I've been tasked with making a garden gate for Xmas... a half-height one, along the lines of a picket fence with rounded tops.
The gate is between two hedges, so there's no existing fence or wood to match up to. What wood is best to use to make a fairly resilient gate without breaking the bank and without needing re-varnishing every couple of years?
Pine isn't too sturdy unless you keep redoing it. Pressure treated pine is better but it's going to be machined, exposed wood so the colours will be all over the place.
So what's left? Ash? Oak (green or dried)? Poplar? anything else?