Aternative Ideas for garden fence

[kizkiz]

Hi

I'm after some ideas hopefully.
My garden is a corner plot, and due to the layout I unfortunately own every bit of fence. All 26 or so panels
It's old, and very much in need of replacing. Two panels went with the recent wind.

Now, I could easily replace the lot (At expense), but that leaves me choosing concrete/wooden posts. I have plastic trellis attached to a lot of the current wooden posts for climbers and fruit. Any ideas how to attach trellis to concrete posts? (I've read that it's not a great idea to drill in to the posts)

Alternatively, was pondering no fence, but using berries (blackberries, logan etc) as a natural barrier for the missing panels and just growing along where the fence should be. Not sure this would ever be much of a barrier though?
The neighbours garden is just lawn and rarely used. When they do use it they are nowhere near the current gap.

So, any ideas that I haven't thought of to save a bit of cash potentially?

thankyou

[Jakejakeyjakejake]

I just built a fence out of pallets I say but it literally just attached them to posts


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[Nicos]

I've just goooogled 'pallet fence' on images...and there are LOADS to copy!

That was my first idea too!

With the money you save, you could save again with wooden postd resing inside a spike..but be prepared to replace the posts.Still a lot cheaper!

The openness of the pallet fence would allow wind through so it'd be less likely to blow over again

You could still soften the line by putting in fruiting shrubs/etc too!

[kizkiz]

Hmm, also did the googling. Shame it's only picket fence height for pallet fences. Was wanting more 6 foot.

[BertieFox]

Fences will ALWAYS eventually rot and fall over. And at the very least you will have to regularly treat them with preservative at a cost. AND they will never look as good as the day you first built them.

On the other hand, a hedge of some kind or some attractive shrubs will only get better with time, they will thicken up, they will be impenetrable by people and animals if closely spaced and with thorns, they will need only a small amount of maintenance in some judicious clipping each year, they will give you flowers and scent, and they will simply interrupt the wind and give you shelter rather than blowing over. There are hundreds of different plants to choose from, depending on your soil and position, but apart from saying don't choose Leylandii, the world is your oyster.

[Martin H]

I too would prefer a hedge. But my actual garden has fence on three sides. Concrete posts are the way to go, slide in wooden panels and replace them after 10 years or so unless you've looked after them really well.

I have fastened trellis to some of the panels using decking screws, so I can unscrew and lower them if I feel the urge to re-treat the fence at any stage.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I replaced some fencing last year. Used concrete posts, panels and trellis. You over size the posts and then just slide the trellis down the same slots as the fence panel, for an extra bit of security I then screwed the trellis to the top of the panel.

Potty

[Nicos]

We managed to get some 2m40cm pallets at while back from Travis Perkins.

Can't remember what they had stacked on them though.
Might be worth asking a few different places?

You may need to check if your neighbour is OK with the extra height though...I have a feeling 6 ft is the max height you are supposed to go?
Still...they can always be cut down a bit!

[peterjf23]

have you thought about using rosemary as a boundary or comphrey

[kizkiz]

Thanks for the ideas everyone
I shall have a good think about everything mentioned

[Bill HH]

You cant beat a hawthorn hedge in my opinion, it acts as a windbreak, flowers in may, is ideal for birds to nest in, and is a good place to crawl into when completely drunk. You can trim it to any sze you wish and looks spectacular when just trimmed. You can buy the young plants quite reasonably too. If you want really cheap then a row of old caravans would fit the bill.

[Nicos]

Bill HH...you forgot to say that Hawthorn can also used to treat tapeworm

...yeh- the and haws are actually useful for many other , more pleasant things!

[DuncanM]

I personally prefer the instant privacy of a fence - albeit feather edged over panels. I find the panels too flimsy (but are cheaper than feather edged). Anyway that's all personal opinion. I can offer advice on the trellis though. I've created a trellis to cover most of my current fencing.

With wooden posts
- Either buy vine eyes from somewhere like (screwfix) and drill a small pilot hole into the posts and then screw them in.

- Or if you want more space between the fence and the trellis, go to eBay and search for "300mm eye bolts" which will protude further from the posts.

With concrete posts
I'd use something like this - wire anchors, although I've never used them before, I've used wooden posts.

Trellis wire
I use this extensively at both my allotment and in the garden - Gripple Trellis System. You'd need some of the wire and tensioners that's it.

Good luck