Staining a fence at this time of year?

[ilovemilton]

It hasn't rained for a couple of days but the fence seems a bit damp, maybe from the cold? Is it possible to stain a new fence or is it a bit pointless?

I had a new garden before Christmas and it's killing me that I can't finish off now! I've got time off at the moment and I'm just looking at my new garden, wanting to do the last finishing touches!

Also, if anyone wants to throw in names of the best evergreen shrubs for quite clay soil, that gets sun for most of the day (with one more shady side), that would be lovely!

Fence staining is best done when it is dry. You might find it doesn’t stain evenly when the wood is damp.

No point staining soggy wood, it won't cover properly if it's solvent based, and water based won't dry out so it'll run off (and it's nowhere near as good as solvent based anyway).

Shrubs for clay soil...have a look at Ribes (flowering currants), Lonicera (honeysuckle), Viburnham Tinus (oculus is lovely too), Spiraea Japonica (theres a few different - goldflame has yellow foliage but the flowers are a paler pink)

I’d leave it a bit before planting them until any risk of frost is past. Nothing to stop you doing the research and buying to keep in a frost free place, but I don’t know if you’d find much choice to buy at the moment.

Yes, I'm just looking forward and planning, as I'm excited to be starting all over again with my own blank canvas. Thank you for the ideas.

(And I won't paint yet either then!)

Ohhh I've just googled vibernum titus - one of those plants that I've always noticed and liked and never thought about finding the name!

The fun bit is the planning. Do take into account final height and spread. Once my viburnum was well established it did need a good prune every year after flowering to keep it to about 4-5 ft.

While small you could also put some ground cover plants in - hostas, Pulmonaria, some heucheras. Bergenia (elephant’s ears) also do well

Btw I saw your sad post on the D of E thread about not getting any replies to this one and thought I’d try to help

Haha that's ace! Appreciate it 

I know you can google this stuff but it's so much better to have real life people tell you what actually works in real life. I like a pretty garden but I've only ever maintained one someone else created and now it's time to make my own, I've realised I don't have a clue.