Picket Fencing in Devon

A low front fence with a bit of character

Picket fencing is the short, spaced-board fence that sits in front of so many Devon cottages and Victorian terraces. It marks where the garden ends and the pavement begins without hiding the house, and it keeps a dog or a toddler in the front garden while still letting the postman see the step. Done well it lifts the whole front of a property; done badly it leans, the tops split, and it looks tired within a couple of winters.

Where we fit it

Front gardens on terraced streets where a tall fence would feel shut in
Cottage gardens in the villages between the Exe and the Teign
Edging a lawn, a veg plot or a path inside a larger garden
Replacing a tired picket run with one that matches the original line

At a glance

Typical job: usually a single day for a front garden run
Included: survey, posts, rails, pickets, a matching gate if wanted, clear-up
Heights: commonly 0.9 m to 1.2 m, set to suit the house and any local planning rules for front boundaries
Price: given after a free site visit

Getting the details right

The bit people notice is the top of each picket, pointed, rounded or flat, so we keep the spacing even and the tops on a true line, stepping the fence where a street slopes rather than letting it run crooked. Near the sea, salt air and driving rain are hard on end grain, so we use treated timber, galvanised fixings that won’t stain, and keep the bottoms of the pickets off the soil so they don’t sit wet.

A picket run that stays in line, and one that wanders

Spacing: gaps judged by eye creep wider along a run. Using one spacer block for every picket keeps the rhythm even, so the last few aren’t squeezed in beside the end post.
Rails: on so short a fence, two rails hold every picket. Fixed firmly into sound posts they stay put, while a rail on a single nail soon works loose and the whole section starts to nod.
Shaped tops: cutting a point or a round opens up the grain just where rain lands. Treating those cuts before the pickets go up gives them a much better chance.
Gate posts: a front gate gets opened all day long. Its posts take far more strain than their neighbours, so they want to be stouter and set with more care.

Picket fences on Devon’s terraces, cottages and front lawns

Front gardens on older streets are often barely a car’s length deep, sometimes with a low stone wall or a step up from the pavement already in place. On a frontage that small, anything slightly off shows every time you walk up to your own door. Next door’s boundary matters as well, because a picket line that meets a neighbour’s wall or hedge has to finish neatly against whatever is there, and few of those lines are square.

Under the surface, front gardens are where gas, water and cable connections tend to run on their way into the house, so we want to know about any meters or covers before a post hole gets dug. If your home sits in a conservation area, look at what the rest of the road has done, as old photos and surviving runs nearby are a useful guide to height and style. And if the fence meets a driveway, keep it low enough at that end to see people on the pavement as you pull out.

Putting up a picket fence

We look at the front, measure the run and agree height and picket style
You get a written quote
Old fence out, new posts set in line with the boundary
Rails and pickets fixed with even spacing, gate hung if included
Site left tidy

Questions about picket fencing

Do I need permission for a front fence?

In most cases a fence next to a road can go up to one metre without planning permission, but listed buildings, conservation areas and some estates have their own rules. Check with Teignbridge or your local council if you are unsure, and we’ll build to whatever height is allowed.

Can it be painted?

Yes. Many people paint picket fencing white or a heritage colour. It’s best done once the treated timber has dried out for a few weeks.

Can you add a matching gate?

Yes, a small front gate in the same style is the usual finish. See our garden gates page.

Will a picket fence keep a small dog in?

It can, if the gaps and the space under the bottom rail are set with your dog in mind. Tell us about the size of the dog before we set out, because the spacing is hard to change afterwards.

Could pickets sit above a low front wall?

Possibly. Much depends on how sound the wall is and whether posts can be bolted to it without cracking old stone or brick. A loose or crumbling wall would need sorting first, so we’d look before promising anything.

What makes old pickets rot first?

Usually it’s the bottom ends, where they’ve been sitting in soil or long grass, and the tops, where the cut grain soaks up rain. Keeping the grass clear and recoating every so often helps both.

Fancy a picket fence along the front? Send us the length of the frontage, the height you have in mind and a photo, and say if you’d like a matching gate, then we’ll arrange a look. There’s more on Dawlish and Teignmouth if you’re in either town.