Woven Wattle Fences for Your Garden

 

Yay for Woven Wattle Fencing!

Andrea Cochran's fabulous garden shown here would not be the same without the wattle fence on top of the hill....

What is a woven wattle fence?

It is essentially fencing woven from green branches of Hazel and Willow trees (oak, elder, hornbeam and ash too ).  This technique has been used for centuries in Great Britain and makes an ideal windbreak and screen.

Wattle also provides a unique and attractive rustic appearance... and is sustainable as well.

Wattle as hand railing - Andrea Cochran Design

Wattle fencing also makes a great gate - as shown below.

Here is a gate and archway leading through an existing hornbeam hedge. The gate is treated pine with hazel woven infill. Below is a 6' high woven hazel fence.  Sustainable and functional....and so nice to look at! by Burwash Wonder Wood

and look at this screen! so simple...by Burwash Wonder Wood again.

But how to get braches for this?

Coppicing  willow trees is a way to renew trees and is an efficient way to provide small banches for wattles.

In historic Britain, much of the economic value of a medieval woodland was in the so-called “small wood,” or coppiced trees rather than in large timber trees.  Although the practice fell into disuse in the first half of the twentieth century, it has been revived in contemporary Great Britain, where there is interest in the conservation of woodlands and in the ecological benefits of coppicing.

from Woodlandatics site

The resulting wattles from coppiced trees look great and are a valuable way to define or enclose  outdoor space. You can even use it to shade a patio.. Go to the Willow Farm website to see more examples.

If you are interested in this latter idea ,  check out the website Casa Sugar (click on it).

Wattle could be a great new industry for the United States - some enterprising person can be the wattle provider for Home Depot..