When you use masonry paint to disguise a wall and then hate it, what do you do? Cover it with willow fencing!
A Step By Step Guide To Using Willow Fencing
- Buy a roll or two of willow fencing long enough to cover the wall
- Install battens to the wall
- Fix the fencing to the battens
- Cut the fencing to the desired height
Complete Tools And Equipment List For Installing Willow Fencing Panels To Cover A Wall
- Rolls of willow fencing
- 1″ x 1 1/2″ exterior wood for battens
- Bradawl or long nail to mark positions on wall
- Pencil to mark positions on wood
- Spirit level
- Saw to cut wooden batten- a hand saw is fine to use
- Electric or cordless drill
- Masonry and wood drill bits
- Rawlplugs- at least 2 per batten
- Hammer
- Stainless steel screws, long enough to go through wood and securely into wall- at least 2 per batten
- Screwdriver
- Hammer
- Wire tacks ( look like double ended v shaped nails)
- Pliers or wire cutters to cut the wire of the panel
- Secateurs to cut the willow
- Gardening gloves and safety glasses or goggles are recommended
- An extra pair of hands will be really useful at some stages so ask someone to help you
Measure the Wall and Choose Your Fencing
Willow screening or fencing on a roll comes in 1.8 and 4m lengths so we chose 2 rolls for this job. We made sure that it was tall enough to cover the wall.
The willow twigs were mounted on wire and were guaranteed to last for a year, but in our experience they should last quite a bit longer, up to 10 years. In that time they will age and you may decide that you want to replace them after 3-5 years to maintain the screening effect that they provide.
Deciding How many Battens You Need
Most willow fencing is not that heavy and battens at one level will be perfectly sufficient to hold the willow in place since to ground will hold the bottom steady, especially if you have gravel or similar that will hold it in place.
If you are standing the panels on earth or grass, bear in mind that the bottom of the panels will rot quicker unless you protect them with some sort of preservative.
In this case, you may decide to mount the panels an inch or so off the ground. In this case a second row of battens is advisable.
Mount one set about 6 inches to a foot from the top of the wall and one set the same distance from the ground.
Tools You Will Need For Mounting Wooden Battens To a Brick Wall
- Bradawl or long nail to mark positions on wall
- Pencil to mark positions on wood
- Spirit level
- Saw to cut wooden batten- a hand saw is fine to use
- Electric or cordless drill
- Masonry and wood drill bits
- Rawlplugs- at least 2 per batten
- Hammer
- Stainless steel screws, long enough to go through wood and securely into wall- at least 2 per batten
- Screwdriver
- Someone to help you mount the battens
Fix Wooden Battens To The Wall To Mount The Willow
- Cut lengths of 1″ x 1 1/2″ exterior wood to fix to the wall
- Drill a hole at each end, a couple of inches in from the ends, halfway across the batten
- The holes need to be about the same size as the diameter of your screws
- Hold in position and mark where you need to drill the first hole in the wall by pushing a bradawl, long nail or drill a drill bit through the first hole in the wood and into the wall
- Make sure that you can see the position on the wall- use tape or a dab of paint if necessary
- Replace the bradawl through the hole and into the mark you have just made on the wall
- Get someone to hold this steady so that it doesn’t move from this position
- Pivoting the batten, use a spirit level to make sure that the batten is level ( if you’ve never used a spirit level, see our handy guide for useful tips)
- Mark the second hole in the wall as you did the first one
- Put the batten to one side and using a masonry bit, drill holes in the wall at the correct position
- The holes need to be deep enough and large enough to take a rawlplug
- Hammer the rawlplugs into the holes until they are flush with the surface
- Place a screw through the first hole in the wooden batten
- Screw it into the first rawlplug but not completely tight
- Screw the second screw through the second hole in the wood and into the second rawlplug
- Screw both screws in tight
Tools You Will Need To Fix The Willow Panel To The Battens
- Hammer
- Wire tacks
- Gloves and eye protection are recommended
Fix The Willow Screen To The Batten
- Wearing gloves and eye protection, unroll the willow and hold it in place
- Starting at one end, fix the willow to the batten with the wire tacks and hammer
- If you’ve never used wire tacks before see our handy hints
- Unroll the willow as you go and fix it about every 6 inches
- Make sure that you keep the panel level as you go
- Also make sure that you push the bottom of each panel in as you go, rather than leaving it standing away from the wall
- Overlap slightly any additional panels as you go
Tools You Will Need To Cut The Willow To Size
- Pliers or wire cutters to cut the wire of the panel
- Secateurs to cut the willow
- Gardening gloves and eye protection are recommended
Cut The Willow to Size
- A safety note: the wire and willow is sharp at the ends so wear gloves and eye protection
- Use wire cutters or pliers to cut through the wire to cut the panels to length
- Fold back any loose wire so that it does not catch on anything
- Use secateurs to cut the top of the panel, making sure that you do not blunt the secateurs by cutting any wire
- Carefully dispose of any waste, especially making sure that it is out of the reach of any children or pets
- You could use any left over willow to make Christmas decorations or to glue to glass jars as home decor