I would really stay with the same kind of white fencing you have now... it would keep the lab in and match what you have in that picture of the background of the lab pic...but if you really want picket, I would at least stay with the flat top then...but that is just me, I like a bit of unity in my backdrops and let the flowes and colors provide the contrast.

I love the "Country Cottage" look you have now.
Reminds me of the rural cottages in England and Ireland.
Beautiful!
(Like your pup, too) - The perfect dog for your Country Cottage.

Why change perfection!

sweetannie4u

I agree, I LOVE the look of the fence you have now, to me, that says "country cottage" more then any other option.
If you really want to change it, then the flat top picket fence would be best I suppose.

Well the reason for change is we are tired of replacing rails and the back gate does not close right so the wood is getting old looking. Our neighbor wants to add a picket to their yard in front and back I guess I should see what she is considering and work with that also. I just want to make sure it is high enough that the dog does not get out..
We have a neighbor on the other side of us that has the wood fence but that is getting old also and he plans on replacing that with new wooden privacy so i have both wooden and vinyl on each side so we decided to go vinyl because we don't want the upkeep of staining. I think the picket will work with the roses but just was not sure if straight or scallop is the way to go. Here is the other side where our nieghbors fence is and I hated the gray look so I planted knockouts all along that fence...

{{gwi:18320}}

I meant keeping with the same look as in the present white fence in the lab dog pic, isn't that also your fence?..does that fence require rail replacement and such? Or are you talking about the dog eared fence needing rails and ect?

And by the way, I agree, those roses are pretty..:) Everything here is brown from winter and nasty..nice to see such beauty about now!

When your neighbor puts up his new privacy fence, I hope he has it done the right way - with the nicer, finished side (not the side with the crossbeams) facing outward. It's just plain courtesy anywhere, but in my town it's required by code. But it does make a nice backdrop for those beautiful roses.

Having installed a wood privacy fence myself along part of our property line to block the sound of a noisy pool filter next door, I realize they also block out a good deal of sunlight. Therefore, I can understand why you might want to go with something more open. If you go with the picket, I'd choose the straight top rather than the scallop, to at least maintain the straight top of the existing fence.

Sweet looking dog ... she looks so much like our Missy, a yellow lab/pit mix we adopted at a year old and has turned out to be a real sweetheart.

Beautiful combination of pink and red KO roses!
So far, I just have the red, but this year...

sweetannie4u

Well my neighbor moved into his house and the fence was like this. The wooden privacy fence is over 20 years old and it was like that when we moved in also. I never thought much of it till my cousin came to give us a estamite on the white vinyl fencing and he said that fence was put up wrong.. Our new neighbor knows this as he has said something to me in the past about it should have been put in the other way. So when and if he really decides to replace this which I have my doubts at times as he doesn't move very quickly with these kind of decisions he will keep that in mind for the next fence. Meanwhile we were going to stain our side of it but not sure we should as it is not really our fence. He his the other side stained so I guess I have to wait and see what he decides to do with it. Maybe if we tell him we are getting a new vinyl and my cousin is putting it in he will get him to put a new one in for him. (My cousin does fencing) the other white vinyl is ours and thought the scallop would look nice but maybe people are right about keeping the straight picket. I need to look at both in a store location and decide I guess. Decisions are tough!!! We just want to keep the vinyl look on the other side of the yard as that neighbor wants vinyl picket also in the future not sure if its in their plans for this year but we might start a new trend who knows!!

This is a little off-topic, I guess, but a memory, and some thought, prompted by this and other threads on fencing and coordinating with neighbors' fencing, etc.

When I was a child, there were hardly any fences at all in our suburban neighborhood. Oh, we had a privet hedge along the back, and some people had tree/shrub/perennial beds that formed a sort of boundary, but there were always paths through and we kids would range freely from yard to yard throughout the entire neighborhood, playing tag, hide and seek, sardines, whatever. Even the elderly people (well, they seemed so at the time, but maybe wouldn't now, lol) whose children had grown and moved out, welcomed us into their yards and even onto their porches (one house had really cool curved brick steps and another had two white wrought iron benches in the front portico ... need I enumerate what those can be in a child's imagination?) as long as we respected their property.

Oh, I'll admit, I have a fence. There was one here when we moved in 30 years ago. When it came time to replace it and we took it down, I looked out at the openness and wondered if I really wanted to put up a new one ... but, having little children, a dog, and neighbors' fences on the opposite side and rear ... ah, well, go with the flow. The "kids" are big now, and the dog is walked (not just let out), but now we have a koi pond and code requires that it be fenced.

Ah, well ... at least fences can be nice backdrops for our gardens, provide something for vines to scramble on, roses and such to spill over, and nepeta, iris and daisies to peek through.

In my daughters neighborhood, a fairly new suburban neighborhood, all of the neighbors have short wooden fences. Each neighbor has chosen a different style of pickets but they are all the same height and I must say that it looks very attractive to have that sameness throughout. She lives on a long winding street so you see the backyards all the way up and down the hill. All this to say that it would look best if all the fences were the same height even if not the same picket style. So choose the one you like best.
MeMo

While I agree that flat top would match your existing fence, my heart just goes pitter-pat over the scalloped fence. So charming. Lots of movement for your eye.

Can't go wrong with either, but I vote for swoops. ;0)

Here is a link that might be useful: Creative Soul

Can I just say, I love the fence behind your roses. It's beautiful to my eye. Look at all the different shades of grey and silver. Wrong side or not I adore aged wood.

Libby

Here is a link that might be useful: picket fenced gardens