Anyone ever build a wattle fence?
 

After looking through some gardening books the other night hubby and I have decided to build a wattle fence around my garden. We have lots of willows and other small trees to thin out so all materials are free. :bouncy:

Any pointers on building a wattle fence? Seems pretty easy, but I'm wondering just how long it will take us to construct it. My garden space is about a half acre and the wattle fence will be around three sides (back is horse fencing).

Don't know if this is what you mean
 

I took this two years ago when we were driving around Hudson's Hope, BC, about 80 km from our place. We were thinking about making a fence like this around the garden . . . sort of changed our mind . . . still like it though better than our 7'-0" high barbed wire garden fence.

http://www.abceltd.com/pics/Web/Fence.jpg
Is this what you mean?

OH well enjoy anyway,

All the best,

Alex

Well if your copicing your willows you'll be set. It takes lots of staves to make but once you have a form they go together fairly easily. Your form (not the traditional name, can't recall that off hand) has the holes drilled for your verticle staves in an arc so that once the wattle is complete and you remove it it pulls itself back straight and in the process tightens the whole section. It's also good to build with a "window" these allow the wattles to be carried on a staff if you want/need to change your fenced area around. Of course if you'r not moving your fenced area it's not an issue.

I'll have to look through my books to see what US publication books I have on the topic that are good. Most of my reference books are UK pubs, which would be hard to come by in the US.

J

I made a wattle-type fence when I was a kid. I didn't make anything in sections to be moved around. I just pounded the bigger sticks in the ground about every 2 feet and wove the smaller sticks in between them.

A word of caution. If you try this with green willow branches, they may (probably will) take root and sprout where you plant them.

I would love to have a live wattle fence, but hubby cut most of the willow last Fall so I don't think any of it will take root.

Alex, that's very similar to what I have in mind (only horizontal) but my fence will only be just over waist high...mostly for decorative reasons and as a boundary for the garden space (I plan to plant climbing veggies and flowers on it).

Thatch...you lost me! What you described sounds much more complicated than what I pictured in my mind. I was planning to pound posts well into the ground and then just weave smaller branches between them. Not planning to ever move this fence.

:help:

What Thatch is talking about is called a 'hurdle'. They were used by shepherds to create a moveable fold for sheep.

We made a small one like that, just for fun. Pound the willows in upside down and they won't sprout (or put them in the right way up if you want them to grow). The biggest problem is stability and rot. Ours lasted about 3 years in a sheltered spot with some live saplings as posts (deer ran through it and brought it down this winter). I think you would have to build it in a zig-zag pattern to make it more stable over a long stretch.

Well yes, hurdles are often movable but the permanent fence sections are typically still made in a form and then attached to posts for permenant placement as well. You can build them in situ with continuous woven fencing but the lack of the curved form will keep you from getting the weave as tight as possible, which ultimately will effect longevity. Hurdles are a better way to control the integrity of the fence.

You can of course just put some pole in the ground and start weaving them together but the craft of wattle/hurdle fencing is a bit more involved then that. It all depends on how long you want your effort to last. If you make it in sections each willow "weaver" (the horizontal sticks) are turned back on itself and create a complete unit. If you have a problem down the road it will be an issue of one hurdle needing to be replaced or potentialy a much larger section.

I'd suggest reading up on the topic.

J

I'd never heard of a wattle fence...that's cool! Glad you posted a pic, Alex.

We built a wattle fence last summer..talk about tedious! It is not as easy as it looks. But ours was for the chicken pen and getting the branches in tight enough was the problem..gaps let critters in and out. If you are doing it for decoration, you don't have to build a tight fence. They do look nice and are fun if you have the patience..which I lack. :cool:

After I built some fence for my cattle I became interested in different kinds of fences. You'll find out what I mean after you start building. While driving across the Country of Texas I found the most interesting fences built of just what was around. Wire fences and wooden fences but the most interesting were all different types of wattle fences made with what was available. I wish I would have stopped and take pictures. If you travel across Texas you should find it interesting.
:cowboy:

This isn't a great photo in that it doesn't illustrate the arc alignment of the holes I was talking about before however it does show some other good points.

http://www.archiemiles.co.uk/Images/...l%20hurdle.jpg

First off, obviously you can see that he is using a form. Railroad ties work well for this. The holes are drilled in a gentle arc (again, so that when removed the section pulls tight). You can also see that he is turning the weavers back in on themselves, rounding the end stave and weaving it back into the hurdle. Obvioulsy this is going to make the hurdle resist coming appart. The other thing to note is that he doesn't start the weavers at the end of the hurdle, but in the middle. Also, you can see that the last weaver ls left long till the next weaver is put into place so that there is somewhere to tuck the end of the previous weaver into.

