We enjoy fencing. Today there are many suppliers who produce wonderful effects with wood and the smooth finish is a delight to work with. Of course we are soft these days and don’t like getting splinters in our fingers so the smooth finish is a treat, though Mike, who is nobbut a young ‘un wonders how we ever survived these past few years.

It is nice stuff to handle though and we buy a load of panels and trellis effects from Forest Products. They do have a neat finish. We also occasionally go to Barkers at Newby Bridge to have some things custom built.

Wood today is generally pressure tanalised and guaranteed to last for 25 years. Now I can’t say if that is correct or not, because I have no experience of wood that has been on site for that long, but I have to believe their advertising guff.

One job at Heversham enhanced the garden so much that the lady asked us to get a gate and shed to match. Another garden in Hawkshead has been vastly improved with the inclusion of half moon trellis topped panels. These replaced a shabby and derelict looking larch lap job. Every set of new panels brings a touch of class to the section.

We frequently erect simple perimeter stock fencing with tanalised posts, we prefer to concrete them in the ground as this gives a much more solid finish. Most of these perimeter fences are to discourage the deer from nibbling on the garden smorgasbord we create. It has to be said that the deer population in and around Windermere is significant and it is a difficult task to exclude them, especially when we arrive at the end of winter and their natural food sources in the woods is scarce.

We are gardeners though, so really - what’s the choice?