I'm a stickler for symmetry. If I were to use 2 different fence types, I'd make it very deliberate to be sure no one thinks I ran out of one and just slapped up something to fill in. (Kinda like the welded wire patch and chicken wire that I currently have and will be gone before planting this year.)

I agree with Ali. Love the pickets and think that would be an absolutely charming look for your whole potager.

While I like the pickets, I don't want to use them all the way around. I appreciate the input, though :)

Maybe it will make more sense, when I can get some new pictures. More snow today...when did we start having 5 month winters? It's been that way, at least for the last four or five years. I am so looking forward to seeing some daffodils!

I agree with one solid type of fencing. Whatever you choose, it would be nice to unify it. If you need the black fence, could you use wood framing and the black fence in the middle?

I also love the sort of heirloom wire fencing, have you seen that Lavender? Double Loop Wire Fence. My grandmother had it around her whole yard. I love it, it's quite pretty, but it does the trick of keeping out what needs to be out of the garden!

Here is a link that might be useful: Wood and wire fence

The cost factor of building your fence the way you want to will be better for such a large garden area. Could you run the picket fence in front of your garden and then extend the picket fence down the sides of your garden by maybe 1/3 length? Then add the black wire fence the rest of the way around the garden area. This may give the idea of a longer picket fence. Where the 2 fences meet add a large shrub on each side to hide the joints. Let the shrubs grow threw the fences a bit and that can also hide the joints from the inside. I can also picture wreaths or baskets of flowers on each gate door and what kind of vines are you going to plant on the arbor? Love the color of the pickets!

GGG- Nice fence, I can see why that works so well! I'm hoping to use metal posts...and the kitties keep out everything but the deer, who can walk over either fence I'm considering :)

Valree- Cost factor is definitely a concern. I thought about doing the whole thing with black wire, but this might look too fancy and light. I have so many black arches and arbors, now...I was hoping to add something a little more rustic. All picket will be too country...so that's why I'm considering combining the two.

Good idea about wrapping the picket around both sides. I have the raspberries over there, but that could be part of the 'veggie garden' so it would look good. I want to have all black wire, around the arbor area, so we can see the view, without the fence being so obvious. I also might plant some clematis and other vines on parts of the wire fence.

I don't have gates (it would just encourage the deer to walk over the fence) so I'm using the arches, for definition. I have clematis on the big arbor and maybe climbing beans and edible flowers on the main arch, but probably sweet peas and morning glories on the other two (not in the veggie garden area).

The plan is to have any toxic or non-edible flowers along the black fence...and the picket fence would be the garden. The kids should still ask, before picking anything, but I'm hoping this will make the gardening experience much safer :)

It's a little more of a challenge, when your garden helpers are not your own children, but those of friends and family. It helps to have some easy to follow rules and let them know which areas are edible garden and which are not.

Most of you have seen this, but here's a picture of the garden. The picket would be on either side of the front arch and on each side for about 20'. (It's a huge garden...my own fault for getting carried away with the design.) LOL I moved the other two arches, so they line up with the arbor. One is a side entrance and the other is over the bird bath, for the butterfly garden.

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It was nice enough today that I was able to go outside and do some measuring...and neither fence is going to work. They are both too tall! So, I went back online and found a 28" tall, black PVC wrapped rabbit fencing. It's the only black fencing I could find, shorter than 3'.

The good news is, even with a few extra inches underneath (to pull weeds) the fence will be 30" tall...and the perfect height for seeing over, while sitting down. We don't want to block the view and I think this will look very nice with the arches. It will also be easier for the blueberries and other shrubs to grow up...and eventually hide much of the fence.

But, with all this measuring, I did come up with another idea. It turns out all my veggies will not fit in this big garden (too many flowers, fruit and herbs) so I'm putting in the other garden (about 20' square) behind the garden sheds. It's a sunny spot and will look wonderful, with a 4' blue/gray picket fence.

I had thought of putting the garden there last year, with a corner gate, so this is going to work out so well. The corner can be a wooden arbor (like the top picture) with a picket gate. If the gate is tall enough and I plant enough berries on the outside of the fence (with wires in front of them) I might even keep the deer out of this garden! Oh, joy...I might finally try growing corn! :)

So, this idea is a little different...but, what if I used the pickets, on each corner and across the front. Then, I could use the black wire between the pickets...almost like big windows in the picket fencing? It sounds a little strange, but it would give me some privacy from the road (south side) and still allow us to see the view. I'm also thinking of having the pickets behind the raspberries and on each side of the main entrance.

So, if I did this, it would be pickets on the front and around the corner and part way down each side...then 'window' of shorter black fencing (for about 15' around each side arch) and then pickets in the back corners, with a big 'window' (about 20') across the back, behind the wooden bench and little black obelisks.

Too strange, or interesting idea? Both? LOL

Thanks for sticking with me, while I come up with these various ideas! :)

That would be fine. The window idea is cute. The symmetry will show that is was your own deliberate style.