I have a project that I am seeking some ideas or comments on. I have a
summary of the situation below and if you take the time to read through and
give my any comments, I'd appreciate it!

I bought a house a couple of years ago. Many years ago, someone poured a
smallish concrete slab and put up a mid-size chain-link dog kennel. Sometime
after that, some previous owner fashioned some walls and a roof to the
kennel to make it into a garden storage shed. In its day, it was probably an
atttractive shed. Nice exterior and cedar shake roof, etc. By the time I
bought this place, the shed had passed its heyday - peeling paint, a sagging
roof, and the cedar shingles in rough shape. Too bad through the years it
was not kept up. Good design, good construction, X years of neglect did it
in though.

I bought this place in Zone 4 and put a nice garden area around the shed. I
did do some minor fixups to the shed so it was not an eye-sore and it
actually looked rather decent - but the minor fixups were band aids while I
dediced what to do with it for real. Well, the garden area around it is
booming with nice flowers and small shrubs. The birds love the area. So, I
decided it would make a nice, smaller, garden retreat area - surrounded by
flowers, shrubs, and birds with a couple of chairs or benches and a small
table, etc. I started taking the shed down this weekend. I removed the
walls, gate, and a bunch of the chain link so far in day 1. All is going
well, but I have an upcoming decision to make I what to do with the old
fence posts. I have no decided yet and am looking for comments or other
ideas.

The chain link fence posts are set in the concrete slab and seeing how the
previous owners did things, I would bet they are set in a 3ft x 3 xt footing
under the slab. Removing them does not seem like an option because I do not
want to remove and replace the slab. My ideas were to either just cut the
posts off and leave it at that or leave them and do somethig with them. My
thoughts were perhaps boxing them in nicely finished cedar and having
hanging baskets, bird house, bird feeders, climbing vines, etc on these new
cedar posts. I think I could make that attractive but I don't find any
pre-designed things I can use to do this - so I'd be designing and building
from scratch. I'm not sure if I want to put that much time in it. The more I
would do, the more usuable space I cut into as well - this isn't too major
though. So, I'm leaning towards just cutting the posts off - mainly because
I don't think I can find the time to create a concealing system. I'm sure
given the time, I could create something more attractive and perhaps adding
some functions - such as adding electrical to the posts, low voltage
lighting, etc as well as the bird houses etc. If something pre-design and
pre-made was available I would probably go that way. By given the time
investment, I think I am going to cut the posts off.

Anyone with ideas, thoughts, comments, or done this?

In article says...
So, I'm leaning towards just cutting the posts off - mainly because
I don't think I can find the time to create a concealing system. I'm sure
given the time, I could create something more attractive and perhaps adding
some functions - such as adding electrical to the posts, low voltage
lighting, etc as well as the bird houses etc. If something pre-design and
pre-made was available I would probably go that way. By given the time
investment, I think I am going to cut the posts off.

Anyone with ideas, thoughts, comments, or done this?

I don't know your layout but IMHO, a post set in concrete is a solid
structural element that can provide you with a lot of options if you have
a table saw and a nearby lumber yard. One option is to build an overhead
horizontal trellis system. By using the existing posts, enclose them in
2xsomethings and shoot beams straight up 12 or 14 feet. Build a lattice
network using 1x2s and 1x1s. I buy 1x10s and rip them into size because
you end up with much straighter material and it's cheaper.

If you go up 12 feet your lattice can be up to 8 feet wide and as long as
you have poles. Hang the lattice 10 feet in the air centered and
attached to your posts. With the extra 2 feet of post height, use cables
to support the edge of the trellis 2 feet out in either direction, so
the cables are at a 45 degree angle, to hold the sides. A trellis
hanging this high in the air won't affect light to other plants and it
provides a goal for vines to climb to. Morning glories should have no
problem climbing that high but there are other aggressive vines you can
get at the plant store for variety.

Here are two pictures of the lattice structure I built this spring. I
only had one wall to use, and thus could only build one mast to hold up
the lattice. By using suspension you can build it out farther. I'm
pretty sure those concrete posts you have will hold a 12' high mast but
as always, consult your local structural engineer to be sure. :-)


View from the bottom:
http://www.brandylion.com/images/trellis-bottom.jpg

View from above the lattice:
http://www.brandylion.com/images/trellis-top.jpg

BTW: This trellis isn't completely finished yet.