Want to Show Off Your Prized Garden Without Losing Flowers or Produce to Neighbors? What Are Your Options?

If you’ve long taken pride in your bountiful fruit or vegetable harvests or in your brightly blooming rose or lilac bushes, you may be dismayed to find your garden picked clean of the choicest blooms and fruits by passers by who can’t resist.

While the temptation to fully fence your yard might be overwhelming, you may also be reluctant to lose the curb appeal your garden provides to your house and the facing street. How can you protect your garden from theft or damage while still maintaining the aesthetic appeal of your front lawn?

Read on to learn more about some of the best fencing options for showing off a beautiful fruit tree, vegetable garden, or flowering plant without allowing passersby to get close enough to ruin the scene.

Wrought-Iron Fencing

When it comes to providing a classic, solid, and unobtrusive barrier between your garden and the outer world, wrought-iron fencing may be your best bet.

What Are the Advantages of This Fencing?

Wrought-iron fences are made of solid wrought iron with a glossy finish. This heavy metal is ideal for keeping out intruders (particularly if you choose a variety with pointed fence posts or support beams) and is usually painted black or another dark color so it doesn’t stand out too noticeably.

Wrought iron’s primary advantage is its durability. If properly maintained and sealed from moisture, a wrought-iron fence can stand in place for decades without any significant changes in appearance or function.

What Should You Look for in a Wrought-Iron Fence?

When browsing your wrought-iron fencing options, you may want to give a closer look to fences with very small spaces between the posts. This is often enough to keep all but the tiniest hands at bay and shouldn’t let enough of your roses or other flowers poke through to allow passersby to get a grip.

Aluminum Fencing

Although wrought iron poses a number of advantages, it’s not right for every yard. If you’d like a low-maintenance way for your flowers, fruit trees, or veggies to shine through, an aluminum fence could be the best choice.

What are the advantages of an aluminum fence?

Aluminum fences are especially lightweight,essentially the total opposite of a wrought-iron fence on this front. This light weight can make them a breeze to install. Aluminum is also available in a wide variety of colors, which is perfect for the homeowner looking to coordinate this fence with his or her exterior paint or even some of the brightest plants in the garden.

In most cases, an aluminum fence will be available at a lower cost than a wrought-iron fence of similar dimensions, making aluminum a more cost-effective option for larger yards.

What should you look for in an aluminum fence?

As with a wrought-iron fence, it can be worth while to investigate the width of any spaces within the fence to see whether they’re large enough to block a hand (or even a pair of pruning shears) from access.

If your fence is going to be exposed to sun throughout most of the day, you may also want to look at fences treated with UV-resistant chemicals that can help the paint resist fading, peeling, or other damage.

In some cases, you may find your needs are best served by a combination of choices-for example, an aluminum fence around three-quarters of your yard with a wrought-iron fence and gate in the front. At Mills Fence, we can work with you to evaluate your unique needs so you can rest assured at the end of the day that you’ve selected the perfect new fence for your lawn.