looking to build garden fence

[Pirwin21]

One of my projects this spring is going be to build a permenant garden fence. I've decided I'm going to go with pressure treated for my fence and I've started to price out the fence at my local big box store. I noticed that 8' landscape timbers are much cheaper than 4x4 posts (landscape timbers are 1.97 ea while 4x4 are 6.97 ea). What do you guys think? would the timbers, buried to about 40" and spaced every 6' be sufficient for a garden fence or should I bite the bullet and go for the 4x4. As always, thanks for the insight!

 

[MarkV]

At least in the past before the new type of pressure treating landscape timbers were not treated to the level that 4x4's were and did not hold up well in the ground.

MarkV

 

[wvpolekat]

Check these guys out: West Virginia Split Rail, little bit of a drive but good products.

 

[forgeblast]

I have used the landscape timbers for the posts around my garden fence and they work great. I used rabbit guard fencing on the bottom with a top of other fencing to get it to 6' high and then have electric around the top.
If i was going to do it again, i would put hardware cloth around the bottom, burried about a foot out around the bottom and then just use chicken wire around the top to take it up to 6' and still use the electric fence.
The deer, and other critters would eat it to the ground if no fence.
I do back fill the posts with gravel to help with drainage. I also planted inside my fence black berries that i weave into the fencing, I figure the thorns will help if the electric ever goes out. (6v battery zabra fence charger).
I also have the landscaping timbers for posts around our orchard, the trick with them is back filling w/gravel. I have my posts burried about 36'' (when i can get that deep) and spaced about 8'. I dont have rails on the fence, and the fencing itself tends to brace up the posts too.

 

[bp fick]

I used 4x4 in the corners, but even that was probably just my idea to have the boards meet squarely. Could have gone with the landscape timers at half the price. The middle posts were done this way, and they are just as good.

I was re-decking our deck at the time, so I re-cycled the deck boards into side boards for the garden. Chicken wire was far cheaper than anything else, so that is what is up.

This year, I have 10 times more ground to guard. Almost 1/3 acre. I am going with landscape timbers, spaced 10-12' and am going to try the polynet fencing. Cheap, almost see through, light. We'll see how well it works, but most folks like it.

 

[MoKelly]

We put in a garden last year and built a fence to keep out the rabbits and other critters.

We used 4x4's in the corners and one each half way up the 2 longer sides.

It worked well.

HOWEVER, our melons were almost all taken by crows and other birds. They used their beaks to get through the wartermellon and cantelope. I never would have guessed.

So, be careful about the top as well as the sides if you are going to grow mellons!

MoKelly

 

[Obed]

I've started to price out the fence at my local big box store.! I noticed that 8' landscape timbers are much cheaper than 4x4 posts (landscape timbers are 1.97 ea while 4x4 are 6.97 ea).

Find a farmer's co-op and get your fence posts there. They will last much longer than landscaping timbers and the prices and quality are much better than what you get of the big box stores. You might have to go to a surrounding county without a large city to find a good farmer's co-op.

What do you guys think? would the timbers, buried to about 40" and spaced every 6' be sufficient for a garden fence or should I bite the bullet and go for the 4x4.

My dad used some landscape timbers he found on sale at Lowes or Home Depot to replace some fence posts in his barbed wire fences. In no time the landscape timbers all rotted off at the ground. He ended up having to replace all of them with real fence posts.

One of my projects this spring is going be to build a permenant garden fence.

If you want a permanent fence, then I would recommend that you avoid the landscape timbers. The pressure treatment of them tends to not be as good as it is for other types of pressure treated lumber. Most people can live with a little rotting wood (i.e. landscape timbers) that surround the bushes in the yard. But nobody would be happy if the post that supports their deck rots off. So 4x4's tend to be pressure treated much more heavily and last much longer in the dirt than landscape timbers .

Obed

 

[wroughtn_harv]

If you look at most of the pressure treated stuff at the box stores you will notice a warning about ground contact. The posts are treated for insects but not ground contact.

If you are dead set on using box store treated anything, I advise against it, be sure and pick out the LIGHTEST ones weight wise. That's because the heavy ones are so full of water that you don't have a clue what they're going to do when they are dried out. If you've ever seen a fence post that was shaped like a rainbow keep in mind that chances are most likely it was planted as a wet treated post from a box store.

 

[Gittyup]

For the same or cheaper you can get locust posts (usually split rail type). These are much better than PT. No toxins, long lasting. Check out your local fence supply companies. I too don't recommend the lanscape timbers unlessl you are prepared to replace them every few years.

 

[jbooth]

Do you have Osage Orange trees in your area. I set some for corner posts on a cattle fence in 1960 and the bark is still on them. I don't know how long they will last. But I can definitely guarantee 50 years. The osage orange have become a nuisance tree in KS. Most people are using steel pipe for posts now as fire destroys a lot of our wood posts during pasture burns for brush control.