next ones in.

shannon1 4/22/2011, 1:32 am

I'm sure there is some reson this won't work but why not just put them on top and screw them into the box at the ends? Do you have to scure cross pices at the intersections? I know that's how it is in the book, I use string so I don't know.

westie42 4/22/2011, 9:22 am

Have seen some that screw them together at cross points then it is easy to just fold them up later for storage and easy reapplication. That did look kind of nifty.

buttaflie143 4/22/2011, 10:03 am

I made the mistake of nailing down the 8' boards before attaching the 4' boards The grid 637244

, but I am going to take the advice in a previous post and place a board beneath the area I am trying to attach with the nail.

buttaflie143 4/22/2011, 10:12 am

boffer wrote:LOL, OK, even knowing the dimensions, the boxes look longer than they are wide!

Do you feel it won't work nailing the remainder of the grid to the box, just like you have done so far? If not, a nut and bolt, as suggested, at each intersection is a good idea. Or just use string or zip ties to tie the intersections.

Or just use string for the remaining grid. (The plants don't care if the grids don't match!)

It has to be the pictures because my husband and I measured and measured. (my ODC kicked up along with the perfectionist in me The grid 421549

)

Smartchick 4/22/2011, 3:32 pm

I use lathe as well but don't do anything at the intersections. I just screw them to the boxes at each end. I tried to reuse mine from last year this year but I don't think they will make it through another season here with our lovely NE weather. I think next year I'm going to join the string/twine club. I got some nifty purple twine stuff at Ace that would look groovy. flower

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