When I see Wattle fencing, I feel the moist British fog clinging to my skin, and a wistful smile crosses my face. And now, you can feel that too! I’m going to show you how to make handmade Wattle Fencing in a simple process.
Wattle Fencing came on the scene around the Middle Ages and was a favorite construction method for animal and land management. The Wattle hurdle (a section of fencing ranging 5-7 feet long) was and still is, heavily used on sheep farms in the British countryside.
One of the benefits of using Wattle panel or hurdles is the encouragement of animal rotation that helps prevent overgrazing and also significantly reduces worm loads in animals by regularly moving them to new feeding areas. I used them for our ducks and it worked very well, they enjoyed new grazing areas and it was easy to set up with the light wattle panels.
Concerns About Making Wattle Fencing
When I first thought about making Wattle hurdles, I had three main questions:
How strong could a bunch of sticks really be?
Aren’t these hurdles going to be insanely heavy?
And lastly, how long were they going to last?
Well, after building and most importantly, using these hurdles with animals over an extended period, I feel I can answer these three questions.
- To the first concern of how strong could the wattle hurdles be? Let me tell you I no longer doubt, wattle fencing once dried is a strong and sturdy form of fencing.
- On to the second concern about the overall weight of the hurdle. You must remember, that when building the hurdles, all the materials must be “green” or freshly cut. The green material can handle the stress of bending in different directions. The weight of green materials will shed off after the hurdles are put to work through a warm summer and have thoroughly dried. You will have a sturdy, but light hurdle panel.
- And to the third and most important concern, how long could the wattle panels last or better said, are they worth the time it takes to build them? In answer to this, six years have gone by with many of the wattle hurdles only needing minor repairs. The only noticeable sign that time has passed is the falling off of the bark giving the wattle hurdles a warm sun baked look.
How to Make Wattle Fencing Step by Step
So, let’s start… how to make wattle fencing step by step. Here is our pictorial guide in which we use our local and abundant resource, thousands of Bull Pine Trees. But, use whatever YOU have that is pliable and green. For some that is willow, pliable branches of any tree ( which makes a beautiful rustic weave) I’ve even seen bamboo split in half and used!
- First, gather yourself a large armful of your local material and make two piles. The stake pile needs to be everything 1 1/2” in diameter or larger. The wattle pile should be 1” or less.
- After cutting stakes to 3’-4’ feet long put the smaller end in a vise or a shaving horse. I’m using a hand Brace fitted with a 1” auger bit, to score the small end of the stake gently.
- Now with a reference line, drawknife a taper leaving as much of the reference line as you can.
- Take your bundle of tapered stakes to a hurdle jig, made of anything laying around. ( ex. log, 2×4, 4×4, scrap lumber) Nail or screw outriggers on both ends of the jig to keep it stable while building the hurdle. Drill 1 1/2” holes in the jig about 16” to 18” apart. The distance the stakes need to totally depend on the size of material you are using for the wattle. The larger the wattle material, the further apart the stakes will need to be.
- Hammer the stakes smartly and tightly into the jig so that they stand on their own.
- Remember, that all natural material tapers from thicker at the base to thinner at the top. Because of this make sure to alternate the wattle as you stack your weave.
- Now for the fun part, weave your green wattle material around the stakes. It always seemed to me that help appeared for this part.
- I like to stop the weave about 4” from the top of the stakes. They act as handles when it comes time for moving the wattle hurdles.
Important!
- Secure the hurdle by nailing or screwing the top and bottom of the wattle hurdle. Most importantly screw the wattle rails to the first and last stakes to keep them from going anywhere.
- You’re almost finished, using a sharp handsaw cut the wattle rails that are running wild 3” past the last stakes. Lastly, cut the wattle hurdle from the jig by sawing off the tapered end of the stakes leaving you with a flat-bottomed wattle hurdle panel.
- Now you know how to make wattle fencing step by step!
Wattle is a beautiful and practical approach to fencing, and with these newly found skills, funny things could start happening. You just may find yourself spending a silly amount of time admiring the newest addition to your garden or livestock fencing, with a warm beverage in hand. Waiting for that British fog to roll in.
-Daniel
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I was wondering how far apart your upright members in your wattle fence are. We want to build (maple) wattle fences with the water-sprouts that have come up since we cleared a piece of land.
16-18 inches works good. Sorry for the late reply, I have been off-line for a year. 🙂
What do you do if not all greeery are the same size?
I tend to start with thicker branches on the bottom and go up slightly in size, but really you need to find branches that are close to the same size. Otherwise, it’s hard to weave.
We have some acreage in the Texas Hill Country and I want to build some wattle fencing out of cedar which is very plentiful and tends to overrun our property. Cedar is very bug and rot resistant which makes it a perfect building material. One question I have is about using a brace and bit to drill holes in the ends of the upright stakes. Your wording says, “I’m using a hand Brace fitted with a 1” auger bit, to only gently score the small end of the stake.”
Why do you score the end of the stake? I’m a bit confused about the reason to do this. Additionally, how deep is the hole you drilled?
Yes, I do have a complete brace and bit set that belonged to my grandfather who purchased it during the Great Depression. By the time I came along and was a child in the 1960’s, he was in his early 60s and had graduated to an electric drill. He wanted me to understand the “old ways” of doing things and taught me how to use it. It was a great activity for me because I loved doing things the old-fashioned way. I drilled many a hole in scrap lumber.
Enjoyed your article!
