Fences around Sevenoaks earn their living the hard way: clay that swells and shrinks by season, ridge-line gusts that test every panel, and gardens that expect the boundary to look as good as the borders. A fence built for those conditions is a decade's asset; one bought on price alone is two winters of luck.
Gemzas Garden Maintenance and Landscaping builds fencing as part of its landscaping work across Sevenoaks, and this is what lasting boundaries involve.
Featheredge or panels: choose by the line
Continuous featheredge, boards individually nailed to rails, is the exposed line's friend: no panel to lift out in a gust, height that steps cleanly on slopes, and repairs by the single board. Prefabricated panels win on speed and budget along sheltered runs, accepting that storm damage arrives panel-sized.
The garden's role matters too: fences behind deep borders can prioritise economy since planting will own the view; fences that ARE the view earn better timber and detailing. The photograph's new closeboard line behind fresh turf shows the standard where the fence carries the backdrop.
- Featheredge for exposure, slopes and repairability.
- Panels for sheltered runs and speed.
- Spend where the fence is the view.
Posts in clay: depth and drainage
Kent clay moves: wet winters swell it, dry summers crack it, and shallow posts rock loose within seasons. Posts here want genuine depth, holes filled with concrete crowned to shed water away from timber, and spacing honest to the fence's wind load.
Concrete posts remove the rot question entirely and suit repeat-storm lines; quality timber posts, set correctly and kept clear of soil contact above ground, hold their own where looks lead. Either way the ground fixes the argument: depth and drainage first.
- Clay demands depth and crowned concrete.
- Concrete posts for the stormiest runs.
- Timber posts live when water sheds away.
The lifespan details
Two details buy years wholesale: gravel boards keeping featheredge and panels out of soil splash and soak, and capping strips shedding rain off the end grain that otherwise drinks it. Add stainless or galvanised fixings that never streak, and treatment refreshed on cut ends, and the fence's clock slows visibly.
Gemzas Garden Maintenance and Landscaping builds these in as standard because replacing a rotten bottom board years early is the expensive way to save on a gravel board.
Fences and planting, planned together
A landscaper's fence thinks about the garden: climbers given wires or trellis rather than nails through boards, borders set so soil never piles against timber, and hedges partnered where a softer or taller boundary suits, yew and hornbeam taking over where fences meet their height limits.
Boundary etiquette completes the job: neighbours consulted on heights and faces, shared lines agreed before work, and gates hung to serve both plots where access is shared. A boundary is half someone else's garden; building it that way keeps it half someone else's pleasure.
Related pages
Questions customers ask
What fence type survives exposed Sevenoaks gardens best?
Continuous featheredge on properly set posts: no panels for gusts to lift, easy single-board repairs, and clean stepping on slopes. Add gravel boards and caps and it is the endurance choice.
How deep should fence posts be in clay soil?
Deep enough that seasonal clay movement cannot rock them, with concrete crowned to shed water off the timber. Depth plus drainage is the whole formula.
Can climbers grow on a new fence without damaging it?
Yes, on wires or trellis standing the plant off the boards: the timber stays ventilated and the climber gets better support. Direct nailing and soil piled on boards are what shorten fence lives.
Choose by exposure, set posts for clay, fit the boards and caps that buy years, and plan the planting with the timber: that is a Sevenoaks boundary built for decades.
Gemzas Garden Maintenance and Landscaping builds them inside complete garden projects and as standalone lines. The contact page walks your boundary.
