Choosing A Garden Fence

Garden fencing can serve many purposes, but one of the best is to accent and define areas of your garden. Whether you choose a six or twelve inch high border edging, or stand a section of post and rail garden fencing in the center of a sweep of lawn, garden fencing can add a beautiful accent to your landscaping.

Wood lattice makes attractive garden fencing that affords some privacy while allowing glimpses of the garden. Lattice boards set into a wooden privacy fence add a whole new design dimension to the frontage of your garden. A single width of lattice fencing can provide a screen or windbreak, and support for any climbing vines.

Set a lattice panel at the edge of the garden nearest the house and train morning glories to climb it to provide a scenery wall outside a kitchen or bedroom window, or create a simple arbor with two full height lattice panels set six to eight feet apart. Use thick garden twine to create a 'bridge' for vines to climb across and form a living 'roof'.

Border edging is another extremely versatile garden fencing option. Think outside the perimeter. You can use wire garden fencing to create smaller accents within a garden plot, or outline one corner or end of a garden with cast iron border edging.

Cedar shakes or redwood blocks can be used to create curved borders for slightly raised garden beds, or serve as a backdrop over which to spill indigo lobelia or white alyssum. Create a zigzag border of decorative low picket garden fencing and plant zinnias or marigolds in the V-shaped 'teeth' for a unique look.

Garden fencing can be used to create a beautiful background for patio dining. Choose a metal trellis and install it just off the patio edge behind the table and dining set. Twine climbing roses up over it to create an accent that defines the edge of the patio and creates an elegant, tasteful accent to your patio and garden at the same time.

Wrought-iron or cast-iron fences tend to be ornate, which suits more formal, historic houses, such as Victorians, or high-end urban homes. Today, similar styles are available in powder-coated steel, anodized aluminum or composite materials that are much more affordable and easier to maintain.

Stone fences, which are the oldest known type of fencing, make great garden walls or boundary markers around traditional homes, such as Colonials and Cape Cods, when built with native stone. Dry-stacked walls stay together with the help of gravity and friction.

The picket fence, a low, decorative style used to define property rather than secure it, is a universally popular style flexible enough to work with almost any home. There are many variations on the picket fence, including the Federal style, which features scalloped pickets and decorative finials.