How to maintain your garden fence throughout winter and beyond

If you want to keep your garden fence in great condition throughout winter, your garden fence panels are going to need a little bit of TLC – just like everything else! The good news is that it’s not particularly tricky to do, as long as you take your time and you know what you’re doing. And if you need a few tips – well, that’s exactly what we’re here for.

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Inspect the Fence

The first thing to do is to look at the fence and see if you can find any instances of breakages, rot, or overall weakness. The fence should be completely upright. If this is not the case and it leans, it is probably a sign of weakness.

Check the fence posts

The fence posts are one of the most important parts of a fence. If one is damaged, it can sometimes ruin the rest of the fencing run. When inspecting the fence posts, look at the bottom first, as these are more likely to rot. This is often the case with fence posts that are made from untreated or dip-treated wood.

Inspect the fence panels

The fence panels also cannot be forgotten. If you find any individual fence slats broken, it’s worth replacing them as soon as possible. However, if the whole fence panel is showing signs of rot, it should be replaced with a new one to avoid any large problems with your fencing. After inspecting the panels and removing rotten ones or replacing broken ones, you can then get cracking on adding the wood preservative to the fence. This ensures that it lasts throughout winter and reduces the chance of rot and fungal decay.

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Search the surrounding area

While you’re at it, it’s a good plan to not just look at the fence, but the surrounding area as well. Check for wet vegetation, and trim the grass, weeds and plants near it that have got too long. If this is not checked, the moisture can cause rot which will damage your fences.

Control shrubbery and climbing plants

As you’re probably familiar with already, different plants may be supported by your fence. If this is the case, shrubbery and climbing plants can become overgrown and can damage the fence over time. The best solution is to prune dead foliage or roots that have overgrown. By doing so, you’re removing the amount of wet material that sticks on the fence, helping to keep it in a better condition for longer.

Check above the fence

As we discussed earlier, doing an inspection is important. However, the fence is just one part of it. The surrounding area can play a big part in whether a fence stays looking great or a broken mess.

In particular, it’s best to look above the fence. Trees that have grown during the spring and summer months may now be a potential issue to fencing. Heavy branches could easily fall down and cause significant amounts of damage to fence panels. Therefore, it’s best to deal with them to prevent any problems from occurring. If overhanging branches are coming from any of your neighbours’ trees, don’t forget to consult them before taking action. You can save yourself a huge amount of potential hassle!

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Power washing

Power washing is another potentially good method to maintain your fence, but you’ll need to take extra care with it! If your fence doesn’t look too sturdy, you may be doing more harm than good.

Moss, dirt and mould can be easily removed with power washing, helping to reduce the chance of the fence rotting. Plus, it’s a good starting point if you’re looking to stain or paint the fence.

The general recommendation is to use 3000psi or higher when spraying a fence. By doing so, you can ensure that any flaking paint, dead wood or other unwanted things are removed without hassle. The best technique when washing fencing is to move the water jet along the direction of the grain of the wood, this will prevent any marks, especially important if you’re looking to stain it afterwards.

Keep your garden fence looking great for longer

Hopefully, these tips will help your garden fence to look great and maintain its quality appearance throughout the winter months and beyond!

And if you’re ever in need of replacement fence panels, we can help right here at Welch Fencing. We take care to stock such a wide range of garden fence panels for you to choose from – and if you need any help or advice on making your final decision, our friendly staff will be only too happy to lend a word or two of advice. What’s more, we also provide a fantastic range of concrete fence posts to complete your project. As a UK manufacturer of concrete fence posts, we have our very own fleet of delivery vehicles at our disposal, allowing us to get your products right to your door.

Feel free to start browsing them right here on our website, or for any guidance or friendly advice drop us a line on 01772 336 476. We’re here to help!

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