Ground Support under the fence

[Evan]

We replaced some rotting fence panels and decided to raise the new fence up off the ground to prevent rot.

The neighbour landscaped their back yard which left the level of their grass about 8 inches lower than ours. With our raised fence we find there is nothing retaining the dirt in our yard. I've used some clay roofing shingles to temporarily bridge the gap under the fence. Furthermore, we now have a dog who loves to dig under the fence if she sees a gap.

I'm looking for something esthetically pleasing that I might use to butt up against the fence to retain our dirt and lawn. The wife is quite unhappy with the dishevelled look of roof tiles stuck in the ground under the fence.

We considered railway ties/sleepers, but at =A325 each, we'd need to spend =A3100 to do the 40 feet length of fence. It'd be nice to find a cheaper solution.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Evan

[Toni]

When we had our new fence installed many years ago we had a large gap in several areas- we have ammended our soil so much that our property is literally several inches higher than that of several of our neighbors. This climate has a toad that is poisonous to our dogs, so we took this opportunity to staple gun a section of hardware cloth about 8" high all along the bottom of the fence which we partially buried. It keeps the toads out, holds the soil in place, and eliminated digging but allows for drainage and air passage. I am ever so happy we did it.

In case "hardware cloth" is called something else in your neck o' the woods- it is a galvanized metal cloth mesh available in several guages- we used the ¼" square size. We cut it with tin snips and staple gunned it to the fence- and it is going on 10+ years without failure.

[William Brown]