10 Tips to Add Lighting to Your Fence!

(Just in time for Christmas and the holidays.)

Your outdoor spaces are just as important as your indoor ones when it comes to choosing great lighting.

Use these 10 tips to create a dazzling look on your fence with the right lighting:

1. Add Solar Caps to Your Vinyl or Aluminum Fence                                                    Anchor Fence does sell, supply and install solar caps for vinyl and aluminum fencing which are available for order! These add lighting to your back or front yard and make your fence pop!                
2. Use Up-Lighting for a Dramatic Effect.
   Using lighting that’s low to the ground and pointed upward creates a look that shows off your garden without being too harsh. It also shows off the texture of your fence, even at night.
3. Create Shadows with Low-Placed Lighting
   By placing lights low to the ground, you can cast harsh shadows on the fence or house, creating a dramatic look.
4. Bright Spotlights Add Safety and Charm
   Use spotlights on your fence to illuminate areas for entertaining. The bright lights are helpful for guests when they are walking.
5. Use String Lights for Decorative Lighting
   String lights are easy to install and offer a wide variety of styles so you can change the look of your fence lighting easily and often. These lights are also festive for the Christmas season!
6. Use Accent Lighting to Highlight the Best Parts of Your Garden
   Experiment with lighting placed at various heights on your fence to make the area in front of it stand out. This is perfect for highlighting specific spots of the garden.
7. Make Functional Lighting Fun
   Add lights to the underside of benches placed along your fence. This provides light with a fun look.
8. Use Spotlights to Make Your Home Stand out
   Spotlights placed on your fence and directed at your house make it look extravagant and inviting.
9. Use Lamps and Lanterns for Versatility and Function
   Lamps and lanterns, that can be moved as needed, provide an endless variety of lighting possibilities for any garden.
10. Use Ambient Lighting to Set the Mood
    Lighting on a dimmer can be adjusted as needed to create the perfect look, every time.

Keeping a Dog in the Backyard With Fence, No Matter How Small!

Dogs, especially small ones, can be little escape artists and can find their way out of most backyards. However, yards with the proper fencing will prevent your furry friend from escaping without harming them with electric shocks or tying them with a leash, which may choke them by the collar.

The least expensive solution is a chain link fence with bottom tension wire or bottom rail. The bottom tension wire or bottom rail will keep any dog from getting under the fence by pushing the wire up. The gaps in chain link are small, even if you have a Yorkie or Chihuahua he/she should not be able to fit through a chain link diamond. If you have a canine that likes to jump over the fence, there is 6 foot tall chain link available which should prevent dogs from jumping over. However, not all cities permit 6 foot tall chain link.

If your city does not allow 6 foot tall chain link the next best option is 6 foot tall privacy vinyl. Your dog will not be able to get through gaps in the fence pickets because there are no gaps in privacy vinyl pickets. Since the fence will be 6 foot tall, he/she will not be able to clear the fence by jumping. When you have a professional, such as Anchor Fence install, we are able to install vinyl fence so that there are no gaps between the bottom of the fence and the ground for your puppy to get under. Wood fence will work the same, however wood is susceptible to rotting, molding, weathering and would not last as long as a vinyl fence, which is why most companies do not put a warranty on wood. Wood is also at it’s most expensive, currently costing more than vinyl.

The last option to keep in your hound is steel or aluminum fence. This solution is mostly used for larger dogs because the gaps in these metal fence are large enough for a small dog or puppy to fit through unless puppy picket is added to the aluminum fence. There are also special harnesses and doggy donuts that prevent small dogs from getting through the gaps in aluminum or steel pickets. Aluminum and steel do come in 6 foot tall, so if your hound likes to jump, he/she should not be able to jump over the fence.

Puppy pickets are spaced closer together at the bottom so small dogs cannot fit through.

Custom harness prevents small dogs getting through aluminum or steel fence without puppy picket.

Special donut pillows for small dogs can also prevent them from going through a aluminum or steel fence.

If you would like any of the fences listed in this article for your puppy or dog and live in the Metro Detroit area, you can call Anchor Fence today for an estimate! 313-937-0101

Stop Dogs from Digging Under Your Fence

A dog digging near a white vinyl picket fence.

If you are a dog owner, you may have seen your furry friend digging in the yard or at the base of a fence.  Dogs dig because, well, they are dogs.  They get bored, want to escape or just like to dig.  Stopping a dog from digging can be challenging and a dog that digs not only creates unsightly holes, but can create costly damage to fence, plants, lawns, etc.

There are quite a few solutions to keep a dog from digging under a fence.  The right solution may vary for each situation. You may want to test out a few different ones to see which works best for your dog and your landscaping.

Strategically Place Rocks/boulders

You can place rocks around the areas of the fence where the dog likes to dig.  This will block the dog from digging and once they try digging they won’t have any luck.

Fill in the holes with rocks or dirt

Depending on your dog you can try filling in the holes with rocks or dirt.  Dirt may just encourage them to keep digging and provide constant work for you… it just depends on the dog.  You can also fill in the holes with gravel which makes it harder for the dog to dig.

Train Your Dog

If you have the time and knowledge, train your dog. If you catch them digging, stop them and correct the behavior.  This is your best bet because it fixes the source of the problem and will stop your dog from digging even if you move.

Hire a Professional

If it is too late and your dog has destroyed your fence or has dug up some fence posts give Anchor Fence a call (313)937-0101, we can fix that for you.

Have other ideas of how to stop a dog from digging under a fence?  Please share in the comments as we would love to hear them!