DIY Garden Fencing For Beginners

Understanding how to install garden fencing doesn’t need to be difficult. Put simply, you install fence posts at distances apart equal to the size of your fence panels and then install those very same fence panels between the fence posts and hey presto, your garden fencing is in place.

Once you have decided whether you are buying overlap panels or picket fencing or any of the other varieties that are available from your fencing supplies company and have measured your garden size to know how many fence panels you will require, you only have to decide on the height of your fence panels to decide whether they are going to provide you with safety and security or an open design where you can talk to your neighbours, without using a ladder.

Starting with fence posts

Traditionally, people used to dig a hole where you wanted the fence post to sit and simply inserted the fence post. If you made a hole much larger than the fence post, you probably needed to add concrete to set the fence post in position.

Nowadays, it’s much easier to purchase a metal fence post holder that is helped into the ground by use of a special tool that stops you damaging the fence post holder and a mallet.

It is essential that the fence post sits exactly square so you can install the overlap panels when your fence posts are firmly in place. Some fence post holders are adjustable so that even after they are in a position you can turn the top part of the fence post holder so it will end up in exactly the right position.

Some people use quick setting concrete which helps a fence post reach its final position in less than half an hour. The alternative is to fill the hole around the fence post with broken bricks and stone, hammering them into place so the fence post can’t move.

Adding fence panels

Some people add a concrete gravel board on which the fence panels will sit on and prevent the wood from sitting on the ground where it could quickly become damp on rainy days, causing damage and collapse of the fence panel over time. If you don’t intend to purchase concrete gravel boards from your fencing supplies company, you will need to place garden slabs on the ground to put your overlap panels on so that when you remove the garden slabs, your panels will be situated sufficiently away from the ground.

The panels are attached to the fence posts with panel clips that you would have purchased from your fencing supplies company. Garden fencing is then easy to install with galvanized nails, but it’s always easier if you have a friend available to help hold the panel when you complete the installation.

People who trust their mathematical skills are quite happy to install all of the fence posts before adding the overlap panels to complete the job. If mathematics is not your strong point, then it can be easier to install two fence posts and place one panel between, before adding another fence post and panel one at a time, as you move around your garden.

Depending on the size of your garden, the operation to install garden fencing might take between one and two days if you are able to work consistently and will help.

To provide yourself with security against burglars and nosy neighbors, garden fencing shouldn’t be seen as a difficult installation process, providing you work steadily and carefully.

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