Build Your Own Picket Fence

By Eric Slatt
Updated on June 8, 2023
article image
by iStockphoto.com/Liane Remmier
The diagonal lashing on this fence doesn’t include any frapping.

Have limited resources? Learn how to build your own picket fence on your property with salvaged materials and these basic knots.

The picket fence has been a country farm-to-manor estate mainstay of the American landscape since before the American Revolutionary War. While the white picket fence has become a sign of prestige and landownership, many small farmers instead used what resources they had to make their own version of this fence that served both a utilitarian and aesthetic purpose.

When we were finally able to purchase our home in the country, I wanted to make a kitchen garden near the house for my wife. Being a small landowner with limited resources, I needed to build a fence that was not only inexpensive and functional, but also pleasing to the eye. I dove in to do some research.

This fence was modeled after the kitchen garden found at the boyhood home of President Andrew Jackson, located at Andrew Jackson State Park, near Lancaster, South Carolina. The fence was built using natural wood found on the property, and tied together using hemp rope.

The gate is a replica of one originally used on the 150-year-old barn on our farm.

You can build this easy fence using simple hand tools and a few basic knots. Directions for the knots are below.

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