How to Install a Stand-Alone Reed Fence

The bamboo plant is an environmentally friendly, renewable natural resource used to make a diverse array of products including flooring, furniture, fabric, food and fencing. A stand-alone bamboo fence is an affordable option for creating privacy or screening the view of something unsightly, such as trash cans or a tractor. But a stand-alone reed fence does not actually stand alone. It needs to be attached to sturdy fence posts and it needs at least minimal horizontal support, in part to keep the split bamboo reeds from touching the ground. Moisture and contact with soil causes rapid deterioration.

Measuring tape
Construction stakes
Twine
8-foot pressure-treated posts
Post-hole digger
2-by-4 pressure-treated boards, 6 1/2 inches long
Roll of 6-foot-tall bamboo reed fencing
Staple gun
Stainless steel staples
Wire cutters

Instructions

- 1
  Lay out the proposed fence line with twine and construction stakes. After choosing the style post you will use -- which tells you how wide each post will be -- mark the placement of the posts every 6 feet, measuring from the center of one post to the center of the next. If the posts you choose are less than 6 inches wide, adjust the length of the 2-by-4 boards accordingly. These preliminary measurements will tell you the quantities of fence components you need for the project.
- 2
  Dig 2-foot-deep post holes at the proper spots along the twine line.
- 3
  Put the posts in the holes; fill the holes with soil and tamp it down.
- 4
  Nail a 2-by-4 to the inside of first post -- one nail per board per post -- horizontally overlapping the post by 3 inches and aligning the bottom of the board with a mark 68 inches from the ground. This is the top horizontal board.
  
  Nail a second 2-by-4 to the post, again overlapping the post by 3 inches, but aligning the bottom of this board with a mark 36 inches from the ground.
  
  Nail the third and final board to the post in this same manner, but at a mark 4 inches from the ground.
- 5
  Unroll the bamboo fencing along the inside of the fence between the first two posts. Position the fencing so it extends 2 inches above the top of each post and is 2 inches above the ground. If you don't have a helper, prop up the roll with a 2-inch scrap of wood.
- 6
  Wrap the fencing tightly three-fourths of the way around the first post and staple it, every 6 inches from top to bottom, to the post.
- 7
  Pull the fencing tightly to the second post and staple it to the post every 6 inches.
- 8
  Staple the fencing to each of the three support boards at 12-inch intervals.
- 9
  Continue this method from post to post along the proposed fence line, until you come to the last post.
- 10
  Wrap the fencing three-quarters around the last post and staple it in place. Trim off excess fencing with the wire cutters

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