Paint the fences black or not?

[Sluj]

We have a small garden , maybe 7m x 9m, with 3 different ages of weathered fences on view. I am debating whether or not to paint the fences dark grey or black to unify them a bit. My main worries are whether or not this will make the garden feel even smaller and would I be setting myself up for repainting them every few years?
Any advice on whether or not I should do it and, if so, recommendations for the paint or stain?
Thank you

Someone on my local gardening FB group has just done it and it looks great! Really shows off the plants!

We have black fences they look amazing!

I think a stain like a dark walnut by Ron Seal or equivalent brand would be best. Not too dark for a small garden. It will last a good while and fade evenly.

A near black has all the drama of black, but ages slightly better. Black can be a bit stark. It does provide a fabulous backdrop to the green of plants.

We have a black garden, the green plants look fab. You will be consigned to repainting it black for ever more though

Oo yes I'm debating this too. Look at some pictures on Pinterest op. I'm sold but dh isn't at the mo...

Ours look great but I do find the upkeep harder because the darker the colour the more you can see it fading and any marks on it.

i've painted a shed black & it looks great. especially if you have lots of bright / pale plants in front of it. but if your garden doesn't have many plants then black would look a bit miserable.

There are barely any plants in there at the moment as we have been building an extension and remodelling what was left of the garden. That's why I'm thinking now is the time to decide on painting the fences. There will be plenty of plants after though to soften it up, though thank you for your advice on off black rather than actual black.
Can anyone give advice on a stain or paint? Any actual recommendation for a product that hasnt needed too much maintenance?
Thanks

It's very fashionable at the moment and does look good. Just depends how long that particular fashion lasts!

I would go for a sage green, it will make it feel much bigger. We had a dark green fence and painted it a very light green and the difference was startling.

Our neighbours did this and it looked fab until green stuff appeared all over it after a year. Their garden is east facing.

@superram

We've painted ours pale green as well and it makes our small garden appear much bigger.

I painted a fence dark grey which looked really good.

I've done this, and it does look great BUT three bloody coats, and it needs another go over this year.

With fence painting, you do still need to prep the surface to get a good finish which takes some elbow grease.

I used tudor black woodstain, I think it was cuprinol, its really difficult to get a true black but this was closest.

We also have lots of neighbourhood cats which enjoy clawing the top of the fence which shows up the lighter wood underneath which makes it look scrappy in places.

Pros, the black does make the green really contrast and pop, can't say it makes my garden look bigger but I'm very happy with it vs the safe red brown stain I had previously. It's also smartened up an older shabby fence, I will not be painting over in a lighter colour as the fence is on its way out, but if it was a new fence I'd give it some thought as others say a new trend could be on its way and will possible date.

Agree; sage green will age better.

Interesting alternatives! Off to look at Pinterest

We've got a dark brown and whilst it looks great when it's freshly done, pigeons are our enemy. Their poo shows up so much on a dark fence. I'd have rather had a sage green but DP didn't fancy it

Are they all your fences? If not the owners might object, especially if any paint dribbles through to their side.

Dark Oak colour is your friend here. Never goes out of fashion, is a natural colour that fades into the background so it isn't so 'in-your-face' as other paint colours, and your garden will appear larger. It will cover all the different random bits of fence nicely so they match, and shows up the plants nicely as well.

Other colours that you might consider are deep purple or Moroccan blue, both look good with plants against them.

Black, dark blue or dark purple fencing is gorgeous.

Painted the shed dark grey previously and looked lovely, the dark colour really showed up the pigeon poo though! 😂

We did. We did the pergola brown and did the fence and the shed a black slate. With the green of the garden it looks fab. This is what we did. Love the contrast of colours

Dark is fab but dies show the bird poo