Garden Fencing – All Types and Styles for the Home

Wooden Fences

The more rustic styling of the ranch house calls for a fence of similar distinction. Stained wood or even natural wood with a rugged post-and-rail design seems to fit the situation and gives a nice background for rose bushes or other taller plantings. The Georgian or Regency-style home calls for a bright combination of brick posts and wooden runners to add the correct touch.

The more rustic fences are best when made of cedar or juniper. The seasoning is optional, since they will have to be bent to fit the pattern of the design. These woods are easily bent into shape, if heated in boiling water and tied in the desired position for drying before starting the actual fence building. The styles and designs are entirely up to the fence-maker since these woods can be shaped to suit the fancy or, better still, the type of home you are accenting.

When building wooden fences, try to express lightness and grace. Designs that attempt to simulate stone or brick with massive posts should be left out of the plan except in the more unusual house and yard combinations. Most modern homes are considerably smaller than those rambling structures built in the days of pantaloons and parasols, and the yards are cut to match the house. Wooden fences to go with modern homes offer several basic styles as a starting point. One is the solid square-post style with one or two horizontal rails. Shorter members may be introduced to make a definite design. The opportunity for design in wooden fences is unlimited. They may be made of variously shaped cubes, squares or blocks placed between posts on runners, or these designs may he the runners themselves.

Other designs may be tied in with the home owner’s profession. A music teacher could build a fence with the runners representing a musical staff and add cutouts of notes. Frequently, plain wooden slats are held together with wire to make a loosely knit but artistic rustic fence for a quaint, unpretentious cottage.

It is well to check wooden posts to see that they are of durable material such as redwood, red cedar or treated pine. These should be treated with tarring or creosoted below the ground level to put the brakes on the inevitable rot that takes place. Galvanized nails and wire should be used throughout to make the installation all the more permanent. The formal type fence can be made of almost any material, including white pine, PVC, vinyl, metal, iron and others, since it will be primed with linseed oil before it is assembled (pre-assembled panels are also an option) and is frequently painted for protection after it has been installed. If the formal type fence is to be stained or allowed to weather naturally it should be made of a wood which withstands the elements. Redwood would be a good choice.

Brick, iron, stone or even cement block can be used in the’ design of your fence if they fit in with the house and garden. Sometimes even the combination of two of these will be just what is called for. If you happen to have a stone entrance, then the same stone and perhaps some iron work, planted with a few little flowers here and there for color, will make an attractive fence. A word of caution! These heavier materials should be used carefully lest they overpower the house by their weight. In other words, the fence can become more important than the house.

No matter which type of fence you choose, it is advisable to add a few dashes of flower color. Picket fences invite flowers or plants that can peep through the palings. Perhaps ivy, geranium, petunia and lantana are best for the lower type of fence. The taller ones require higher growth to soften the severe, erect lines. Here one might use gracefully arched roses.

Sometimes a bed of annuals such as poppies, zinnias, violets or pansies gives a colorful base to this type of fence. If the fence happens to he of solid stone or brick, then climbing ivy or climbing flowers such as morning-glories will soften the heaviness of the material. Should the fence be as high as eye-level. then containers of plants could be placed at intervals along its length, in addition to ivy creeping up from ground level.

The more rustic rail-fence needs the addition of plantings too. Nothing that repeats the horizontal lines of the fence should be planted along these rails. The most favored plants to complement this type are gladiolus, Shasta daisies, delphiniums or foxgloves.

The old saying, “Good fences make good neighbors,” still holds true today. The high board fence popular when our great-great-grandparents were rolling hoops down Jefferson Street is no longer in style – nor is the “long-handled” swim suit. There are far too many “iron curtains” about the world, today, for homeowners to like high, forbidding fences. The low, open fence complements the modern house and adds color to the landscape. Look around your home town and see if you don’t agree that the right fence would add a touch of interest to almost any house in your neighborhood.

By James Stewart

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