Newsletter April 2008

The Chinese Are Stealing Our Fences!

There are many alternatives to hard-to-get-hold-of fencing panels, and not all of them at shocking prices, says Drusilla Stewart

Handmade featherboarding You would have to be Sleeping Beauty not to have realized that there has been a shortage of timber this year. I heard the rumblings late last year, but it only started to effect us gardeners when sub standard panels were delivered to one of our sites. When I drew my suppliers attention to this, I was told that I was lucky to have them. My reply was short but not very sweet!

Hazel fencing panel This problem has its roots in many sources, which combined have resulted in a shocking lack of fencing panels across Britain. A wet summer last year in Scandinavia and Russia led to a chronic shortage of timber, while at the same time companies in Dubai and China were placing huge orders and were willing to pay higher than market rates to get their goods. Add in the gales in January and February that left many UK householders with collapsed fences, and the fact that one of the two biggest fencing part suppliers went bust earlier this year, and you can see why many of Britain’s timber merchants and garden centers have been left scrambling for fencing materials with clients rightly annoyed at the delay. And now our ‘nanny state’ has created further demand from companies wanting fenced in areas to corral their smokers.

Standard lap fencing panels used to cost around £17 each (for a 6ft tall panel). If you can get them at all, prices now range from £45 to as high as £80 each! One of Britain’s largest fencing wholesalers has a current backlog of 25,000 fencing orders. It’s definitely time to look at other alternatives, so here are my favourite tips:

Larch lap panels

Solid fencing

Investigate other forms of pre-made panels like Reed, or “hit and miss” panels. There are a great variety of panels to chose from, some quite simple while others are more ornate. (www.grange-fencing.com)
Consider close board or featherboard fencing, which is built in situ. One cements posts into the soil, and attaches 3 horizontal rails and a baseboard between each post. Then vertical overlapping slats are attached to the horizontal rails like a feather.
Wattle or weave pre-made hurdle panels. Apart from being environmentally sustainable and a beautiful hand made product, hurdles are also popular due to their strength and functionality. Most machine made fences will act as a funnel, causing the wind to gush in concentrated areas at them, increasing their chances of being blown down. Hurdles have natural gaps between the weave, allowing wind to blow through them, diffusing its force right across the hurdle evenly. (www.hurdle.co.uk)
Continuous wattle or weave hurdles built in situ. The same as the above, but built as a continuous run with no “panels”. (www.naturalfencing.com)

Hedges

Any plant that has a dense growing habit can be planted as a hedge but you must plant them closely together or your hedge will never be dense – 3 to 5 plants per metre. When used as a boundary, it is best to use evergreen plants like Escallonia, Osmanthus, Cypressus, Common Yew, Holly, Privit or Laurel. I also like Beech as it holds its rust coloured leaves throughout winter.

Your Old Fence

Willow hurdle Although your fence may look past its prime, often it’s just rotten posts that are causing it to wobble. You can shore up old posts with a concrete support post. And a lick of paint can work wonders. One of my least favourite chores as a child was creosoting our fence, but it must have worked because it lasted over 20 years. Nowadays Cuprinol wood stain is effective and easily purchased, and comes in a range of subtle colours to prolong the wood’s life. (www.cuprinol.co.uk)