How do I match fence design with my home and landscape styles?

Question: How do I match fence design with my home and landscape styles?

Sometimes, fence design choice (e.g., split-rail fences) is driven by function. Other times, fence design is purely a matter of attractive form. And still other times, there is a happy marriage between form and function.

Answer: This FAQ deals with fence design as a matter of form: what homeowners and passersby alike will find visually appealing. As with any hardscaping, visually appealing fence design will consider compatibility both with house style and with landscape style.

First some examples of fence design compatibility with house style. Modernistic house styles are complemented nicely by the sleek lines of iron and aluminum fences. By contrast, split-rail fences and other fence design marked by rugged wooden posts and rails have long been a favorite with ranch-style houses. Likewise, the wooden picket fence seems a natural fit for cottage gardens.

Wooden picket fences evoke images of English cottage gardens, which leads us into the component of the question that deals with landscaping compatibility. Not only wooden picket fences, but also split-rail fences and other fence design comprising just posts and rails are commonly used as backdrops for landscaping plants. Playing on their Western ties, split-rail fences are especially attractive for landscapes with a Southwest theme, such as gardens with cacti and succulents.

Incidentally, even wooden picket fences, to say nothing of solid barrier fences, can create “microclimates” in a garden. Only a "loose and airy" fence design such as that of split rail fences fails to create microclimates.

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