What can you do with your old fencing?
You’ve just installed new fencing in your garden and are enjoying the feeling of a job well done. (Tip: check our how-to guides for expert advice.)
There’s just one problem: what do you do with the old fencing you’ve replaced?
Don’t just light a bonfire or head to the tip – there is often life in the old fence yet! Here are some suggestions on what to do with it:
Keep it
This might sound odd, considering you’ve just decided to replace it. Getting rid of your old fencing makes sense – you don’t want it cluttering up the garden. But before you head to the tip, it’s worth seeing if anything can be salvaged. If so, you could use it for repairs on your shed. Recycling is always a good idea, and you’re also saving yourself a trip to the hardware shop to buy bits of wood for repairs later on.
If you have any leftover panels (say you accidentally ordered one too many for example) it’s probably worth storing them in a dry place (shed or garage) so you have a replacement panel on hand.
Upcycle it
Upcycling is a way of transforming your unwanted items into something more valuable. It’s cost effective and an environmentally conscious alternative to throwing potentially useful materials away.
Pinterest has millions of pinboards filled with fence upcycling ideas, like using your fence’s delivery pallets to make a garden path, a wall ornament, candleholders and much more!
Old fencing posts themselves can be cleaned, sanded then attached to old saw horses to make a useful potting bench or additional work surface. Pieces of flat timber from a fence panel could be used to section off areas of your garden, or divide up flowerbeds to help you to organise your planting.
Sites like Upcycle That are full of inspiration for upcycling projects, your only limit when it comes to what you could create is your imagination.
Recycle it
If you cannot repurpose any of your fencing, and there’s nothing to be salvaged, then it’s time to get rid of it. Check with your local council to see if your nearest rubbish tip will help recycle any fencing you no longer need. You might need to arrange for your old fencing to be collected by the council, for which there will probably be an additional cost.
Another alternative would be to use an online network like Freecycle, which put people in contact with others looking for free-to-collect items they would otherwise need to buy. Your old fencing posts or timber could be just what someone else is looking for!
Don’t burn it!
We don’t advise that you burn your old fencing if it has been dipped or a preservative used to weather-proof it, as the fumes could be harmful to people and local plants and wildlife. This is definitely one to avoid on an allotment, out of consideration for other gardeners.
If you are thinking about replacing your fencing you can browse our selection here.