While the husband plowed fields, the yard was the woman's domain. It was she who sought a better way to keep the babies safely within and the animals out. Her solution was a fence of sticks lashed together at spacing too tight to allow child or rabbit to pass through.
Over time, this simple solution became the picket fence that defines our American country garden. As the homestead upgraded from sod house or cabin, the sticks were replaced with milled boards and whitewashed like the rest of the farm. They were cut with pointed tops so that rain and snow would drain off quickly and not rot the wood. During the Victorian era these practical pickets became ever more decorative, with elaborately sculptured tops and unique flourishes.
Today our white picket fences aren't always functional, but are still beautiful. They provide a charming entry to the house, with a small gate at the sidewalk or curb that opens into a well-defined front yard separated from neighbors.
Pickets in the back yard are a great way to create character with very little investment. Pickets keep the family dog out of your kitchen garden.
Picket-fence spans don't necessarily have to enclose anything. A freestanding span of pickets is a great decorative tool for adding permanent definitions. Fence spans visually divide the garden without expensive walls or slow-growing hedges.
Try salvaging used spans with their peeling paint for an antique character. Use heavy posts at each end to make it strong enough to support vines. Perhaps fix a ball finial or ornament to post tops for a more decorative effect.
Use your picket fence as a trellis and background for flower gardens. It's an ideal structure on which to train climbing roses. Fast-growing viney annuals such as morning glory and nasturtiums are old-fashioned seasonal favorites that drape over the white pickets with vivid contrasting color.
Big, bold spikes of hollyhock and foxglove help to break up the long white span with vertical contrast. You can also use the fence to support them and eliminate the chore of staking. Cover up post bases with bushy asters and robust coneflowers. Plant a few of the more ornamental multicolored sunflowers to attain a distinctly rural character.
White picket fences make a great weekend project when built as a decorative element rather than as practical enclosure. Best of all, they tie every one of us to those homestead women who longed to grow herbs and children in the safety of their own fenced yards.
(Maureen Gilmer is a horticulturist, landscape design consultant, and author of 14 books. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)
)
)