What does your landscape require?

As the seasons change, are you contemplating any projects that will require fencing - a play area for children, lawn and garden fence, pet fencing, swimming pool? Planning now can save you a lot of time and legwork when you are ready to start the work.

There are many varieties of wire fencing and meshes to be considered and evaluated before you can narrow it down to your final selection. What are the specific needs and requirements of your project?

Some questions to think over--

• Do you want an economical fence?
• Should your fence last a long time or is it temporary?
• Do you want the practicality and utility of a galvanized wire fence?
• Is the durability, longer lifetime and attractive appearance of vinyl coated mesh important?
• Why do you need a fence?
• How many feet of fencing are required?
• Are there specific requirements that determine the size of the mesh openings?
• What are the height requirements for the fence?
• If this is a DIY project, do you have the knowledge and information necessary to do the job properly?
• How many posts will you need?
• Do you want to use steel or wood posts?
• Will you need a gate?
• Are there any special tools you will need for installation?
• Is the fence line cleared?
• Will you need to clear or prepare the enclosed area?

Once you have answers to these questions, you will have made a great start on your project.

Do you have any more specific questions you need to beanswered?

Worm fence

A fence, zigzag in plan, made of rails resting across one another at an angle according to the Random House Dictionary.

This style of fencing is also known as Snake Fence, ZigZag Fence and Battlefield Fence - the latter term due to its presence on many Civil War battlefields. Worm Fence has been used in America since the 1600's. Easy to build, split wood rails are stacked on each other to create the fence. The ends of the rails alternate, creating the openings. For stability of the stacked rails, each section of fence is angled slightly from the previous one, giving the appearance of a worm or snake.

No Post Holes, Rocky Terrain bonus

No vertical posts are required to build the fence. This both eliminates the need to dig post holes and makes the fence easy to install - a particular advantage in rocky terrain. Sometimes a pair of crossed posts would be used at the junction point of each section. This would allow the fence to be closer to a straight line.

Rustic

With a plentiful supply of wood and ease of construction, it is easy to understand why worm fence was the most common type of fence used in America by the late 1800's. It is gaining popularity today for use as a rustic fence that will add to the appearance of a piece of property.

Warp Wires and Shute Wires

There are two types of woven wire hardware cloth: woven and crimped. Many of these styles are made as heavy meshes for very specialized uses, such as sifting screens.In both woven and crimped wire cloth meshes, the warp wires are those running the length of the roll. The wires running across the width are called shute wires.

Woven Wire Mesh

• Plain Weave
  • warp and shute wires pass over and under adjacent wires
  • most plain weave is double crimped - warp and shute wires are crimped and locked into position

• Twilled Weave
  • warp and shute wires pass over two and under two adjacent wires
  • not as tight as plain weave - more pliable

• Plain Dutch Weave
  • warp wires usually larger than shute wires
  • closely spaced shute wires makes dense weave with wedge shaped openings

• Twilled Dutch Weave
  • combination of Dutch and Twilled weaves

Crimped Wire Mesh

• Double Crimp
  • wires are pre-crimped before weaving
  • warp and shute wires lay in crimps

• Intermediate Crimp - aka Intercrimp
  • warp wires lay in every crimp in shute wires
  • shute wires lay in every other crimp in warp wires

• Lock Crimp
  • warp and shute wires are locked in place with deep crimps
  • used for heavy duty meshes

• Smooth Top Crimp
  • crimps are on underside of mesh
  • has a smooth flat surface on top

Information taken in part from Edward J. Darby & Son, Inc. catalog.