Is there a better color for my fence?
I recently added two fences to my house -- the front scallped fence (the "keep your dogs off my lawn" fence) and the porch fence (the "keep MY dogs from running out the door into the street" fence). Both are wood. As you can see the house colors are basically green with white trim -- which looks lovely IMO. However, the fence around the porch is IMPOSSIBLE to keep even remotely clean. Because it abuts a dirt garden area, and its near/under the roof edge line, it gets completely filthy. I am possibly going to add gutters which may help, but i don't think it will help enough. If I painted a darker color that would help, but then I think I'd have to paint *all* the trim darker. I can't think of another color that works well here, unless maybe the house color but I think that would look funny. Do I just live with the dirty dirty white? Any thoughts?
Comments (20)
miss lindsey (She/Her)
5 years ago
kootenaycapable
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Better Use of Crepescule - arbor or fence?
Comments (11)Thanks for your response, Kim. I would prefer growing her along my fence since that would be readily done. Here is a photo of the fence line from a couple of years ago. The rose to the left is Prosperity and Westerland to the right. I have another prosperity and the Westerland is a stingy bloomer and is very thorny so I may plant Crepescule in the center, then SP the other two to allow Crepescule to run the whole fence. That flower bed, however, is only about 24 inches deep and I wonder if I need to widen it to accomodate the new inhabitant, or will I be able to tie and/or prune Crepescule along that narrow bed? Thanks again, Molly...See MoreFunkyArt got me thinking - What color for MY fence? (PICS)
Comments (8)Well, we're meeting a landscape designer on Saturday...but I was thinking of a red/purple/white/orange color scheme, sort of like this (color wise.) We are going for the whole english/cottage garden vibe. This is a pretty accurate depiction of the house color (at least on my monitor, ha) I does it matter that the entrance to the yard, where those new steps are, will have an arbor with a moon gate? (painted white.) Well since I wouldn't want the fence that is facing out to the street (what I see from outside the yard) and what is next to the house, or the shed, to be painted brown or some natural color, could I just paint the portion behind the trumpet vine something to blend in? I wish I had better pictures to show but really I think my only options for the outside fence and shed/gate are either the house or trim color. It would look odd otherwise. Maybe if it wasn't too weird they could be black. Or the shed could be black. I spent weeks slaving over the house color. I thought this was going to be easier. ;-)...See Morewhich exterior color goes better with my stone?
Comments (31)I totally understand the snowballing effect...its amazing how a cracked sidewalk leads to total makeover! We (sadly) had our front door kicked in from a robbery. The experts are saying we have to replace our entire sidelight/transom b/c there is also a small crack in the door jamb. So my trying to figure out what do replace it with has lead me to doing something about my white garage doors, some dingy trim, some over-grown bushes, etc. From what I recall hearing about columns, they are not all that expensive and even inexpensive ones look fine. I'm sure our builder but in the cheapest column he could find that would look decent but they look perfectly fine, are holding up well. And if you are re-doing the front stoop, aren't you going to have to replace the columns and railing anyway? You will have a beautiful new stoop with lovely stone but the old thin columns and railings. I think new thicked columns will enhance your pretty porch and door, and in fact with the new stuff might make the columns look even more in need of replacement (snowball effect!!). If you don't know much about landscape/gardening (I don't!) I think the most important thing is to have a plan from the beginning. I would consult with a landscape desiger to give you drawings for a long-term plan. That way you can put in new plants over time when you're not spending so much now. Ask the designer which should go in first and then add a few each year. Thats what we did 13 years ago and it was a worthwhile decision even though at the time I didn't want to spend the money for the plans. Good luch with all your decisions! I hope to post some pictures of our exterior in the next week or so..if it ever stops raining here....See MoreTo Fence or Not to Fence, That is My Question!
Comments (14)I love the deer. I feed them in winter, especially in years when the mast crop is small (this year it is huge). I put out huge pans (in some drought years we use children's wading pools as watering pans) filled with water for them during drought. I let them scavenge my compost pile and eat tons of stuff that doesn't survive long enough to become compost. We have deer trails running all over our property. I just don't want the deer in the garden. When the same ones come back year after year, I name them. The only issue with buried fencing is that weeds and grass grow up in that fence line and are hard to control, particularly if you chose not to use herbicides. We did away with our buried fencing for that reason. I got tired of trying to dig out the bermuda grass that became intertwined with the buried fencing. We still have the fence down tight against the ground, and if there is a spot where it doesn't perfectly meet the ground, I put boards, large rocks, etc. there so the rabbits won't notice. I even use U-shaped landscape pins to pin down the fence to the ground if needed. The amount of trouble you'll have with wildlife in any given year will vary. In times of plentiful rainfall when there's lots of native plants to eat, the deer can walk right by my garden daily and not even nibble at the bean vines climbing the garden fence. In drought years, though, they get increasingly and desperately hungry and will eat anything and everything they can find and nothing, and that includes crawling into feral hog traps to eat whatever is being used to bait the traps. Our deer know us pretty well. They know our habits. They know the times we generally come and go. I think they are really intelligent animals. They also know, for the most part, that I'm not happy when they nibble at plants on the garden fence. Sometimes, after they've been coming through our property for a while, some of them even will come too close to the humans----not in a threatening way, but more in a "Hey, I know it is summer but do you have any of that deer corn you feed us in winter?" type of way. Some of them know when I am canning and start standing near the compost pile every evening, just waiting for me to come out there with a bucket of peach peelings or whatever to toss on the pile. If they start coming too close or being too friendly, I bring a dog out with me. He's too old to get overly excited and chase them like he did in his younger days, but they don't know that....See Morewoodteam5
5 years agosonni1
5 years agosnarkyinla
5 years agomiss lindsey (She/Her)
5 years ago
Sammy
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agosnarkyinla
5 years agoSammy
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agowoodteam5
5 years agosnarkyinla
5 years ago
Emily Jowers
5 years ago
PROBeth H. :
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoi actually think the white is perfect. if you had to go dark, then a deep forest green for the porch fence might work. Pea gravel, as mentioned, or mulch, would keep the dirt from splashing the skirt.
what I would concentrate on is the walkway. this is such a cute yard, but that walkway is underwhelming. for a little DIY on your part, you could find some old bricks (craigslist) or spring for some pavers, and build up that walkway a bit so that it's even w/the grass.
if you want to keep the flagstone, lay a layer of sand/gravel, tamp it, and re-lay the flagstones (maybe putting in a few more). fill in the joints w/tiny gravel or polymeric sand.
Elle
5 years agoSteve J
5 years ago
PRODiana Bier Interiors, LLC
5 years agoWe had a white picket fence around our pool for many years, and it also was impossible to keep clean. My husband was forever bleaching and repainting it. We finally replaced it with a natural cedar and wire fence. While I wouldn't recommend that for a front yard, I wonder if you would consider painting or staining the fence a dark green? Dark green is a natural, organic look, and doesn't show as much dirt or dust. We used BM Black Forest Green on our backyard fence and it looks great--just blends in with the landscape and we've never had to clean it.
Here are some examples:
Change throught the Years · More Info
Garden Gate · More Info
Burns Avenue · More Infosnarkyinla
5 years ago- PRO
Beth H. :
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agook. no prob. I posted one w/the flagstone too.
I'd do a few more since they look so nice. i'm sure w/the annuals it's very pretty.
snarkyinla
5 years ago
snarkyinlaOriginal Author