"Steven Campbell" wrote in message
et...

"BigWallop" wrote in message
om...

"PCPaul" wrote in message
om...
I've been tasked with making a garden gate for Xmas... a half-height
one,
along the lines of a picket fence with rounded tops.

The gate is between two hedges, so there's no existing fence or wood to
match up to. What wood is best to use to make a fairly resilient gate
without breaking the bank and without needing re-varnishing every
couple
of years?

Pine isn't too sturdy unless you keep redoing it. Pressure treated pine
is better but it's going to be machined, exposed wood so the colours
will
be all over the place.

So what's left? Ash? Oak (green or dried)? Poplar? anything else?


Old wooden pallet base runners. The timber is strong enough to dress
and
machine. It lasts for ages without much maintenance. It's cheap. Have
a
look around your local DIY store or timber merchant for old broken
pallets.

That's what our little garden divider fences are made from. :-)

I made a full length 30ft x 4ft high garden fence with old pallets around
20
years ago and it looks still as solid as the day it was made. Not sure
what
pallets are made with but its strong stuff.


I know our little fences have been there for years and years. Only painted
them a couple of times in that period, when they looked scruffy enough to
need a lick of paint. They are still strong and firm enough in the ground
to last the same length of time again, by the look of them.

I don't know what wood they are, but they all seem to match in colour and
grain strength. Cost the price of the diesel to bring them home. You do
have to ask for the broken pallets though, as new ones will most likely be
sent back to the supplier to be re-stocked. Broken ones get chucked away in
most places. You might also find them in skips at the side of the road,
which are the cheapest to obtain, and you don't have to ask if you leave it
till late enough at night.