7 original ideas for fences to make yourself

In this article I will present you 7 ideas for fences that are out of the ordinary and that you can easily make yourself.

Creating your own fence has several advantages such as obtain a personalized and more original rendering compared to the mesh models we usually see. And while innovative fences can be found on the market now, they remain expensive, so it’s in your best interest to spend some time building them.

You won’t be surprised to realize that all the ideas I give you will be useful the wood. This is the easiest material to work with: to make these models all you need is a drill driver, a hammer and a saw.

I would like to give you one last piece of advice before getting to the heart of the matter: to choose the most suitable fence for you, remember to determine: the height you need, the level of occultation of it (if you want to hide it totally, partially or barely) and its solidityfor example, if you have a large dog, you will need to opt for models with fairly large wooden sections.

I won’t make you wait any longer, here are several ideas for making a DIY fence!

With branches

To get you started, here’s my favorite idea! Obviously we can use straight and regular branches placed horizontally and blocked between the poles, but although this is easy to achieve, it is not extraordinary aesthetically.

I much prefer the idea ofuse curved, irregular, zigzag formwork…THE’natural effect it is indisputable!
In this case you have two possibilities: position the branches horizontally and nail them to poles fixed in the ground and spaced a maximum of 2 m apart.
Or make a frame with boards and place the branches vertically in it. It requires a little more work but combines the natural side of branching and the sturdiness of the frame.

Don’t hesitate to use branches original barks for even greater creativity.

With pallets

This is the idea that will be the easiest to implement because It requires almost no work. To make a fence using recycled pallets, you will need to place them on the ground to create the boundary. This technique will work well if you have a flat, even floor (such as a concrete slab) and a short length. In other cases, you will need to add stakes sealed into the ground and secure the pallets to them. So they won’t move.

You can use the palettes as is or customize : painting them, trimming the ends of the boards… You can also dismantle them and rearrange them to increase the number of boards and make them blackout…

You also have the choice of use vertically or horizontally.

With registers

One idea I really like is using logs to create a border. Some will say that it is more like a wall, but it is true that a certain thickness is needed for everything to hold up: the higher the fence, the wider it will be.

As regards construction, stable ground is recommended to prevent the trunks from sinking in some points and this unbalancing the structure. You can use stones, compacted gravel or create a concrete strip (slat). Subsequently it is sufficient to stack the logs which must all have the same length. There’s no need to attach them together, they stand on their own, you just need to remember to put stops at each end and in the corners. Large posts do the job perfectly.

In addition to the aesthetic aspect, this fence will be the ideal refuge for some small animals and useful insects in the garden (find out more about welcoming insects into the garden).

With bamboo

Bamboo is increasingly used for the creation of garden elements.

You have two options for creating a bamboo fence:

• To use reeds that you come to seal in the earth. You can use rods of different or uniform diameters, align them knowing that there will always be some daylight between the culms, or arrange them in a staggered row to block the view. Depending on the height of the canes you take, you will get a more or less high fence. You can place all the rods at the same height or vary them by a few centimeters for a less regular appearance.
• Put the reeds in wooden frame. We will approach the models found in stores, only that it will cost you less to create them yourself and you will be able to free your imagination. In fact, depending on the diameter of the stems, their color (natural or colored culms), the wood you will use for the cladding, numerous customization possibilities they are at your disposal and you are sure not to find the same fence at your neighbor’s.
  I advise you to use rods of identical diameter to facilitate the creation of the panels, it will be much more difficult to maintain them if they have different dimensions. The culms are stuck between wooden planks fixed to the frame.
  The panels will be hung on poles anchored in the ground to ensure the stability of the structure.

With tree trunks

Another easy to implement idea is to use tree trunks that will be placed vertically and stuck in the ground to prevent movement.
This is probably the strongest fence I will show you today.

Despite the simplicity of the idea, you can be creative because the final result will depend on the type of wood you use: you can opt for a «classic» wood such as pine or debarked fir, you will obtain a rustic effect.
If, however, you use trunks with notable bark like that of birch for example, you will have an original and modern fence.

Finally, you can take commercially sold logs that are traditionally used as support. They will be calibrated and treated for the outside, but it is much less original!

Some technical tips: you can nail one or more wooden planks behind your logs to ensure they are well aligned. If you want this fence to hide from prying eyes, you will need several rows of logs to fill the gaps.

With twisted stems

We are increasingly seeing the use of braided stems (plexuses) in the garden to create borders, vegetable gardens… So why not build a fence! The principle is the same: on small regular trunks placed vertically or horizontally (less common), we arrive weaving together soft wooden sticks. The hazel lends itself very well to physical exercise.

You can reach as high as you want, and by weaving more or less tightly, you will make your fence more or less opaque.

Another more artistic but much more technical form of braiding: the creation of a living wicker fence (willow).. You will have both a real fence with a decorative appearance, but the stems, which will take root in the ground, will produce leaves every year which will give theillusion of a very fine hedge.

Don’t have time to do it yourself? Here are similar models available for purchase:

In the shape of colored pencils

No, we won’t create an enclosure with real pencils, it would be too small! Let’s just go back to the idea of tree trunks aligned by cutting and coloring them so they look like giant colored pencils!

However, be careful with the stitches, you don’t want anyone to get hurt. I advise you to make them high enough so that they are not accessible to children, or to turn the «pencils» so that the tips are downwards.

Technically, you either seal them one by one into the ground, or you hold them together with horizontal boards or bars that will be screwed to posts set into the ground.

All these concluding ideas can be declined gate to blend in with the surroundings of your property.

Note that in most examples, we use natural woodnot treated for the exterior unlike what is found on the market, it is therefore normal for it to degrade over time giving a worn look which will be much appreciated in country or rustic style gardens. You will rarely keep these fences for more than 10 years, but this can be an advantage: since they are very cheap to make, you can easily renew them at a lower cost! It’s very nice to think that every decade we will have a new fence project and we will be able to develop our garden with a few euros and a little manual labor in the open air.

Finally you ask yourself where to find wood ? Hazelnut, wicker and bamboo stems can be found in garden centers and specialty stores.
For the rest you can only collect the branches in the woods if they are already broken and on the ground.
You can also turn to foresters and landscapers who will be happy to eliminate branches that are of no interest to them. In the case of logs and logs, they can be purchased from loggers and sawmills.

And you, what is your favorite model?