Cheap Fences for Slopes

An example of stepped fencingFence image by Svat from Fotolia.com

Sloping terrain can pose a difficult challenge if you are trying to install fencing. For that reason, many individuals seek alternative solutions, such as stone and cement walls, which you can build up and over slopes. With traditional fences, because of their long, continuous, rigid horizontal support beams, you cannot simply stretch them over protruding sections of land. However, there are cheap fences for slopes that can help.

Traditional wood fence

If you are going to build your fence as a do-it-yourself project, the price of the project will depend primarily on the cost of your materials. You may be able to find some free or reduced-price scrap lumber from a local lumberyard, which--if you don't mind a few dings and dents in your finished product--will save you a lot of money. According to Focus, once you have your materials, you can accommodate the traditional wood fence style into a sloping landscape using a technique known as stepping. To accomplish this, start by digging a series of holes and lining them with gravel. Insert your posts and seal them in place with concrete. Your posts should not have uniform heights, as is the case with fences on flat ground, but instead you should stagger them so that they get incrementally taller and shorter: following the slope of the terrain. When you add on your horizontal support beams and vertical pickets, the fence will appear like a series of steps, climbing up and down the slopes.

Vinyl fences are another cheap option for dealing with slopes on your landscape. Unlike wood, vinyl will not absorb moisture, which means no corroding or warping, and no paying for repairs. In addition, you can save on the cost of painting and staining a wood fence by ordering a prefinished vinyl fence, which will not peel or blister. According to A Vinyl Fence and Deck Company, you can install vinyl fences on sloping terrain using the stepping method, described in section 1, or you can use the racking method. With the racking method, the usually horizontal beams do not remain horizontal, but instead bend and angle to negotiate the shape of the land. In extreme cases, you may need to widen the socket holes on your posts, which will allow your beams to stretch even further.

Instead of relying on a human construction method for coping with slopes, try letting Mother Nature do the work by putting up a natural fence. Hedges, shrubs, and several other plants not only grow in to make solid barriers, but can also easily grip sloping terrain using their roots. Unlike a rigid, dead construction material, plants will adapt to the bumps and curves as they grow. According to Mother Earth News, try planting hedgerows for your fencing, and filling the gaps with annuals, perennials or other decorative plants.