I was looking through Gayla Trail’s book You Grow Girl the other day and dreaming about gardening projects. It’s early enough to start seeds indoors, but I have been dying to be out in the short hours of brisk sunlight getting my hands muddy.
One of her projects in particular, the woven fence, caught my eye. The project requires lots of thin, long branches, which I typically don’t have access to, but I had already made plans to help my mom take down a nuisance tree in her yard. The long thin branches from the tree were perfect for this project. I collected a station wagon load of these thin branches to bring home and set to work constructing the small fence this weekend.
First, I glazed over the directions about spacing the posts close together. I wanted this fence to be as long as possible, so hammered in the larger 1 1/2″-2″ posts too far apart. The thin branches weren’t held very snug between them so I pulled them all up and spaced them closer, about 12″ apart. I kept telling myself “Gayla said this was the hardest part of the project…” There were a couple times where I hammered my hand pretty well, or the posts split, but I carried on.
The next step is weaving the thin, long branches in between the posts. You start with one post, then move down the line to where that branch left off. That way, the fence gets taller equally down the line and looks continuous.
The final product looks good! It’s a nice, clear invitation to wander down the path that begins right when you step into our backyard. After that huge carload of branches, I was able to make about a 20′ long pathway.
My problem is that 20′ is only about halfway down that side of my yard, so it eventually endings abruptly. The next step is to think about finding either another source for a carload of thin branches, or finding another way to transition this path with new materials.
We have a lot of willow on our property and I have often thought about doing this. But since our ground freezes solid I wonder if the posts would heave.
Awesome! I’m so going to do this. Thanks for the inspiration!
Hope the pupster is doing well too. π
I am admiring your woven fence! I have miles of grape vines growing all over our back yard grove. I am considering tackling a project similar to this. I live in MI so with the freezing/thawing cycle I am tempted to use some re-rod, I think as it rusts that would look cool. I also am thinking that I can arrange the sticks a bit farther apart using grape vines. Any other thoughts on your fence and how it might be different with Grape vines?
Glad you guys feel inspired to try this in your gardens!
Heidi, the smaller branches I used for the weaving were about 5′, so I’m not sure if the grape vines would be longer? I initially tried with the posts set further apart, but they weren’t holding very snug, so I pulled them up and set them closer. You might try the same thing with a smaller area first, to see if the larger spacing will work, before driving stakes in the whole grove.
I have a fence just like this in my backyard, except it doesn’t look as nice as yours does!
I have a bunch of branches left from pruning the suckers on my apple and pear trees this year. You are welcome to them (we live in SW).