Preventing soil touching fence

aasclarke

Hi, so in my garden there is a fence perimeter and in front of that (about 2ft away) is a 3ft wall perimeter. So naturally i would like to fill that space with soil and add some greenery. Of course doing that with no protection will cause the fence to rot - question is, what is a sufficient barrier? A plastic sheet? An additional wooden barrier afixed to the existing posts? I think building a wall next to the fence would be beyond my diy skills but open to any suggestions! Thanks

Fairygirl

Do you own the fence and the wall?
That has an effect on what you can and can't do.

KT53

Concrete gravel boards would keep soil off the bottom of the fence.  Not particularly cheap but only needs to be done once.

aasclarke

Fairygirl said:

Do you own the fence and the wall?
That has an effect on what you can and can't do.

Yes, fence and wall are both mine fortunately!

Lizzie27

Can't quite visualize that. Is the top of the wall level with the bottom of the fence? A photo would be helpful please.

nick615

I'm afraid the smaller the gap between whatever barrier you use and the fence, the less leaves etc. will fall into it BUT even fine dust will accumulate and become wet in the smallest of gaps.  Smaller the gap, less easy to clean out, so there's no real solution to this sort of problem.

aasclarke

Lizzie27 said:

Can't quite visualize that. Is the top of the wall level with the bottom of the fence? A photo would be helpful please.

Hopefully this helps clarify a little. I need to do something, just not sure what 

BenDover

If you're set on filling the gap with soil, then I'd line the fence with thick polythene to simply stop the soil (and water/dampness) seeping thru' the fence and rotting the wood.  It looks like the fence panel is already below ground level so may already be rotting.  I'm not clear what is under all that gravel/clinker. Can you not plant in that, and grow tall herbaceous plants that will simply fill the space?  The other issue is around how much moisture will be retained in the soil in what will essentially become a raised bed.  It will be quite dry out in there and because there isn't a lot of volume, it will do so quite quickly.    It will need polythene (with holes in) at the bottom to stop the water seeping away too quickly.  Seems a really odd arrangement.  I'm assuming you inherited it?

aasclarke

BenDover said:

If you're set on filling the gap with soil, then I'd line the fence with thick polythene to simply stop the soil (and water/dampness) seeping thru' the fence and rotting the wood.  It looks like the fence panel is already below ground level so may already be rotting.  I'm not clear what is under all that gravel/clinker. Can you not plant in that, and grow tall herbaceous plants that will simply fill the space?  The other issue is around how much moisture will be retained in the soil in what will essentially become a raised bed.  It will be quite dry out in there and because there isn't a lot of volume, it will do so quite quickly.    It will need polythene (with holes in) at the bottom to stop the water seeping away too quickly.  Seems a really odd arrangement.  I'm assuming you inherited it?

Yes this is near enough how i purchased it - originally there were wooden beans at the top, covered with a plastic sheeting and the stones on top but it wasn’t particularly sturdy and began collapsing in areas - hence the refurb! 

Polythene sounds like the right idea - should i have concern about the amount of weight the soil would put against the fence? Was considering some blocks next to the fence to reduce the load, any other suggestions? Thanks

K67

Second the  suggestion made by @KT53 or use paving slabs. They aren't very thick and  sink them in so they aren't leaning against  the fence.

Lizzie27

It is indeed a very odd arrangement. It's going to be very difficult sinking paving slabs in that confined space so I would opt for thick plastic sheeting stapled (an electric stapler works very well and is quick) to the fence and poked down with a stick before filling it with soil and planting up. I would imagine however that the fence is not going to last much longer whatever you do,  so when it rots/falls down, you will then have to make a choice what to do, either knock the wall down and start again, or give the neighbour the 2 ft of space and leave the wall up as your boundary - your choice. 

Probably your seller got fed up with ivy/weeds/roots perhaps growing under his fence but it looks a strange way to deal with that problem. I don't envy you.