Hello John,
Abby and I at one time were looking at land in the Hill Country. But, back to your question about scoring the bottom of the stakes. I do this because I find it easier having a visual mark when I start drawknifing a taper on the end of the stakes. It helps me know that if I shave a little past the score line, it will fit in the hole that I drilled in the stake jig. That’s if, I remember to use the same bit that drilled the holes in the wattle jig that I score the bottom of the stakes with.
I sure hope this answers your question- Daniel
Wattle fencing has been in use for 6000 years. not since the Middle Ages.
Really? That’s cool, but it seems to be more heavily used during the middle ages, kind of a golden age for wattle 🙂 Everything I have seen and read keeps referring to that time. No matter what I’m in love with this fencing!
Hi Ollie,
You are absolutely correct in that wattle fencing and the use of wattle and daub in home construction is very old, even much older than 6000 years. The use of wattle fencing in animal management and proto-farming was in wide spread use throughout the pre-pottery neolithic, in a number of sites which are well established between 10000 and 12000 years ago. The use of wattle and daub in home construction has been found in the lowest layers of Catalhoyuk, with concrete dating to 9500 years ago. So it would seem that wattle is a technology which has been with us for a very long time indeed!
This article has rekindled my creative muses to construct and weave some wattles. I weave baskets using indigenous materials ,my favorite is cedar bark and twining with day lily leaves and roots. So this adventure is a nice diversion from my norm.
My first wattle will be using bamboo from thinning an overgrown grove of smaller diameter bamboo. 1/2″ to 1 1/4″ diameter. It will be used as a border on a walk way to a fort we are building with our grand kids. Cannot wait to pass on the rewarding and fun habit, outlet or curse of re-purposing and creating using gifts from nature.
That is so exciting, love to hear you are using your creativeness and getting out and working with your hands!
I would love to build this but was having trouble finding the wood. Is there any place out there to buy the material?
You know I have never heard of anyone selling braches? You would have to look around online. It’s really best to work with the wood when it’s green. Maybe you could put an ad out in your local area that you are looking for willow, pine, hazel, or any good bendy branches and small diameter wood to build a fence.
Thanks for this easy to read and understand article about wattle fencing. Our property has an abundance of cedar and I’m planning all sorts of fun projects, starting with a surround for our pump. I want to use scrap tin as a roof so we can get to the pump if needed. Thanks again for the inspiration!
I’m so glad it inspired you!! That makes me happy 🙂
We live in Northumberland, England and have a local rabbit colony very near our property.
Wattel fencing is ideal for rabbit fencing, you make it a foot taller than you want then set it in a trench and backfill a mini glacis on the ‘rabbit side’ this provides both rabbit fencing and a wind break for the vegetable patch.
I learned wattle making when at university where I studied a degree in at archaeology.
If you live in an area with a decent clay soil you can miss straw with soil and water to make daub. This was the primary building material from the dawn of farming in the British Isles until the late medieval period.
Timber frame the building and make the walls using wattle with daub applied thickly to each side of the wattle so it fills the gaps and makes a solid wall. When it dries it is weatherproof even in the damp climate we have here and it’s easy to repair.
You can lime wash it.
Traditionally the wooden frames were tarred and the wattle and daub limed giving that classic medeavil house look.
You can make earlier iron age buildings by hammering in the posts in a large circle straight into the ground, then weaving the wattle fence continuously, ensuring that you stagger the placement of the green weave. Then you daub it and protect the building and walls with an over hanging turf roof. These were the standard housing certainly in the British Isles from the dawn of agriculture to the end of the dark ages.
Yes! My husband has always wanted to make an outbuilding out of wattle and daub. Great history on wattle! I like the idea of making rabbit proof fencing with wattle 🙂 Thank you
Thanks for the information. I’m a bit confused as to how the panels stand up. Do they not have to be anchored in the ground somehow?
In the pictures you see us making pannels that we can move around and attach to stakes or other fencing poles. You can pound your wooden stakes right into the ground and weave the branches just the same way and they will be staked into the ground. 🙂
So glad to have found your web page! This article is just what I needed, with your excellent directions with photos. We intend to build wattle raised bed gardens, using vine maple branches. I’d like to experiment with different shapes…perhaps try a keyhole garden bed as well as rectangles! Thanks again
Thank you, dear! I’m so excited for you, and It will make your garden extra special 🙂
This is such an excellent dialog! I have upwards of a 1000 alder saplings hygraded for fencing panels and I was not sure how to make them moveable. I love the methods you are using. I also would add that someone mentioned using cedar. I agree, cedar is a superior building material. In Washington State, we have many commercial X-Mas wreath & guarlund makers who buy our cedar boughs. I would bet if you responded to some of their call for boughs, they would just give you the left over stripped cedar limbs…just a thought.
That sounds like an excellent idea, Andrea! Thanks for the tip, I’ll have to remember that one. I hope this helps solve your movable fencing problem 🙂
Looking at that amazingly uniform fencing, I’m going to guess you are coppicing the trees for that wattle? Is it hazel? That is the real skill here. I just made some fences from apple tree prunings. And while it looks great and appropriate to my 17th c house, definitely doesn’t look like yours.
Thank you, Paul! I actually used small jack pine trees, I had an abundant supply of them on our five acre homestead of the time. But, I also love the rustic look of willow and fruit tree prunings as you described.
My rule of thumb is use what you have access to, so bravo to rustic fencing!
This article is amazing! Thanks for sharing. DIY fencing comes across as daunting but this really points out how it’s not as complicated as some may think. I’ve always loved the aesthetics of wattle fencing.
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Thanks for the comment, I agree, Watte fencing is gorgeous!