Gate Hurdles

Description from Green Man Wood Crafts

Gate hurdles could be considered the forerunner of the electric fence. Traditionally, they were used as moveable fences to cordon off areas for sheep to feed on beet tops. Nowadays, however, most find their way into private gardens, museums of rural life and even on to the film sets of the BBC.

What are gate hurdles?

In their original guise, gate hurdles were quite lightweight. Imagine having to move several hundred (four at a time!) over heavy winter soil and you can understand why. Nowadays they are mostly left in situ for the duration of their life, so I tend to make mine considerably heavier than of old. As a consequence, I would like to think that they will still be standing in 10-15 years’ time.

Boundary fences

Gate hurdles make good boundary fences, but in recent years more and more people have used them to cordon off vegetable gardens from a variety of invaders, from the family labradors and chickens to wild deer that come down from nearby woods.

Fruit training frames

Gate hurdles also act as very good training frames for espalier or fan training fruit trees. The small 2 foot x 1 foot hurdles make excellent individual supports for keeping unruly plants off lawn edges or paths. Once they’re no longer needed, it’s easy to move them to another spot in the garden, or to dry them and store them for another time.

• 2 foot x 1 foot
• 3 foot x 1 foot
• 6 foot x 2 foot
• 6 foot x 3 foot
• 6 foot x 4 foot
• 6 foot x 5 foot
• 6 foot x 6 foot

Prices range from £17.00 to £70.00