In my travels through Eastern Europe, I was amazed at the country of beautiful and rustic orchards. The feature that stood out the most was the rustic look of the wattle fences. Wattle fence is simply made of sticks woven into panels or sections. Much like a woven basket, wattle fences can come in many styles and fashions. Most wattle fences are built from locally gathered materials; no need to buy unless you don’t have any vegetation.

The history of wattle fences is long and probably dates back to the stone age when people began to build barriers out of materials they could harvest around them. When visiting a Renaissance or Medieval fair, barriers are often built to look like wattles, if the wattle technique itself is not used. Even during the founding of early colonial America, wattle fences would be a common sight. As the logging industry improved in the country, wattle fences and barriers were replaced by solid wood and stone fences and walls.

Our family chose to start by building a simple wattle garden edging that easily shows paths in gardens and also helps prevent soil erosion. Our fences weren’t designed to keep people out of the garden, they’re only about 6 inches tall, but they keep armadillos from hunting for grubs. The rustic charm of these fences can’t be matched and since they’re made with locally harvested materials, we’re upcycling what would have simply been put in a pile to burn.

For our wattle fences, we have used Yaupon Holly, a variety of holly that is more than abundant on our land. Since most of our garden space was nothing but Yaupon, we often burned the weeds just to get rid of them. Traditionally, willow sticks were a common material as they are easy to bend and are often used to make baskets. Any small branch with a diameter between ¼” and 1 ½” would work well for horizontal studs, larger diameter poles and branches up to 2 ½” work great for vertical studs. When cutting branches, shrubs and trees, we like to use ratcheting cutters, they can usually cut up to 3″ in diameter with little effort. Starting at the base of your branch, work your way up the branches using the pruner to remove any secondary branches, do this until the branch is about 1 ½” in diameter. Make a cut at this point, and this would be the maximum height of your fence. I like to separate my studs from my horizontal rails, so I make two stacks of long, straight sticks.

Building 6″ tall fences requires up to 2″-3″ underground support, so make sure your uprights are at least 8″ tall. Cut all vertical studs to the same height with pruning shears. Since our project was a family job, our older kids used their pocket knives to sharpen 1″ points on each stick, which helps in setup but isn’t necessary. The key to horizontal stringers is that they are flexible and not It does not have secondary branches.The length of the horizontal sticks is not a problem until the insulation.When you feel that there is enough material, you can start the assembly of the fence.

The great thing about wattle fences is that they are flexible: they can be straight or curved. You’ll often need both, it’s up to you. Since our garden has many natural curves and straight beds, we use both. For installation you will need about 4 feet of rope and a hammer or small mallet. Using two of your largest studs, tie the string in the middle of the two sticks. Find the edge of your first fence and hammer the post into the ground. Pull the string tight using the other post and determine where you want to install the post, if you need a shorter fence just shorten the string length. Pull hard and drive the stick into the ground. Now wattle fences are rustic, this means they don’t have to be perfect, you’re working with various sizes of material, so space your sticks so they’re about 2″ apart, more or less doesn’t matter, and add flavor to your creation. After you’ve hammered all the studs along the string, you can now install the horizontal stringers. Make sure the first piece is very flexible. Weave this piece first in front of the first post and behind the next post by changing back and forth until you’ve reached the last post, or you’ve run out of a stick. If you’ve run out of a stick, simply pick up another stick and pick up where you left off, overlapping two posts. If you’ve reached the last post, simply use pruning shears to cut the branch Go back to the first post and weave the next horizontal piece starting behind the front post alternating back and forth except on the opposite side of your first knitting. Depending on how tight you want this fence, you may want to touch the second branch so it will touch the first horizontal rail. Continue this until your fence is as high as you need it to be.

Again, this is very simple, but it’s a lot of hard work. These fences are quite durable, and with tight weaving we have even been able to build raised beds. The sticks will eventually break, but they are affordable as their material is harvested locally. The variations of these are innumerable, and building bigger and better is always an option.