building a fence around a bushed yard

We just bought a house that has the backyard surrounded by bushes, it's beautiful but some parts aren't thick enough to be dog proof. So we need to put up a fence.

I have no intention of removing the bushes, so we need a fence that will be dog proof without overtaking the bushes. The bushes are roughly 5-7' high, and I'm really not certain what kind of bushes they are, I don't believe they are flower producing, just green. And I'll need to build roughly 175' of fence.

So I have 2 main concerns, I don't want the fence to block out too much sun and kill the bushes. And since the fence will be up against the bushes it will be very hard to maintain the inner side of the fence (staining or painting). For that reason I was thinking about going with vinyl, until I saw how expensive it was compared to wood. And I don't want chain link. (Yes we are fussy)

So has anyone had to deal with a similar situation? Any ideas or tips? Will the fence affect the bushes life much? If you have any pictures of ideas that would be great.

Thanks, TTiffin.

 

Welcome to the forums!

Chain link was my first thought but ..... A shadow box fence allows for some light/ventilation. Any wood fence close to vegetation can have it's life shortened by moisture staying on the fence longer than it would if there was better air flow. Pics would help us better understand your situation - http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...-pictures.html

 

You don't want chainlink, ok but what about a steel bar fence painted black or dark green. Lots of plants will just grow around them making them almost invisible. (like this https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...c5c247547f.jpg)

It would help if you could figure out what kind of plants they are since that makes a big difference with regards to maintenance, growth tendencies, light requirements etc.

 

Chain link fencing would be the most functional and economical. It won't require maintenance and will allow air and light to pass through so the bushes won't be harmed. Some type of bar or wrought iron fence will be considerably more expensive and at some point will need to have the rust scraped and be re-painted. Vinyl is an option but what you choose would depend on how much open area you want. More open is better for the plants but may let your dog fit through. Wood would be my last choice because of it's maintenance needs. Pressure treated could go 10-15 years though before you need to do anything with it.

 

I did take a couple pictures this morning before I left from the inside of the yard. It's hard to see because they aren't green yet though.

I will try and get some better pictures after work.


Would something like this be sufficient to allow air flow and such to extend the life of the wood? I'm not concerned about privacy as I only have 1 neighbor and the bushes take care of that anyways. And I only need the boards close enough together so a dog can't fit through the holes.

 

I'm just really not a fan of the look of chain link and feel it would take away from the looks of the yard which is setup basically like my private park. Pressure treated wood is what I was pricing, I'd be more than happy with 10-15 years even if I had to rebuild the entire thing after that, would still just about come out cheaper than vinyl.

 

How close to the property line are the bushes?

Perhaps you could leave some space between the fence and the bushes to allow for fence maintenance.

 

I believe I do have room to leave 1-2 feet in between to squeeze in for maintenance but I fear it will look goofy and create a dead space for garbage and leaves to pile up and for the dog to roam around through.
Realistically I think even if I have the fence squeezed up against the bushes I could do some maintenance in spring before the bushes are full. And if as Pilot said, I can get 10 years out of the treated fence before more maintenance is required I might just be able to trim the bushes back enough to do the maintenance for that year.

 

How big are the dogs? More or less how high can they jump? Does it need to be jump proof or just a barrier? I still think a small half-height chainlink or steel bar fence painted black would fade, almost disappear, into the background.

 

60 lb black lab. He can jump a 5 foot fence but he won't be able to jump the bushes I doubt because he has nothing to push off on. So doesn't really need to be jump proof, mostly there just to fill in the gaps at the bottom of the pushed where it's thin in a few spots. I'm not necessarily opposed to the black or green metal fence but someone else mentioned it might be significantly more expensive. The picture you provided with the bricks is nice but too much work and cost for me, so what other options is there for the frame of the fence? Can you get all metal pieces specifically for fences? Only other thing I can think of is wood frame and drilling holes and inserting the pipes like that. But then we are back to wood, though I think it could look nice.

 

If you go with a wood fence use these or similar.

https://www.zpostinc.co/ in concrete.

Once they're up you'll never have to replace the posts, just the cross members and pickets. I put something similar up about 17 years ago at a house and the fence still looks fine. I have had to replace a few pieces of fence as the pickets and rails have aged and rotted, but the posts are still rock solid. I figure I'll get at least another 5-7 years out of it before I redo the entire fence. At which time it's just rails and pickets not posts which is where the work is.

I used the above linked posts at another locations. These are much improved from what I used originally with a larger flange. I bracketed the post on both sides with 2X4 cut in half lengthwise. You can't tell that there are metal posts anywhere.

 

No need for the brick, you just need concrete footers for the posts of an iron bar fence or chainlink, same as wood or vinyl. It does seem like something low is the best bet for you, lets you see the hedge and covers the holes at the bottom for your pup. Again, just my .02

 

Btw, not sure about your dog but my lab is a digger (and escapee). I went back and ran a PT 2X4 level with grade around the fence perimeter where needed. Screwed them right up to the metal posts. Now some of them show obvious wear (and dog frustration) but no more phone calls from neighbors babysitting the dog while at work!

 

Well after I said no to chainlink a dozen times, I think we decided to go with chainlink. The black vinyl coated stuff should hide nicely against the bushes I think.

Has anyone ever used the fast2k foam type cement for the posts? Supposed
to set in 2 minutes and is as strong or stronger than cement.

 

I ordered one pack from Amazon to try (play with). Just like it says and just like a spray foaming gun it does really foam up and then harden and it is quick. I would not say it's as hard as concrete but it's probably strong enough.

I can't imagine you'd go for the expense to do all the fence posts for a yard though. Because of it's cost I might use it for a mail box post but $15-20 is too expensive to do many posts. Also I would be mindful of your hole sizes as one pack is limited in how big a hole it will fill.

 

To me black would really stick out, I think the brown is more natural looking seeing you'll have it year round. If possible drive around and see if you can find the different colors in use.