Garysgarden. The floatnslope was a fun project. Yes, the troughs were made by draping a blue tarp over slopeing 2X4s. It didn't occure to me at first that eventualy the weave of the blue tarp would expand. When it started leaking, I had to put a clear plastic diaper under the tarp to catch the nutrient leakage so it wouldn't be lost. If I ever build another like it, I will put a plastic liner inside the troughs before I add the baked clay material. About growing in the shade, here in Florida, growing areas in the shade do pretty well for some plants. I have several pepper plants that seem to prefere shade, but as you might expect, they produce slower than some that are in the sun more. I am thinking about trying some mushroom cultivation. While on the island of Guam, I took an extention course where old rolled up newspapers were used as a growing medium for mushrooms. Too bad all the newspaper compainies are shutting down. Old newspapers are going to be hard to find in large quantities soon. Maybe some kind of wood chip mulch underneath the troughs would make a nice environment for some kind of mushrooms. With the present trough project, I am limited by the height of the nutrient tank on the lower end. I can raise the upper trough up a bit perhaps and get a second trough below. I am still trying out a 24/7 flow of the nutrients through the gravel to date, cucumbers seem to be adapting to the constant flow pretty well, but the green beans didn't do so well. I have aa timer that I could use, but I want to take this opportunity to expiriment with the gravel using a constant flow for now. chuck

There is no structural issue for interior finishes. If there were, it would be necessary to hang the panels vertically so that all edges were supported or to hang them horizontally and add blocking at unsupported edges but that kind of consideration would only be relevant for exterior sheathing for a house although I've had to deal with it for steel stud bearing walls in multi-story buildings. Please, let's not get into that discussion. Where I live all drywall is veneer plaster (blueboard) whether you ask for it or not and it doesn't matter how the panels are hung but horizontal is considered easier since the panels are usually longer than the height of the walls.

Often the best way to approach a dual garden fencing issue is with what is commonly called a "good neighbor" fence - that is, a fence with boards alternating on both faces so that the appearance is the same on both sides of the fence. Obviously the alternating boards make them not seamless but they still retain a very high degree of privacy. And they can be both vertically or horizontally oriented. Is the cost of the new fence to be shared? Vertical good neighbor fence: Horizontal good neighbor fence:

Actually, per Hardee's instructions, it may be done correctly: "Do not bridge floors with panel siding. A horizontal joint should always be used between floors." http://www.buildsite.com/pdf/jameshardie/HardiePanel-Vertical-Siding-Product-Data-1015262.pdf I have the board and batten-style siding on my house, too (except mine uses cedar) but I have much deeper eaves than you.... Anyway, I got confused for a sec. :p Anyway, see the dotted lines on your drawing showing the top plate and bottom plate? There has to be a joint there.