All About Fencing

No, not this crowd- although they do bring some light relief to Sunday night’s TV viewing. I am sure Dumas is spinning in his grave – the plots bear no relation to the original story- but I somehow feel it doesn’t really matter [and how will they film a second series, now we know The Cardinal is to become The Doctor?]

No, this is garden fencing. Back in October 13, we lost some fence panels at Cornerstones, and Bob did a fine job of repair and replacement. We decided some of the other panels would need to be changed later on this summer.

A report on the BBC website last week left me a little concerned – a shortage of fencing following the winter storms has pushed prices up by 30% and hardware stores report a five-fold increase in demand. We will need to replace more of these lapped fence panels before next winter. Maybe our decision to wait was not a good one!

But the BBC reported ended with a comment from Simone Gallen, editor of Fencing and Landscaping News magazine [who buys that? has it ever featured as the guest publication on HIGNFY?] who confidently said “the log shortage would get sorted out soon.”

And so it has – the Forestry Commission has announced the planting of thousands of Scandinavian Saplings which mature very quickly to produce exactly the right sort of wood required for lapped fence panels. The Oslo “Lap Fir” has been developed specifically for this purpose.

Please do not confuse this tree with the Norwegian Spruce, often called the Norwegian Fir, which is a popular choice for the family Christmas Tree.[pictured, left] This arborial cultivar is related, but very different in its growth structure.

Maybe Father Christmas will deliver some of these new Oslo Lap Fir fence panels to Cornerstones, if I’m a good little girl from now to December!