This appears to be made of hazle. It should be noted that often times these hurdles are both started and ended with willow of a smaller diameter. The willow, though woven in a similar fashion is able to be woven tighter.

Once the individual hurdles are made they can either be used as temporary movable fencing or afixed to permenant posts. If you are making them to be movable the first and last stave are kept long (about 8-10") and are cut to a point so that each hurdle can be stuck into the ground.

J

Well, this is just exciting! I think I want one around my garden this year. Perhaps a live one that I clip back. Wonder if my garden is too small? A short one may work better so that it doesn't block the sunshine...

That's a great pic (and explanation) Thatch, thanks for posting it.

Another option...
 

Thanks Thatch! That photo cleared it up for me.

It rained during the night so everything should be perfect for us to get started this weekend.

no problem. Good luck with the fence.

J

alternative
 

"The Budget Gardener" by Maureen Gilmer shows a quicker alternative if time is an issue. She suggests weaving branches vertically into wire field fencing. Its not as attractive, but looks better than just field fencing.

Salmonberry

We started on one of these fences this weekend for our garden (intending for it to be only about 40 inches tall).

Agree with folks that it is labor intensive, and unless you have a ready supply of trees such as willows it will be incredibly difficult to close up the gaps.

We started with 3 ft spacing on our verticals, but found that 2ft spacing is probably the best option for your vertical post (although this restricts using larger trees for your bottom horizontals). Best recommendation - focus on one wall at a time...don't attempt to lay out multiple walls, as you'll probably run out of materials and end up with less than half a fence.

Our purpose for the fence is: Primarily decorative (so as not to detract from 150yr. old farmhouse), to keep dogs out, to inhibit the would be trespasser (ducks/ chickens...etc.) from casually entering the garden plot.

Paul B.
Paul B.

There is a video of either Victorian Farm or Edwardian Farm where they make either wattles or hurdles - but it looked just like the photo in post #12.

You can use other types of trees for it. Here I am blessed with privett hedge.. everywhere. It is a menace.
But it is flexible and plentliful that I could easily do a wattle type fence AND clear a few acres of trash wood at the same time.
It has been on my list for a few years.
I bet it would be a great project for a kid.. male and say about 8 years of age..

I was going to suggest the same, edwardian farm is the one one of the first couple want to say 2 or 3, they also made a little boat that uses same technique, couldnt find wich one it was in but heres the video that goes with
thatchs pic I think,

Could you use tall verticals, but only wattle up to the fence height needed to stil let sun in? You could attached netting maybe to the bare upper posts, so larger animals couldn't jump in.

I don't have willow to wattle (say that fast 4 times!), but we are trying to make a tiki hut from an old chain link kennel using palmetto fronds by "weaving" their stalk in and out of the chain link. We'll start at the bottom for a shingled effect (frond end down, stalk weaving upward). This kennel houses our "outdoor spa" where we shower and have a kiddie pool and a fire bowl. We rednecks like our comforts, too, ya know!

There's an article in the most recent Countryside about building a fence using willow wands and other saplings.

It looks VERY labor intensive. And takes a lot of raw materials too. But if you have sufficient time and not much money, it will work for you no doubt.

