Fence facts & stats

Question 1

What is a fence of evenly spaced upright boards, often painted white, called?

Accepted Answer

Picket fence. A picket fence uses spaced vertical boards called pickets, often with pointed tops.

Question 2

What are the horizontal pieces running between fence posts usually called?

Accepted Answer

Rails. Rails run horizontally between posts, and pickets or boards are often attached to them.

Question 3

The line 'Good fences make good neighbors' comes from which Robert Frost poem?

Accepted Answer

Mending Wall. Robert Frost's 1914 poem Mending Wall repeats the neighbor's saying 'Good fences make good neighbors.'

Question 4

In which country is the long Dingo Fence, built to protect sheep?

Accepted Answer

Australia. Australia's Dingo Fence keeps dingoes out of sheep-grazing land in the southeast of the country.

Question 5

A wattle fence is made by doing what?

Accepted Answer

Weaving thin branches between upright stakes. Wattle is made by weaving flexible sticks such as willow or hazel between upright stakes.

Question 6

A chain-link fence is made of steel wire woven into what pattern?

Accepted Answer

Diamonds. Chain-link fencing interlocks zigzag wires to form a diamond-shaped mesh.

Question 7

Joseph Glidden received a famous US patent for barbed wire in which year?

Accepted Answer

1874. Illinois farmer Joseph Glidden patented his barbed wire design in 1874, and it spread across the American West.

Question 8

What is a 'ha-ha' in landscape gardening?

Accepted Answer

A sunken wall or ditch that blocks animals without blocking the view. A ha-ha is a recessed barrier that keeps livestock out while leaving the view across the land uninterrupted.