Looking for a new look for your fence? What about the gabion stone fence? I’ve always loved the look of gabion walls – the subtle variation in stone colour, the texture of different rock fillings and the light and shade of stone and crevice. Gabion is a wire basket or wire form, filled with stones and shaped into a fence or retaining wall type structure. Gabions have become a popular construction material for narrow width free standing walls and fences. According to wikipedia, a gabion (from Italian gabbione meaning “big cage”; from Italian gabbia and Latin cavea meaning “cage”) is a cage, cylinder, or box filled with rocks, concrete, or sometimes sand and soil for use in civil engineering, road building, military applications and landscaping. These two simple materials are very familiar and, taken separately, they can be very useful and versatile when it comes to DIY projects. But what about the two combined? This duo also offers a lot of possibilities.
Gabion walls are probably the most familiar project in this sense. Gabion fencing is now the latest fad in residential fencing and soil retention solutions and is specified by many building designers and architects for new houses and renovations. For the DIY person it’s quite easy to construct and can look fabulous. Gabions are wonderful features for the garden. Their versatility also allows you to use them when building decks and patios. Just decide on the size and shape of the walls you want to build. Gabion fences are cheaper, much stronger and quicker to install than any other type of stone fencing. They’re built of galvanized steel baskets filled with rocks. They’re very flexible in size and appearance and they can be very useful in outdoor spaces. Gabion fences can be almost any height by any length.
