How to Install Garden Fencing

A fence for your garden is not only important to keep animals away from your plants, it can also lend a rustic charm or elegant beauty to your landscaping. Whether you plan to install a white picket fence, an unfinished post and rail enclosure, or simply a barrier made of spikes and netting, you will need to spend a little time researching any applicable restrictions, measuring, and choosing the appropriate materials before starting to build.

Things You'll Need

• Tape measure String Spikes Lumber Screwdriver Hammer Nails Hinges Bolt

Instructions

1. Order a survey to find out where your property lines are, and make sure your municipal office is aware of your project. You may need to obtain a permit.

2. Check with your utility and gas companies to make sure you are not drilling or digging over pipes.

3. Measure your fence posts to your desired height, and add at least 18 inches to each one before cutting. This will be the portion that is underground. (If you are in an area where winters are harsh, you should put at least 2 feet of your posts underground.)

4. Mark off the area where you are planning to build the fence with stakes and brightly colored string.

5. Use white paint or flour to illuminate the areas where the posts will go. Be sure to place the posts equally the same distance, using the measurement of your cross rails as a guide.

6. Dig your post holes using a post hole digger or a shovel, depending on how solid the ground is and how many rocks are in the soil.

7. Put loose gravel or a mixture of gravel and concrete into the base of each post hole before adding the post. Have someone help you hold the post into place as you add the quick drying cement mix, and use a level to ensure that the post is completely upright.

8. Let the posts stand overnight so that the cement can dry completely.

9. Drill or nail the rails into the posts at evenly measured and marked intervals on the inside of the fence.

10. Cut pickets out of wood or branches, and attach them with nails or screws to the cross rails.

11. Create a gate using the pickets and three pieces of wood cut at the ends at 45-degree angles. Place the wood cross cuts into a "Z" shape, and nail to the inside of the pickets.

12. Attach hinges to the top and bottom third of the post where the gate will go, and attach the hinge plates to the gate at the same intervals. Add a bolt to the gate and slide plate to the opposite post to secure the gate.

13. Paint, or leave unfinished.

Tips & Warnings

• Add chicken wire or deer netting secured at the bottom with lawn staples to keep small animals from getting inside the garden.

Resources

• More on Building a Garden Fence
• Tips on Fence Building
• Building a Fence with Spikes