Garden Tips with Simon - Fencing: The Basics - Part Two

This month we will be looking at how to build a basic panel fence. We will look at digging the hole, fixing the post and attaching a panel to it. Easy really!

Tools:
• A good spade – preferably a drain spade (a long, narrow spade) also known as a grafter.
• A Post Hole Digger – also known as a pair of Spoons
• Hammer
• Nails
• A spirit level
• Materials:
• 2 x Posts (3”x3” of 4”x4” for even better longevity) about 1/3 as long as the panel you are fixing to it. For example if it is a 6 foot panel you will need an 8 foot long post
• A fence panel
• About 40kg of Ballast per hole
• 1/3 of a bag of cement per hole

Firstly, the hardest part of the job, digging the hole. Choose where the fence is going to start and start to dig the hole. Using the Grafter, work away at the area you want the post to be, take this steady as it can be hard work - especially if you are in Steyning or the surrounding area where after a foots worth of digging you’ll hit the chalk and the flint! However if you live in Storrington, you are quids in, as your soil is all chalk and is really easy for hole digging!

Once you have worked some soil loose, get your spoons and shove them in to the loose soil and squeeze them together and lift out the soil and place to the front or behind the hole (don’t put it to the side as this is where your panel will be going! Repeat this process until you think you are at the required depth. You can make this easier, by marking the post at the height of the panel and when it reaches ground level, you are there or if not can clearly see how far you have left!

Once you have got it to the required height, put the post in the ground and quickly check with the spirit level that the post will go level in both directions and is still the right place. If all is right and you are happy, secure the post in place with some hardcore (if you have any lying around) and then mix up your cement and ballast. I prefer a dry mix and add water in the hole, others like to mix it up wet. Mix really well (another hard job!) and then start to fill the hole. Keep checking the level of the post as you go and tamp down the mix regularly.

If you are doing a row of panels, dig the last hole, place a string line between the two and place each hole in line with this to ensure a nice straight line. Now you are ready for the next hole. Place the panel next to the post to work out where the hole will go, dig the hole, check the post will go in level and then place the panel back to ensure it is in the right place again. If all is right, fix the hole in place and then attach the panel in the middle of the post and nail it in place (try and support the post as you nail it in and recheck the cement mix after to ensure it is still solid and re-tamp down if necessary.

Repeat process until the fence is complete. I would expect two people to build a seven to nine panel fence in a day, longer if there are old panels to remove and experience is limited!

Good luck with your fencing projects, if you have any questions or queries regarding fencing projects, feel free to email me at treedom23@yahoo.co.uk or ask a question on my facebook page which is: www.facebook.com/treedomtreesurgery
Simon Zec - www.treedomsussex.co.uk

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