There are just too many fences strung across our cities and suburbs, turning the landscape into a ragged and fragmented patchwork. What’s worse is that so many of them are really bad.
For something so perniciously popular to be so ill-conceived and thoughtlessly erected diminishes not only the quality of the land upon which we live, but also the quality of our lives. We spend gobs of money on the homes in which we live and then encircle them with eyesore enclosures best suited for junkyards, dog kennels or prison grounds.
Some argue the best fence is no fence at all. Some communities have banned them altogether, reasoning that hedges, shrubbery, other plant materials and landscaping elements are sufficient to distinguish one home site from another. This is not a new approach. Villagers in Mexico and South and Central America successfully have been corralling their livestock with living fences of native cactus and thorny trees for centuries.
Americans, however, seem determined not only to set boundaries, but also to erect barricades, a trait inherited from Europe where, it seems, every postage stamp-size yard is confined by some type of barrier. Many European fences and garden walls are low-slung affairs over which one can at least see, and they are often constructed of ornamental brick, stone or well-crafted wood.
In this country, we resort far too quickly to chain link, garden-variety wire, spear-tipped wrought iron spikes and “stockade” fencing, which is about as attractive as it sounds. All that can be done to beautify them is to hide them under climbing vines.
Security is, unfortunately, an issue. So is privacy and keeping the dog out of your neighbor’s petunia patch or the kids out of the street. Clearly, fences serve purposes other than defining one’s own turf
Trying to define a good fence–visually at least–is like trying to define good taste. A good fence may mean something different to everyone, but we all know it when we see it. One way to get it is to standardize and codify the elements that constitute good fences, and some towns and cities have done just that. Municipal building and zoning boards and architectural review committees enforce such standards.
The result is often a certain amount of uniformity, more bureaucracy and some infringement on personal expression. There are still a variety of ways to go.
Turn to a company that makes fences, a professional deck builder, a local mason or a contractor who specializes in outdoor structures. Another option is to call in a landscape or building architect.
Search for inspiration in magazines devoted to gardening and outdoor projects. Books on the subjects are available at local libraries or bookstores. One of the newest is Home Depot’s “Outdoor Projects 1-2-3” (Better Homes and Gardens/Meredith, $34.95), or, for $2.50 you can order “Redwood Fences for all Reasons,” a 16-page how-to guide about fence design and building from the California Redwood Association, Suite 200, Department F8, 405 Enfrente Drive, Novato, CA 94949.
If you are handy, pre-fab wood fence sections from a lumberyard can be customized with cutouts, canopies, lattice and decorative trim to create a fence that is more ornamental and architectural.
The cost of wood fences can be kept down by mixing pricey architectural-grade wood with less costly garden grades. Fancy fencework can be reserved for the most visible parts of the yard, while a plainer style is used behind the garage or for side yards.
As for design, think of the fence as an architectural structure, not just a barricade. Make sure it has some shape, dimension, texture and trim. Also, think about building a fence of more than one material to make it visually compatible with the natural landscape–wood boards, shingles or siding with stone or brick columns instead of wood posts, for example.
You almost certainly will spend more for a good fence than a bad one. But if it contributes to the value and enjoyment of your home, pleases the neighbors and improves the look of the community at large, it will be money well spent.
