Wattle fences

A quick note on wattle fences - someone was asking if it really is as simple as it looks from a photo of our wattle fence in a recent post.

Yes, wattle building is a basic, old and simple building process that is very common around the world in various forms. We certainly had never done it before creating our little fence - and, although there can be many more elaborate and ornate designs than what we did, ours was done in about an hour and can be added to or embellished anytime. There is lots of room for creativity after the basic structure is done.

Wattle fences are made by weaving flexible saplings or cuttings (e.g. hazel, willow, red or yellow dogwood) in various patterns between upright posts. These uprights can be planted into the ground, creating a "living" fence that fills in with leaves throughout the season, or covered with "daub" (soil, clay, sand, even animal dung) to create a strong building material called "wattle-and-daub". Our wattle fence is made from local willow branches, but unfortunately won't be a living fence as the uprights were harvested the previous season and were no longer living when we built the fence. Wattle technique is a quick and affordable (free) way to build fencing, set up boundaries, add an element of natural art into your garden, create privacy, etc.

Here are some more links on wattle fences, including more photos:

http://www.allotmentforestry.com/fact/rwattle.htm

http://www.fs.fed.us/mntp/volunteers/wattle_fence_project.htm

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2007-04-01

http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/good_wood/livng_fs.htm