Fence and Decking Colour

5 years ago

The back garden is finally being landscaped in a few weeks so my thoughts are turning to fence colour. You can see the new, orange, fencing and the older fence on the neighbours side. It’s a long garden, around 60ft, it’s great in spring and summer as I’m surrounded by greenery but in the winter it can be sparse looking. I’ve added a pic from January so you can see the difference the full trees make.

The landscaping will pretty much follow the current layout. The path down the side will be double slab width in a light grey. The current grassed area will be artificial and the same size and towards the bottom (where you see the stick in the ground) will be gravel/shingle area and then right at the bottom a slabbed patio area (and I’m thinking of putting a shed). The decking will be replaced so I’d like to tie it all in together but need helping thinking what colour!

I LOVE the darker fence and decking colours from dark grey, navy to black but I’m thinking in such a large area it’ll look too imposing. There will be some planting around the left edges with hardy evergreens in tall planters and on the right I’m keeping the cordyline and there will be evergreen shrubs as well as lavender.

You can see the full garden from the decking down to the patio then from the patio to the back of the house. The back is due to be repainted so will be whiter than it currently is.

Featured Answer

Irene Spinks

5 years ago

Paint /stain your fencing black, the boundary will become blurred one you start to plant shrubs and trees and the evergreens you are planning to plant will really stand out against the dark background. With regards to decking I would oil it, I don’t think decking looks great painted and as mentioned before can start to look tatty quite quickly. Don’t forget this is a garden , bright colours and accents should be added with planting, dahlias for instance are fantastic at the moment and in the spring colourful spring bulbs will bring the garden to life. Cornus (dogwoods) will provide lovely winter colour and would stand out beautifully against the dark fencing as would silver birch trees. Enjoy yourself it’s great fun starting a garden from scratch

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Comments (13)

catherine_eb
Original Author
5 years ago
Decking which is being replaced like for like
E D
5 years ago
While I'm sure painting the fences can be successful, I would be careful painting the decking.

First of all I think you will need to wait a while after it has been installed before you paint/finish it, not sure how long, I'm sure your decking provider can tell you.

Secondly, I think actually painting it might be a little bit counterproductive. It will look nice to start with but I fear that the paint will wear, or even come off pretty soon after.

I bought some slate grey decking paint and have only used it so far on a number of wooden plant containers about a year ago. I'm glad I haven't done our decking with it; the paint is flaking here and there and wearing thin in other places.

Perhaps I didn't buy the most expensive stuff, but it was still a well known brand (Ronseal, I think it was).

A better finishing product / sealant might be decking oil.

Perhaps some food for thought for you... :)
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If you are set on painting then go with a contrasting colour to the paving, a darker tone of grey for the horizontal slats. As for paint I would choose the Valspa decking paint from B&Q as this is much better wearing and seems to have a better coverage than fencing paints. Also this being designed for decks it does not need as much repainting as fence paint and to some degree be washed down. As for the fence around the lawn area it depends if you are planting around the borders or not. Whatever you do there the fence will go green under the overhanging foliage and will need to be cleaned on a regular basis. If it was me I would be tempted to leave it to weather naturally as once you start painting a fence, you will always be painting it to keep it looking good.
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Hi Roxy. Lovely big garden to work with! I'm no professional except trying to remodel my own garden and have two boys myself so know where you're at! Found a couple of pics with dark green fence, I think its a nice colour although maybe not as modern as dark grey. I've just painted my side fence dark grey and its really made the flowers (love white flowers) pop as would any dark colour. Like the blackboard idea too, here, a can of blackboard paint is fairly inexpensive and you could attach a piece of painted ply to the fence to have the option of removing later/ when the boys grow up a bit. Another idea is add decking to your garden, my boys would have loved this sandpit a few years ago! It all depends how much money you have to work with (as do most things in this life).. I have plenty of great ideas but not necessarily the budget to match!!
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Silver copse cupinol is a dark grey... There is a darker grey urban slate personally think its too dark. I'd go with the silver copse for fencing will make your plants and flowers pop.... Also silver birch cupinol is a lighter grey... Check them colours out....
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catherine_eb
Original Author
5 years ago
I couldn’t decide between decking stain and decking oil. I was leaning towards a stain, oak colour maybe, so thanks for the tip on flaking!
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Stu About The House
5 years ago
I say you go with blue. It will be fresh and happy in summer when things grow up against it, and will be stand out in winter when there's sparse surroundings - here's an example I love
Irene Spinks
5 years ago
Me again I should also say please think again about artificial grass. If you don’t the bother of cutting grass use something else that is more in keeping with a garden, #wildlife hates plastic. An acquaintance recently had expensive artificial grass laid, it all had to come up again (twice) when moles tried to burrow up quite a costly exercise.
Chris Goodchild
5 years ago
Considering how narrow the garden is, I would avoid a really dark colour on the fence as it would make it feel even narrower. Since you are replacing the existing decking, perhaps a composite would be worth considering as that comes in a good range of colours.

Astro turf is good in some places but as mentioned if you are in an area where moles are prevalent, they can cause a lot of damage.

It needs a good compacted gravel base to provide drainage,then a weed proof membrane, usually the joints are epoxied with tape.
Juliet Docherty
5 years ago
Are you using diagonals or curves to make the garden look wider? Would love to see a plan. Although painted fences can look striking (with dark aubergine probably making plants stand out the most) I would avoid this as it may narrow the proportions even more. To shorten the garden visually you could plant something like a chocolate coloured vine across the back.
Katy Robinson
5 years ago
I agree that dark colours would make the garden seem smaller. I love the look of the bright blue fence posted above!
E D
5 years ago
I'm not speaking from experience, but I have read somewhere (likely here on Houzz) that very dark colours (black, anthracite etc) tend to 'disappear' in the background, meaning they actually make the space look bigger.

Either way I think it is probably best to incorporate some 'tricks' in your landscaping plans to limit the long and thin look of your garden somewhat. Maybe some zoning is a good idea.

You've possibly done that already?
E D
5 years ago
Do consider a winding path rather than a straight one like the one you have now.
HU-714859438
5 years ago
Have you checked that you can paint your neighbours boundary fence? I noticed that painting your side of their fence will create drips of your paint colour down their side.
fionaoneill
5 years ago
I think a winding path with shrubs and tall grasses at intervals would be lovely in your garden, and give a feeling of "what's around the corner?". If you are painting I would make the back of the garden and one fence side darker to create some width and depth. The other side could be a lighter colour like the blue or even bright orange if you want to blend with your neighbour's. I used Cuprinol Shades in Willow on one of my boundaries and it is beautiful winter and summer as a backdrop to planting , and in its own right. Don't use cheap stuff , you will rue the day when you have to repaint it all again because of flaking. A good quality paint in a couple of ciates will last 3 to 5 years. If you don't load the brush too much at the creases you will avoud runs going through the other side. Oil your deck once a year with a natural or lightly coloured deck stain and it will last and look beautiful . Enjoy

Fence and Decking Colour

Irene Spinks

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catherine_eb
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Fence and Decking Colour

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catherine_ebOriginal Author

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