How to put up a garden fence and the best materials to use
A garden is an essential part of your house. It does not matter what kind of garden you have as long as you enjoy your garden. There is a variety of gardens that you can choose to grow. You can have a flower garden to grow annuals and perennials. You can have a garden that requires minimal or no water at all thereby contributing to the conservation of the earth's water resources. You can put up a cacti garden or choose to go "Japanese" with your sand garden. You can even go grassless and grow low maintenance plants. Living in high rise apartment buildings is no longer an excuse for not putting up a garden for the recent years have brought on the popularity of roof gardens.
A garden is restful. You can lose yourself in the calm and tranquillity offered by a garden. A garden with a fountain and a string of different chimes is even Zen-like and commands good "chi" or energy. However, no matter how nice your garden is, if it's not properly fenced up, you lose privacy. A fenceless garden lacks protection from the elements, animals and humans too. A fenceless garden is missing a decorative feature in its overall effect. A fence is an essential part of a garden as it provides privacy for you, protection for your garden and for aesthetics.
Types of Garden Fence According to Materials Used
You can choose to build your own garden fence. Take note that you can't haphazardly construct a fence from scratch and not think about its structural strength. No matter what kind of material you use, remember to always incorporate strong posts for your fence.
- Wood- Nothing can compare with the beauty of wood as fencing. Wood is simple yet elegant. It is versatile too as you can build a wooden fence in any style that you prefer.
- Vinyl- This material can be used and build as wood. The main advantage of vinyl is its durability and low cost of maintenance. It can withstand damages brought on by the elements and by animals.
- Stone-There are different kind of rocks and stones that you can use as fence materials. The fence might prove to be more challenging to do than wood or vinyl for you would need to put up concreted post at points to keep the stone wall sturdy. This option is best, security-wise.
- Bamboo- A bamboo fence would do well for a garden that has an Oriental theme or look. This material is easy to install, low cost and low maintenance.
- Metal-This type of fence material refers to grillwork, wrought iron and wire mesh as fence.
Putting up a fence is no longer a major headache as there are plenty of ready-built fences that you can buy at any home construction stores or depot. There are plenty of DIY-ers out there and if you are one of them you might want to consider any of the following ready-made fences for your garden.
Ready-Made Fences
- Picket fence- This type is also known as Palisade fence and is a very popular choice. It is easy and fast to erect for it comes in ready assembled panels cut at 1.80 metres long.
- Closeboard Fencing- This type is an all time bestseller. It comes in a kit that is built on site. The core kit for closeboard contains featheredge boards, fence posts and post fix, gravel boards and arris rails.
- Lap Panels - This very popular fencing product is available in various versions and has better rot protection property.
- Chainlink Fence- For a garden, this type of fencing gives a through vision which is not really ideal if you wish to have privacy. However chainlinks are durable and perfect for pets. Its height is usually 900 mm to 1.80 metres.
- Hurdles - This type of fence is ideal for creating country garden ambiance. They are easy to install as the posts can be driven in without concrete while the panels are wired to the posts.
- Trellis Fence- This type is double purpose as it can serve as a fence and at the same time used for growing plants. It could also serve as a decorative addition to panel fencing.
- Post and Rail -This type has a very rustic feel and is great as fencing for containing pets.
- Wire Netting- This is ideal for containing a vegetable patch and protecting them from garden pests. This type is also called rabbit netting.
- Weldmesh fence - This type is stronger than a chainlink and is suitable for keeping out large animals. The downside is that there is no real privacy because you can be seen through the wire mesh.
How to Put Up A Fence
Find the property line or the area to be fenced. Be sure that you mark the right spots for the potholes to avoid mistakes. Mark off potholes at 7 feet and 10 inches apart because the average ready-made panel is 8 feet in width. Dig 2 feet deep holes to sink in the posts. Make sure the posts are of the same height from the ground. When the height is of the same height, fill the holes with concrete. Let the cement cure or dry for at least 48 hours. After curing of the cement, attach the panels by using either screw or nail. Make sure that the smooth side of the panels face outside. You can either stain or paint the panels for protection and for a finished look.
Each type of fencing has its own special method of construction. If you buy a fence kit, then you can just follow the instructions.
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