For horse owners, smallholders and householders who need a new fence or an old one replaced: closeboard along a boundary, lap panels round a garden, picket at the front, or post and rail round a paddock. Describe the fence and local contractors send a price per metre.
Start with the type. Closeboard (featheredge boards on rails) is strong and private; closeboard or lap panels are quicker to put up; picket suits front gardens; post and rail is the usual choice for paddocks and horses; trellis tops a fence or makes a screen for climbers.
Then height, length in metres, and posts. Wooden posts look traditional and are easy to cut to fit; concrete posts with gravel boards last longer and suit panel fencing. A capping rail on closeboard sheds rain from the board tops and adds to their life.
Every fence needs its details sorted: how many gates and what width, whether the line runs up a slope, whether the ground needs clearing of hedge, scrub or brambles first, and whether an old fence has to be taken down and taken away.
Fencing can go in all year, but post holes dig and set most easily in autumn and spring when the ground is workable. Hard summer clay and waterlogged winter ground both slow the job.
For paddocks, fence before stock go out on new grass. For boundary lines alongside hedges, clearing work should avoid the bird nesting season.