The best garden fence ideas can bring structure, texture, definition and joy to your outdoor space. After a long winter, it’s lovely to be able to get out into the garden again. But if you’re to enjoy the space at its very best, some work will be involved, whether it’s replacing or maintaining a garden fence, weeding and mowing, or redesigning some key features to give your garden a whole new look.
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The garden fence is one element of a garden that’s often overlooked and relegated to the realms of the practical. A fence’s main function might be to separate one garden from another, providing a handy boundary that we all respect, but we shouldn’t underestimate its importance. The type of fence you have can really affect the look of your garden.
Stylish garden fence ideas
1. Make a playful statement with a two-tone panel
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Image credit: Cuprinol
‘Create a striking look for your fence in two tones,’ advises Cuprinol & Dulux creative director, Marianne Shillingford. ‘Keep the darker colour at the bottom to show off brightly coloured furniture and to make floral arrangements pop. All it takes is a bit of masking tape to get a sharp line between the divide.’about:blankjavascript:void(0)
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2. Bolt-on a neon pink trellis
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Image credit: Jamie Mason
Give an old brown wooden fence a splash of colour with a colourful trellis. Fences are perfect for attaching trellis for climbing plants too. A vibrant trellis is a cheap and easy way to give your fence an easy, yet practical facelift.
3. Repurpose old shutters as fences and paint them your favourite colour
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Image credit: Tim Young
Create an innovative garden fence that has plenty of eco credentials by repurposing old shutters. Start by giving the shutters a coat of paint. Grey is a good colour for a backdrop, as it pretty much goes with everything, but white would look fab, too, especially when it starts to become rougher and less pristine. Add hooks to your shutter fence and use them to display pretty potted plants – buckets work well, as their handles make them easy to hang.
4. Pick trellis-style fencing that climbers will love
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Image credit: Colin Poole
A trellis fence is ideal screening one part of a garden from another without losing too much light. And if you’re a fan of climbers like magnolia, it’s also a cost-effective two-in-one option.
5. Create privacy with a fence extension
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Image credit: Colin Poole
This beautiful low wall has so much character, it would be a shame to cover it up with full fence panels. Similarly, building it higher to give the owners more privacy would be costly and could make the space feel too institutional. This fence ‘extension’ has been carefully selected in a colour that complements the brickwork, and its horizontal slats have a contemporary feel to chime in with the landscaping’s mix of traditional and modern.
6. Mount on an outdoor kitchen
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Image credit: Cuprinol
A slatted fence panel can be so much more! By adding a protective pergola above, a countertop and a shelf for storage, you can build up an outdoor kitchen for next to nothing. A little imagination, basic DIY skills and some timber can go a long way – add baskets for storing pots, pans and fuel for your outdoor cooker, and hang festoon lights so that you can cook well into the evening.
7. Paint your garden fence to make it colourful and cheery
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Image credit: James Merrell
Let your garden fence stand out from the crowd with a stylish colour clash. If you’re a brave sort, give your garden furniture a makeover at the same time. This picture shows that there are no rules. You could go for just one bold shade or divide your fence up into multiple panels – make masking tape your friend to achieve a perfectly straight line.
8. Go for an on-trend grey fence
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Image credit: Simon Whitmore
Use your garden fence as part of an outdoor kitchen. Take your barbecuing as seriously as the Aussies by moving your kitchen into the garden during the fine-weather months and using your fence as a handy place to store the bits and bobs you need. Hang utensils in close reach of the action, along with a rack for all your favourite sauces. You could even place a clock on the ‘wall’, so you can make sure your burgers and steaks don’t get cremated.
Did you know that gardening is a form of therapy? READ: Why gardening good for your health!
9. Decorate your garden fence with colourful tealight holders
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Image credit: Mel Yates
Take a garden fence with a trellis top and jazz it up with jam-jar-style tealight holders that look super pretty even during daylight hours. Use secure but unobtrusive nails to hang them so that they look almost like they’re floating. A variety of shades will work well, but clear jam-jar tealights would also look great. At night, enjoy their warm glow from the comfort of a nearby garden chair – bliss.
10. Create a secluded dining area with willow fencing
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Image credit: Brent Darby
Go for a garden fence that is extra high so that it will provide all the privacy you could ever need – especially if you have curious neighbours. This fence features narrow lengths of willow that create a bamboo-style effect, ideal for screening an existing fence if you don’t want to start completely from scratch. Willow screening fence panels can also add height to a short wall or fence, or you could even use it to keep the compost heap hidden from view.
11. Opt for a modern, low horizontal design
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Image credit: Winfried Heinze
Mount a wooden garden fence on top of a concrete border for an elegant and modern scheme that has the feel of a room, complete with ‘skirting board’. Not only does this contemporary garden fence look great, but it will also keep the gravel neatly in place. Go for horizontal wooden panels so that everything is flowing in a similar direction – a smart mid-toned varnish will be the perfect finish.
Want more garden ideas? READ: Brilliant budget garden ideas
12. Decorate your garden trellis with pretty sign
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Image credit: Simon Scarboro
Paint a garden fence white to create a pretty country look that will really brighten up your garden. The gaps in this trellis fence have been used to hang some characterful buys, such as a ‘Welcome to my garden’ sign. A garden trellis has other advantages, too, from providing a helpful place to train climbing plants to offering privacy without blocking rays of sunlight.
13. Paint your picket fence in an array of colours
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Image credit: Alun Callender
Use a fence to create a front garden with a difference. This design has been painted in colourful shades that make passers-by feel that bit happier. We all dream of a white picket fence, but if you’re lucky enough to have one, why not take the plunge and go for something a little more daring? Paint your fence in pastel hues for a pretty, rather than garish, look.
14. Mix your materials to create an unusual look
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Image credit: David Woolley
For a unique take on a garden fence, combine stone and wood in a Jenga-style arrangement. Here, this has been done not just for the effect, but also for practical reasons – stone will endure a good soaking from the outdoor shower far better than wood. With a garden fence like this, the emphasis is on quality natural materials with an innate beauty of their own.
Credit: https://www.idealhome.co.uk/garden/garden-ideas/garden-fence-ideas-14251