We have built several around here. Ours were permanent so we didn't use the forms to make hurdles. Instead the supports were placed into the ground and the whips woven between them. My advice is to place the supports relatively close together. My first fence they were spaced about 3 1/2 feet apart, which didn't make for a great fence. Our whips go horizontally. The next fence I spaced the supports about 2 feet apart and this worked out much better and gave a much sturdier fence. Twisting the whips around the end of the last support in the hurdle is hard. I haven't gotten the hang of it yet. Of course, we don't have willow so you might have an easier time of it. When doing the fence we just interlaced the whips. Say you have a whip that spans supports 1-6, take the next whip and span supports 5-9, the next whip spans support 8-13 and so forth. Then work backwards toward the start. Kind of like a typewriter. With everything interlaced it is sturdier than you would think without the twisting an weaving back on itself. Hope this helps, Blessings, Kat

Oh forgot to add. The way that we did our fences didn't take too terribly long. One day to cut the whips and supports and then next day to build the fence. It was just me working also, so with two people it could easily be done in a day. We will also be doing more of them this spring. Blessings, Kat

Bit of a warning. Don't cut your wattles till your posts are in. We had to clear a few trees out for a garden spot. We carefully trimmed every branch and trimmed the smaller branches off of it. Then separated the bigger ones for the posts, smaller for the wattles.

I got about 1/2 the posts in and it started to rain. The ground was really too wet to pound dirt in around the posts as it was and the rain made it impossible. The ground has either been too wet to continue or frozen since that last day which was almost a month and half ago. The posts were sitting in water in their holes, there was no way I could get enough dirt in for them to stand upright and certainly weren't set in enough to wattle.

Now the wattles have been sitting drying out this whole time and may not be flexible enough to weave. If I had known it was going to be so wet, I would have waited to cut the wattles. They are probably all dried out by now. I was going to try soaking them when I get closer to finishing the posts, but I don't know if that will work with junipers.

Wattle fencing from scotchbroom
 

I don't know how strong it is, or if it will hold for long. The fence is about 2 feet thick, and I made the walls about as tall as I am.. 5 feet. I just pounded posts into the ground made from small logs and trees we had on the property. We have a shy acre and we had scotchbroom EVERYWHERE, and I couldn't afford fencing and I have a fence jumper, pain in the butt goat that is going to have a baby sometime this month, from the looks of her udder thingie. So I am still seeing if it will hold her in, because she jumps on my car and gets into the house and goes to visit the neighbors. She drives me up the wall and my husband is ready to make goat burgers!

So, the goat... which we got to eat the scotchbroom... just nibbled at it while it was in the ground, but thinks it's a gourmet feast on posts, now that we took the trouble to cut it for her. LOL I learned as I went, too, to squish it down and stomp on it, so to allow for when the stuff dries and shrinks. The latter part that I built has less holes than the first part, and I have to go back and redo the first part again. Funny part is... I ran out of scotchbroom, hard to imagine that! We had to go across the road and get some from the neighbor. hahahahaha! I sure hope that goat stays in with that, and if not I'm trying electric fence. If she climbs or jumps over that, I'm done with goats. Sigh...

This is such a great discussion!
I was contemplating a wattle fence a couple years ago and my neighbor (who was from Sweden) said "That will take a lot of work". Well, duh.
But I wanted to recommend a great book that had instructions for several "old fashioned" fence types:
'The Forgotten Arts' by Richard M. Bacon.
It is a UK book, I think, but gives instructions on all kinds of woodworking that used to be done regularly, but is now almost lost. A great read!

Monty Don's Fork to Fork series has a great example of a wattle fence being made:
https://youtu.be/ZpKJCImoICA?t=13m51s

Now if only we had hazel or willow in such quantities where I live in Vancouver.

Yes, we have built several around our property of varying lengths and heights. Once everything is cut and prepared it goes together easily. Woven well around posts no further apart than 2-3 feet it is strong. My goats used to stand on the one around the old chicken coop to reach the branches of the tree that hung over it and it held their weight just fine. My advice is to cut your posts longer than you think you will need them. Each year you will need to tighten them up as they rot at the ground. This is easily done by pounding them in just a little further with a sledge hammer. The staves need to be green to be woven well because you will need to bend them around the posts. I love wattle fences for their look, but understand that they will only last a few years and then will need some major work as posts need to be replaced and staves get old and break. Blessings, Kat

didn't realize this was such an old thread and that I had already answered years ago

Might wanna think about it
 

putting in a wattle fence that grows again. What do you think the shade will do to your garden from those tall willow trees>