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In his poem, Mending Wall, Robert Frost wrote,

"Something there is that doesn't love a wall.
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast."

The poem later ends with the line "Good fences make good neighbors." I would say this is especially true here in Southern California. As lot sizes became smaller and smaller, fences and walls became the only way to insure a certain amount of privacy. Unfortunately, this also was the beginning of the end of neighbors who actually knew one another. Now the largest contact and sometimes contention between homeowners is the replacement or repair of their mutual fences.

I was reminded of this poem as I inspected the fence that runs along our southern property line. This wooden fence had been put in 15 years ago by our neighbor. Unfortunately, it is showing its age. Several posts have rotted off and sections of fence seem to be supported only by their connections to other sections. During the heavy rains of last year one entire section toppled over and had to be replaced. Luckily, we seem to be free of termite damage to the fence or the whole thing might have come down in one piece. Wooden fences certainly have a more appealing look, but the maintenance and relatively short life span make them a poor choice for my gardening lifestyle.

Another part of the problem is a large collection of Trumpet Vine (DISTICTIS buccinatoria) that covers the fence each spring and summer. These vines seek out the separations between the fence slats in order to reach for the sun since they are planted on the north shady side. They are so powerful that they can actually pop the boards off the fence. I try to prune the vines back each year and even developed a couple of tripod trellises, but the vines still seem to prefer the fence. I fully expect to lose at least one section of the fence this winter.

I have been investigating several types of PVC fencing since I prefer the low, or even better, no maintenance approach to fences. PVC doesn't require painting so you aren't faced with removing all the vines every couple of years and finding your neighborhood Tom Sawyer to slap on some whitewash. My other alternative would be the cement block walls that border the rear and north side of the property. Cost will probably end up being the deciding factor in replacing the wooden fence though. Since our neighbors are retired and living on a fixed income I will be assuming most, if not all, of the replacement costs. I don't really mind this since our neighbor installed the current fence so many years ago. It also allows me to decide what type of fence I want, within reason.

Cement block walls have never really been my favorite as they are somewhat ugly and susceptible to, what I call, "earthquake flop." Unless they are properly reinforced, the shaking of an earthquake need only undermine a small section of fence to cause the entire length to flop over under its own weight. I saw many fences suffer this fate during the Northridge Earthquake 7 years ago. Our current block walls must have been built fairly well as they have survived all the largest quakes of the last 3 decades.

Most of my existing block walls have been planted with a variety of vines and that has helped mask them somewhat. Of course, due to my deep shade problems some of those vines have not been thriving and are opening large gaps of concrete to be seen. Further editing of trees should help this problem, though. In some cases, though, like in my alley the plantings and vines have taken over. Despite regular pruning and trimming, this path becomes virtually impassable several times a year. I wouldn't have expected this when I moved in as the alley runs along the north side of the house and gets no watering at all. The plants here seem to have adapted well, though and grow better than other, more tended, parts of my garden.

Time moves on, as always, and here we are facing the end of summer, at least in most people's minds. We have months of heat to go here in California but soon even our days will grow shorter and the garden will lapse into a slight sleep until the first major rains arrive.

A few fence links:

Japanese Garden Fence

Bamboo Fencer Inc.

Books about garden fencing:

(from Amazon.com)

Build Your Own Walls & Fences (Build Your Own Series)

Building Fences & Gates : How to Design and Build Them from the Ground Up

Building Fences of Wood, Stone, Metal, and Plants

Fences & Gates

Fences and Hedges : And Other Garden Dividers (Garden Project Workbooks)

Keep Digging!

Douglas