How to Install Garden Fence Panels: A Practical Guide
By Luke Clarke — over 10 years’ experience installing and supplying fencing.
This guide covers fitting prefabricated garden fence panels between posts, including closeboard and lap panels. Continuous closeboard fencing is assembled on site from posts, rails and individual featheredge boards; it needs a different setting-out and fixing plan. For panels, start with the actual product dimensions, the finished height you want and the installation instructions for the chosen system.
1. Planning & Permissions
Start with a tape measure and a notebook. Measure the full boundary and note slopes, trees, drains or awkward corners. Take photos if anything looks unusual — it’ll help when ordering materials.
In England, usual height limits are 1m beside a vehicular highway or its footpath, and 2m elsewhere. Exceptions include listed-building boundaries and restricted permitted-development rights. Check the Planning Portal guidance and your local authority for your site.
Confirm the boundary position and ownership before work, and discuss any shared arrangements with your neighbour. Decide the finished height, including exposed gravel boards and any trellis, rather than using panel height alone.
Marking Your Post Centres
Our closeboard panels are 6ft (1.83m) wide, but posts should not automatically be set at 6ft centres. Allow for your post dimensions and fixing method. Measure the actual panel and gravel board, then account for the posts, slots and brackets specified by the system. Check the first bay with the components before marking the full run. If an end panel needs shortening, check the manufacturer’s method for cutting and re-framing it before starting.
2. Choosing the Right Fence Style
Choose the panel style for the privacy and appearance you want, then compare its construction, treatment and installation requirements. A style name alone is not a wind-resistance rating.
| Panel style | Typical use | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Closeboard panels | Solid garden boundaries and privacy | Board thickness, rails, framing, treatment and compatible posts |
| Lap / Waney lap panels | Privacy with an overlapping-board appearance | Actual price, framing, treatment and fixing requirements |
| Picket panels | Open boundaries and front gardens | Pale spacing, height and suitability where pets need containing |
| Decorative panels | Shaped tops or a decorative finish | Actual overall height and whether the design includes any open sections |
Posts: Choose posts compatible with the panels, finished height and site conditions. Concrete and timber posts have different handling and maintenance needs; both need suitable foundations and periodic inspection. Check the gravel boards and fixings are compatible too.
3. Tools & Materials Checklist
- Compatible panels, posts, gravel boards and fixings
- Spirit level
- Tape measure
- Post hole digger or auger
- Suitable post concrete, with quantity calculated for the holes and the product’s yield
- Bracing and temporary supports suitable for the installation
- Exterior screws or brackets specified for the panel and post system
- String line & stakes
- Timber wedges/offcuts
- Cut-end treatment or a compatible finish where the timber manufacturer requires it
- Protective equipment specified for the tools and concrete product
4. Setting Your Fence Posts
Before digging, plan the work and locate buried services; visible covers and surface clues do not show every cable or pipe. Follow HSE guidance on avoiding underground services and obtain competent help where needed.
Choose the hole dimensions and post embedment from the system instructions and site conditions. Around 600mm is a starting point for some domestic systems, not a universal foundation design. Allow for any specified drainage layer without reducing the required embedment. Our fence-post depth guide explains the factors to consider.
Set and brace the post upright, checking it in two directions. Follow the concrete product’s instructions for water, filling and setting time. For example, Birkdale’s FenceMate post-concrete guidance uses water before the dry mix. Keep the post supported while it sets and follow the product guidance before loading the fence; do not assume every mix uses the same method.
Working on Slopes
Plan each step from the actual change in ground level. Fixed rectangular panels are commonly stepped, but the step size and post length depend on the slope and the chosen system. Check the finished height at each bay and the manufacturer’s instructions before cutting or altering panels.
5. Fitting Gravel Boards & Panels
A suitable gravel board keeps the timber panel away from direct soil contact. It does not make timber rot-proof. Check its dimensions and support before fitting the panel.
Slotted concrete posts: Use compatible gravel boards and panels, following the specified support and installation sequence. Plan how to handle the components safely and use sufficient help or suitable lifting equipment for their weight and position. Avoid forcing a panel into a slot that does not fit.
Timber posts: Use the brackets, cleats or other fixings specified for the panel and post system. Support the panel while checking its position and securing it; follow the required fixing locations rather than driving screws into thin infill boards.
Adding a Gate
Choose gate posts, foundations, hinges and latches for the gate’s size, weight and operating loads. Follow the gate-system specification or obtain site-specific advice. A fixed extra depth compared with an ordinary fence post is not a reliable gate-post design.
6. Finishing Touches
Check the timber’s treatment and the coating manufacturer’s instructions before applying a finish. Use a compatible cut-end treatment where required, and follow the specified preparation, drying conditions and coat count. Keep any required drainage and ventilation gaps clear; do not routinely seal fence-to-wall gaps with silicone.
7. Aftercare & Maintenance
Inspect panels, posts and fixings periodically and after severe weather. Look for movement, damage, loose fixings and soil or vegetation building up against timber. Clean or retreat the fence using methods suitable for its materials and existing finish. Forest Garden’s timber-care guidance illustrates why pressure-treated and dip-treated products can have different requirements; follow the instructions for the products actually installed.
Service life depends on the product, treatment, exposure, installation and maintenance. Read the particular manufacturer’s guarantee and its conditions rather than relying on a fixed lifespan for every fence panel or post.
FAQs
How many bags of Postcrete per post?
Use the actual hole dimensions and the concrete product’s yield or quantity chart. The buried post occupies part of the hole, so a fixed two- or three-bag allowance does not suit every installation. Check the bag instructions for the product being used.
Can I upgrade with trellis later?
Check that the posts and fixings can support the addition, and include the trellis in the finished height. Recheck the planning guidance above before changing the fence.
How do I make the fence hedgehog-friendly?
Hedgehog Street recommends an opening about 13cm × 13cm to connect gardens. Agree its position with the boundary owner and consider pets and the route beyond it. Use a purpose-made opening or a manufacturer-approved solution. Do not cut a concrete gravel board or a structural component to create one.
Before You Start
Confirm the fence system, actual dimensions, finished height and site conditions before ordering. If you need help choosing compatible materials or arranging installation in Norfolk, contact CE Clarke Fencing. Tell us whether you want prefabricated panels or continuous closeboard fencing so the advice matches your project.