Gravel boards?

[isthishouseamidden]

What are they for? Why do we need them? Are they easy to fit? Are they cost effective?

We need to replace a few panels in our fence and DH seems to think we need gravel boards. I've never come across them before and am not sure.

My concerns are that they will damage plants going in? That we are not planning on being in this house after the next 5 years so not long enough to be worth it? We are not replacing the whole fence so we would either need to remove all the panels to add in gravel boards or have a mismatched fence. Also I am worried that adding gravel boards to a fence of standard 6' fence would make it too tall?

[Ferguson]

I didn't know about them before, but it seems they are a way of keeping wooden fence posts and fencing panels from coming into direct contact with damp ground, and causing them to rot too quickly. They are made of concrete or plastic or pressure-treated wood.

www.avsfencing.co.uk/fencing/gravel-boards/

I don't see why they will affect plants in any way.

[shovetheholly]

I think it would look odd to have some panels with boards and some without, and I suspect you are right to be concerned about height. Can you not just slot a new pressure treated panel into the existing posts?

[isthishouseamidden]

I just assumed we were just going to put a couple of new panels into the existing post too. This is why I am fed up with DH making the job harder than it needs to be.