There’s truth in the saying, “Good fences make good neighbors.”

So why not build a wooden fence around your yard and give your home and property privacy? The right wood fence will do more than just create a physical barrier. It can also improve the look and value of your property.

When it comes to building a fence, you could choose a chain link or a vinyl fence, but these lack the natural beauty of wood. With wood, you have plenty of options for the construction and style of your fence. Get inspired by these wood fence ideas and find the perfect fence that will complement your property and be functional for your needs.

1. Rustic Fence Ideas

Properties outside of the city limits and in a more rural area can benefit from a rustic wood fence. The main characteristic of a rustic fence is that it embraces the natural characteristics of the wood. The planks aren’t perfectly smooth and straight. The beams could be rough-hewn and not completely uniform in size. It’s also common to see the bark left on the wood.

A common style of rustic fence is a zig-zag split rail fence. To build this DIY fence, you’ll take rails and create a zig-zag patterned fenceline. Then alternate the rails as you stack them to create the desired height of your fence.

Another standard rustic fence is a stacked horizontal wood fence built from split rails. Create pairs of fence posts from straight branches or small tree trunks. Leave enough space between the pairs that you can slide horizontal rails down between them. You’ll alternate the rails to gradually build the fence panels to your desired height of the fence.

You can create an entirely vertical rustic fence by placing several posts in a line next to each other. This is a widespread technique when building a bamboo fence.

A third rustic fence idea is to build your fence out of brambles or branches. Building this style of fence embraces the natural curves and shapes of the branches to weave a fence. It will take equal parts construction and design skills to weave the branches together artfully to build a functional fence.