Preparing Your Home and Garden for Winter With Fence Panels, Replacement Fencing and Wood Treatment Products


Preparing your garden for winter is not all about raking fallen leaves and putting your plants to bed; it is also the time to carry out vital maintenance tasks such as repairing broken fencing panels, timber treating wooden sheds and protecting outdoor garden furniture. Fixing and weather-proofing timber products will make them last longer and keep your garden looking good all year round. As the garden winds down for the season, now is the perfect time to carry outdoor checks and repairs on garden sheds, summer houses, wooden gates, fencing and outdoor patio furniture, so you are well prepared in advance of the cold snap.

Replace Fence Panels

Extreme weather such as snow, gales and heavy rainfall can play havoc with your wooden gates and fencing. Storms or strong winds can damage wooden fencing and garden panels and blow garden gates off their hinges. If you do have missing fence panels or trellising, these can be replaced individually to match your existing fence style.

Wooden Fence Panels – click here to view and buy fence panel products.

It is also important to check your fence posts for sign of rot, as one damaged post can affect the whole structure of your fence. Nelson Potter sell a range of fencing panelsconcrete posts and wooden fencing posts to assist with your repairs.

Protect Your Fencing

Wooden fencing that has been pressure-treated is very resilient and less prone to rot and infestation. This means it has been put in a vacuum under pressure to force the preservative deep into the wood. Although this will provide protection against the elements, occasional maintenance will prevent fading and guard against water damage, which will ultimately prolong the life of your fencing panels.

Wood treatment – click here to view

Protect Garden Furniture

The autumn is a good time to protect your garden furniture before the big freeze sets in. You can do this by storing it under cover. Bring it into a shed, garage or outhouse, or use a plastic protector which you should tie securely so that it does not blow off. It is also advisable to annually seal your patio garden furniture with a wood treatment to make it weather-proof. Protek Wood Protector is multi-purpose and can be used to protect your garden wood all year round.

Wood treatment – click here to view

Protect Your Shed, Summerhouse, Log Cabin and Wooden Garaging

Just as you would treat your garden furniture, wooden sheds, log cabins and summer houses should also be sealed to make them weather proof and protect them during heavy rainfall. Although our wooden sheds are treated with a base coat, this is only a first step and we recommend garden buildings are treated with a high quality preservative after fitting. The only way to protect these is with applications of wood preservers – such as our range of Cuprinol and Protek.

Wood treatment – click here to view

This is also an ideal time to check for any signs of repairs. Study the base of your garden building to make sure there are no cracks for water to seep through. If there are any damaged panels, replace them. While you are checking your wooden garden building, don’t forget the roof. Make sure the felt is intact to prevent leaks and replace any parts that are damaged.

Roof felt is sold by Nelson Potter in rolls or tiles, depending on your requirements. We also sell Roofing Felt Adhesive for bonding successive layers of felt. Weathermate is a multi-use sealant which has excellent adhesive properties and is an ideal product to secure mineral felt/mineral felt tiles to shed roofs. (Felt nails also need to be applied).

Shed Construction – click here to view our range of products

Other Things to Do In The Garden in Autumn + Winter

Build a Fence

As well as carrying out essential repairs to your fencing, Autumn is the season to take stock and plan what you need for the garden for the spring. It is an ideal time to build a fence to keep animals from straying onto your land, and pets and children within the garden boundaries – and easier to do than in late spring or summer as there is less greenery around.

Constructing garden fencing is a big project to undertake and should be taken with a great deal of consideration. Some of the things you need to think about is the overall look of your fence, the height and width of the fence, the strength of the panels, fence posts and whether you want decorative panels or trellising.

Decorative Garden Fencing – click here to view

Nelson Potter sell a full range of garden fencing supplies and have all you need for complete fence construction or repairs. Our fencing products include wooden fencing posts, concrete fence posts, decorative panelling, trellising, garden panels, driveway gates, farm gates, wooden garden gates and additional fencing products such as screws, bolts and nails. We also sell wood treatment products such as waterproof wood stain and protectors.

Garden fencing – click here to view

Stock up on Firewood

When autumn approaches it is time to stock up on firewood so you have enough to keep you going when temperatures plummet.

Here at Nelson Potter we sell untreated softwood off-cuts which can be bought directly from our Sawmill in Bromeswell, Woodbridge. As this is freshly cut wood, it does need to be seasoned before use, so make sure you stock up well in advance.

There is no delivery service on this product, but you can collect it direct from our Sawmill. Nelson Potter firewood products include heat logs, sold in packs of 12, and firewood nets.

In order to keep your firewood dry, it is important to keep it covered and on a dry surface. You may prefer a purpose built log wood shed in order to do this. We sell a variety of timber sheds in a number of different sizes which will be ideal for this purpose.

Get Ready for Feeding the Birds

Autumn is traditionally the season to start feeding the birds, so it is a good time to invest in a bird table, if you don’t already have one. This gives birds a continuous supply of food as well as shelter and a place to nest. Make sure you keep up the maintenance on your bird tables and nesting boxes by coating them in a wood preservative.

Composting

Autumn is an excellent time to invest in a compost bin so you can make your own fertilizer to use the following year. You can build up your compost ready for the spring with fallen leaves, cuttings from shrubs and bushes and vegetable waste from the house. The more variety you have in your compost bin, the better your compost will be. Turn the compost once every two weeks during the winter months to air it and help it during the rotting process.

About Us

Nelson Potter is a family owned timber merchants which has been operating for nearly 40 years. We deliver to customers in Suffolk and Essex, East Anglia, including Ipswich, Woodbridge, Colchester, Felixstowe and Bury St Edmunds.

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