Why Choose a Fence Over a Hedge for the Home Garden?
The past few years has saw home gardening become an increasingly popular hobby. It's very exciting growing your own plants and vegetables. Seeing something you have created from a seed and enjoying its looks or taste is a good feeling. However the exiting part of gardening comes with the chore of having to maintain those pesky hedges and cutting the garden grass.
Hedges are better to the environment or are they? They may help with drainage and store carbon monoxide but how much pollution does trimming them use? Cutting the hedge monthly uses lots of electricity and then taking the cuttings to the recycle plant uses fuel. That's just what happens on your part. Then there is the energy used by the recycle plant to process the cuttings. Installing a fence that will last 10 or more years with minimal maintenance seems like a better way to protect the environment to me.
Hedges may look better than a fence when maintained but not always. There are lots of different fences types and ways of making a fence look good. Different shapes can be cut into the fence and different colours of paint can be used. The best thing about a fence is once it has been installed and painted there is no more maintenance required for years. Hedges need regular maintenance and time spent that most people just do not have.
Summary
So the first reason for choosing a fence is because it reduces the amount of time spent on the boring aspects of gardening and frees up time for the enjoyable parts. The second reason for choosing the fence is there will be no more trips to the recycle plant and money spent on fuel taking the trimmings there. The other benefit is that hedge cutters are no longer needed which can be expensive to buy and run. Hedge cutters also use up a lot of space in the shed or garage that can be used for something else. Fences can help reduce the amount of maintenance required but the right kind of wood is important. Treated wood is important to get the most life out of the fence.
Hedges are better to the environment or are they? They may help with drainage and store carbon monoxide but how much pollution does trimming them use? Cutting the hedge monthly uses lots of electricity and then taking the cuttings to the recycle plant uses fuel. That's just what happens on your part. Then there is the energy used by the recycle plant to process the cuttings. Installing a fence that will last 10 or more years with minimal maintenance seems like a better way to protect the environment to me.
Hedges may look better than a fence when maintained but not always. There are lots of different fences types and ways of making a fence look good. Different shapes can be cut into the fence and different colours of paint can be used. The best thing about a fence is once it has been installed and painted there is no more maintenance required for years. Hedges need regular maintenance and time spent that most people just do not have.
Summary
So the first reason for choosing a fence is because it reduces the amount of time spent on the boring aspects of gardening and frees up time for the enjoyable parts. The second reason for choosing the fence is there will be no more trips to the recycle plant and money spent on fuel taking the trimmings there. The other benefit is that hedge cutters are no longer needed which can be expensive to buy and run. Hedge cutters also use up a lot of space in the shed or garage that can be used for something else. Fences can help reduce the amount of maintenance required but the right kind of wood is important. Treated wood is important to get the most life out of the fence.
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