Hazel Hurdle Fence Panels 5ft x 6ft

Five foot is the sensible height nobody thinks of. Most people jump from four straight to six, and in a lot of gardens six is simply too much — it casts a real shadow, it walls you in, and it costs more than the job needed. At 150cm this panel screens everything you actually wanted screened and keeps the sky where it belongs.

It is the right answer for the awkward things. Wheelie bins, an oil tank, a compost bay, an air source heat pump, the corner where the recycling lives — all of it disappears behind a run of woven hazel that looks like it was always meant to be there, rather than like a screen bought to hide something. Along a boundary it gives real privacy from a standing neighbour while still letting morning light onto a border that a solid 6ft fence would leave in shade until lunchtime.

The colour is a soft silvery grey-brown with olive and honey in it, paling as it weathers — a colour that recedes, which is exactly what you want from something this tall. Our willow hurdles are the deep red-brown alternative.

Why height makes the weave matter more

A solid panel at five feet catches serious load in a gale and either lifts, leans or takes its posts with it. A hurdle lets the gust through and breaks it up, so the panel stays put and the planting behind it is sheltered rather than battered. At this height use the 2.4m post rather than the 1.8m — you want a good 60cm in the ground, and concreting is worth the effort.