Start With the Stock, Not the Catalogue

Every boundary on a smallholding is doing a job, and that job should decide what you build. Before you order a single post, walk the perimeter with a notebook and ask three questions. What will be kept behind this fence — sheep, pigs, a pony, geese, or just the neighbour's dog? What is on the other side — a garden, a road, a public footpath, a ditch? And how much maintenance can you realistically keep up with in February rain?

A fence that suits a couple of pet sheep in a quiet corner will be hopeless for a hungry colt or a determined sow. Equally, there is no sense in running 3,000 volts along a hedgerow that only ever holds a few hens. Match the fence to the livestock, the lie of the land and your own energy levels, and you will only do the job once.

Stock Fencing: the Workhorse of the Holding

Galvanised stock netting on timber posts remains the backbone of most smallholdings, and for good reason. It is comparatively cheap per metre, needs little thought once it is up, and holds most grazing animals without any power supply.

The usual specification is a netting 1.05 metres high for sheep and lambs, rising to 1.1–1.2 metres for cattle or mixed grazing. Look for mesh with a thicker bottom wire — around 2.5mm — because that is the wire that rubs along the ground and takes the rot. Set the netting tight to the ground, and on uneven ground follow the contours rather than bridging hollows where lambs will wriggle through.

Posts and strain matter more than the netting itself. Drive or dig in sturdy strainers of at least 100mm diameter at every corner, gatepost and change of direction, brace them with a diagonal strut, and expect to place intermediates every three metres or so. Use plain line wire at the top and bottom to carry the tension. A well-braced fence will hold for twenty years; a badly braced one will sag within two.

• Sheep: 1.05m netting, small mesh, tight to the ground; add a top line wire to discourage leaning.
• Cattle: 1.2m netting or a heavier netting with a single barbed or electric top strand.
• Pigs: pig netting with a low bottom wire, backed up by an electric strand — pigs root, push and rub, and no netting alone will hold a bored one.
• Goats and horses: netting alone is risky; goats climb, and horses can catch hooves in mesh. Consider post-and-rail or electric tape instead.

Post-and-Rail: Good Looks, Wider Gaps in the Wallet

Three or four treated rails on stout posts make a handsome boundary that will keep cattle, horses and ponies where they belong, and it photographs beautifully. It is also the most expensive option per metre and the slowest to build, so most smallholders reserve it for the frontage, the paddock beside the house or a ménage boundary.

Use pressure-treated timber — tanalised rather than merely dipped — with posts of at least 100mm section, dug to a third of their length and bedded in hardcore and earth. Space rails so that nothing can get a leg between them: 200mm gaps are fine for cattle, but smaller if you are keeping ponies or youngstock. Bear in mind that post-and-rail will not hold sheep or lambs at all; they simply walk through the gaps.

Electric Fencing: Flexible and Kind to the Pocket

Electric fencing is the great problem-solver on a smallholding. It is cheap, quick to move, and ideal for strip-grazing, temporarily dividing a paddock, or protecting young trees. A mains energiser is the most reliable where you have power nearby; battery and solar units have improved enormously and will happily run a few hundred metres of fence.

Energy is measured in joules, and the honest rule is to buy more than you think you need — a unit rated at 1–2 joules will manage a short run in dry conditions, but a long run through grass, or a fence asked to hold sheep, wants considerably more. Sheep need a powerful, well-earthed fence because their wool insulates them; cattle respect far less. Use wide tape rather than thin wire alongside horses so they can see it, and keep the bottom strand low for pigs and poultry.

Check the earth rod first whenever a fence seems weak. Nine times out of ten the problem is a dry, badly placed earth rather than the energiser.

Planning, Hedgerows and the Neighbours

Fencing is usually permitted development, but there are limits. As a general guide, a fence adjacent to a highway should not exceed one metre in height, and two metres elsewhere, without planning permission. Listed buildings, conservation areas, national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty often have stricter rules, and some deeds or tenancy agreements impose their own covenants. A quick call to your local planning authority costs nothing and saves a great deal of grief.

If your proposed line runs through an existing hedgerow, remember that removing a hedgerow may require permission under the Hedgerow Regulations. Where a public footpath crosses the boundary, you will need a stile or gate that is easy for walkers to use — and the goodwill that comes with it.

Finally, talk to your neighbours before the first post goes in. A fence built half a metre over a boundary can sour a relationship for a decade, and a shared cost agreement is often cheaper for both parties.

Budget, Lifespan and the Repairs You Will Actually Do

As a rough guide, expect stock fencing to cost somewhere between £8 and £15 per metre installed, post-and-rail to run £15 to £25 per metre, and electric fencing to come in at £1 to £3 per metre. Doing it yourself can halve the labour element, but only if you have the knack of straining wire properly.

Whatever you choose, budget for upkeep. Walk the boundary twice a year, replace broken posts promptly, keep vegetation off electric lines, and re-tension as the seasons shift. A fence that is checked regularly is a fence that lasts, and a secure boundary is the quiet foundation on which every other smallholding job depends.