Fancy fence work

Though their claims don’t ring true, fence-protecting treatments are essential, as Kya de Longchamp discovers

You can paint, roller, or spray fence treatment onto the wood and colours can be soft or bold,

Shelter, privacy, a support for planting, and a feature all by itself — garden fencing provides essential services. The vast majority of gardeners still vouch for some inclusion of wood, whether in fence panels, rails; arbours; sheds; decks and posts, but a naturally degrading material like wood demands care to slow its gentle but inevitable decline. At this time of year, hard-working garden fencing set face on to the elements often looks thirsty and rather shabby.

Fencing is especially vulnerable to dilapidation as it comes into contact with the ground, adding the additional soaking potential of surface water, damp plantings, and wet earth. You can paint, roller, or spray fence treatment onto the wood, or use a dedicated pad with a short pile similar to interior grade paint pads. Most people become devoted to one or the other technique. For some outdoor wood painting with a relatively easy, low toxicity stain, is a positive pleasure, not a chore.

Whatever product you use, your fencing treatment must offer: lProtection from decay and pests; lA degree of water resistance to protect wood from its greatest enemy — water ingress l Colour fastness with rich pigments on show from the first coat if you’re staining the timber.

You really do get what you pay for in timber care, but I must admit to feeling some frustration at the bold claims of up to five years of unmaintained protection from any water-based product. Clearly, the makers think in dog years. Set in full sun, I have yet to find anything that won’t be sloughed off in a couple of seasons by even the best seasoned, pressure treated wood.

Generally, you can expect to give virgin timber two coats for an opaque finish with the wood grain showing through, and in some cases only three will deliver complete uniformity in the finish. The colour is guaranteed for five-year products but this does not mean the fence won’t look like it needs retreating before 60 months. A treatment every two years if more realistic. The extreme option for sheds and fencing is a solvent-based wood preserver high in VOCs, with a price to match, far from environmentally friendly and better suited to windows, doors, and smooth quality timber you really cannot risk. Prices start at around €25 for five litres.

Water-based fencing treatments are micro-porous and are designed to be absorbed into the fibres of the timber. The texture of the wood will receive the product in a distinct way and for brushing or spraying, a smooth timber will demand less stain. For rough sawn wood, the best investment is a wax and resin rich formula such as Cuprinol DucksBack (€3.20 per litre) with a high protection rating, UV filters and a range of traditional horticultural colours.

If you are spraying the stain rather than brushing it on, expect to use in the order of 25% more stain that in the name of convenience and speed. The Ronseal Power Sprayer (around €40) now comes ready to slip on to dedicated five-litre tubs of One-coat Fencelife (€3-€4 per litre), no decanting required and in theory quick enough to cover a standard fence panel in three minutes. B&Q’s Fence Stain is matched to their pump action pressure sprayer and comes in at around €5 per litre.

Brands such as Cuprinol shades (€8 per 125ml) really allow you to go as wild in the garden as you choose, with over 50 colours on offer in a delicious matt finish. For something a little more polite, Ronseal’s Woodland Trust colours are inspired by a daintier take on an English forest (20m² per litre, but three coats required). €9.60 per litre. For large areas, use a nice big floppy-bristled brush thirsty for stain, cutting in with a smaller head. Wear old clothes and long gloves as drips will migrate down the brush as you poke it into those maddening crannies on a rail or post running straight up to your elbows.