Fencing in your yard doesn't have to mean that your home has to look like a prison. There are some very beautiful fencing options available, plus you can add some additional landscaping to soften the appearance of just about any fence you choose. Here, you'll find a few tips to help you enclose your property with a fence while maintaining the beautiful, residential appearance.
Choose Ornamental Iron Fencing
One of the most beautiful options that you'll have is ornamental iron fencing. You can choose from very basic designs or the more intricate designs that have beautiful features included in the design. Take some time to look online at the different styles of ornamental iron fencing – you'll see that it can be very low to just create a border or it can reach 8 feet high to keep every unwanted person off of your property. Don't forget to look at the gates. Some homeowners opt for less-detailed fencing but go all out with the gates that provide access to the property.
Soften the Appearance with Landscaping
Landscaping the area around the fencing will help you in two ways: it will soften the appearance of the fencing and it will reduce the need to trim the grass growing at the base of the fencing. Consider including evergreen plants in the landscape design. This way, when everything else dies off in the winter, you'll have the ever-green plants remaining to soften the look. Vining plants can also be used to decorate and soften an iron fence. As long as you remove the dead vines at the end of the season, the fencing will hold up very well. If you allow the dead plants to remain on the fencing, it will look bad and it could cause the fencing to become discolored eventually.
Add Some Lighting
Lighting can be added to any fence – either directly onto the fence, on the ground below, or shining from a mount above. You can run a rope of lights along the entire perimeter of the fence, add solar-powered rail caps, or just insert some small pathway markers at the base of the fence. The possibilities are limitless with all of the solar power lighting options there are today.
Talk with the professional fencing contractor near you. He or she will assist you with finding the best fencing to enclose your property without taking away from the residential charm of the home.