I needed a fence because my dogs have a habit of running without looking where they are heading. So, I didn't really need it to be strong, rather to have a visual impact to the dogs, so they stay out. I am also an organic gardener, so I wanted something that looked natural. The only cost to this fence is for cotton string to bind the intersections.
This is how I did it. I use 4 main pieces, about 2 1/2 feet long as the legs to go into the ground.
Next, I use two smaller pieces of study twigs between each of the 4 longer ones. Then I took long sticks (these are the sucker branches that we trimmed off our apple trees this winter) and threaded them over and under these sticks. I would start and stop wherever there seemed to need bracing. I only would do about 4-5 sticks in each intersection. Then I tied each intersection. Here is the first row done.
I would loop around each side an then knot it at the bigger sticks, as they are the main supports, but just criss-cross tied the intersections of the smaller sticks. Here is an example of the knots.
I added two more rows of sticks, making sure each intersection is tied. I tried to keep them straight as possible, but wasn't too upset if it varied, as I liked the look of a "natural fence"
Here is the finished fence, I used a hammer and pounded the longer sticks into the ground to make it secure.
I hope this gives you ideas on how to use natural materials to help around the garden.
